Day 207 (HDT 23)

Day 207 (HDT 23): 17 miles

Even inside the wind protected privy, it was still a chilly night. The weather for the nearest town said it was 15 degrees but at our higher elevation and with the wind howling, it had to be a good deal colder.

There was a vent for air flow right by my head that was letting in a lot of freezing cold air, especially with big wind gusts. We taped my rain coat over it to at least stop it directly from hitting me in the face, but it still leaked in a lot of cold air.

We let the sun get up before we did and left our shelter after 8am. It was cold at first before your body warms up. I forgot what that feeling was like. But when the sun rose high enough to shine on me it felt great.

We were also climbing a good amount, while working harder hiking in several inches of snow, so it wasn’t long before I was shedding layers. I had to take breaks from my mittens to let my hands air out. My buff didn’t last long on a sweaty neck. My hat came off. And lastly I took my jacket off.

The climb up to rainbow point was tiring, but comfortable. The wind wasn’t howling like crazy. We took a break up there for a while letting our feet air out from being wet from snow all day. We met a friendly raven while hanging out there that provided some good entertainment.

I took a different route from Rainbow Point than the Hayduke. I hiked over to Yovimpa Pass and then reconnected with the trail after. It was a little shorter than the official route but it was more of an open ridge then walking in a forest below the canyon rim like I had been doing.

It’s supposed to be just as cold as last night, which was really cold. So we were planning on doing a shorter day and sleeping in another privy outside the park. When I got there, I was disappointed. It was regulation size. The one yesterday wasn’t either, but it was a little bigger than regulation. This one was smaller, and pretty stinky.

Fancy Feast is as colder sleeper than I am so I let her take it since there was no way we were both gonna fit. I set up my tent nearby. This area isn’t too windy and is a little protected so I’m hoping it’s not too bad. But I’ll admit I’m a little worried. My sleeping bag is rated for 22 degrees and it’s gonna be in the low teens tonight. I’m wearing every piece of clothing I have, and I might even sleep with my mittens on. This is also the first time I’m using the straps for my quilt to hold it in place for more warmth.

On the bright side, I slept with a 0 degree sleeping bag in -20 so a 22 degree bag if it’s 12 isn’t near as bad hopefully. But then again I got like 30 minutes of sleep that night cause I was just thinking about getting hypothermia all night. This journal entry has just turned into me trying to convince myself it’s not going to be very cold tonight, when I’m reality, it’s gonna be cold as fuck. Goodnight

Song of the day: the whole CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST album