Day 133

Day 133 (pct 23): 28 miles

I enjoyed pancakes and eggs this morning at Kennedy meadows before leaving around 8 to start the day. With a late start I knew it wasn’t gonna be a big day but today kicked my ass. I’ve got 3 cuts from today. There was a decent sized one on my leg but it got covered up with dirt pretty quick so according to my medical knowledge it should be good. One of my gaiters got caught on a log I was stepping and over and ripped but held on long enough for me to tumble forwards. And my pack was just heavy as hell so my shoulders, back, and neck were hurting a good amount of the day not being used to that weight. I just didn’t really feel great all day.

On the bright side of today I got to hike with other people. Sassafras and snowflake (who is going for the Great Western Loop) left around the same time and we are aiming for around the same miles. It was cool to talk and hike to people throughout the day. But around 4:30 I started to feel pretty bad so I had to stop and take a couple breaks and separate from them. Sassafras just got on trail like a week ago and is keeping pace with a person doing the GWL and CYTC, pretty crazy.

In the morning, sassafras nearly stepped on a rattlesnake and we all ran backwards terrified. 3 grown men just cowering for their lives.

We got our permits checked by the PCTA and of course after I spent a lot of time packing my bag this morning to sit at least semi comfortably with all the weight, the permit was at the bottom so I had to unpack every single thing.

There was a girl I saw today that walked 10 feet turned around walked 10 feet and repeated this like 5 times. I was a little worried she was getting heat stroke or altitude sickness or something but turns out she was just high.

Worst part of the day: I lost my damn sunglasses. They were a really nice pair that I got from a friend and I’m pretty confident I’ll never have a pair that luxurious again. It’s also mighty inconvenient that I won’t have them up at these high elevations with a lot of exposure to the sun and snow reflection🙃

I switched backpacks and the amount of back sweat that I get while using this one is insane. Throughout the day I’ll take it off and just wipe quite a lot of gunky liquid off my back😁. A guy had a thermometer today that said it was 90 but I’m not sure I believe that. It just felt cooler than a a lot that I’ve been dealing with.

Today wasn’t great but tomorrow will be, that much I know.

May is mental health awareness month. Please consider donating to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at the link in my bio!

Song of the day: body and mind-girl in red