Day 315

Day 315 (AZT 20): 26 miles

After hiking later I overslept and missed the sunrise. From the little peek out of my tent it looks amazing cause there were a few whisky clouds in the sky which add to the aura but oh well, the sleep was also nice.

I did a few miles to get into Summerhaven and ended up running into a thru hiker I met on the pct. I ended up waiting for a pizza place to open and wasted too much time in town. One bite, everybody knows the rules. 5.9/10

Going out of town I was actually a little chilly which was nice for a change. Up at this high elevation it’s a “sky island” where the ecosystem is much different than the desert below. There’s ponderosas or mariposas or whatever they are-big tall trees-everywhere. It’s amazing to have some shade again. I also saw a cool species of squirrels. They’ve got sharp perky ears kinda like a black bear and they were energetic as hell. I also had a murder of ravens swarming overhead for a bit.

As I was hiking after dark I noticed a pair of eyes 30 yards away at my 10 o’clock. I had wanted to see a mountain lion all year but not like this. I wanted to be 100 yards above it on a steep ridge without it seeing me. Instead, it was in a canyon and we both saw each other at the same time. We had a staredown for what felt like forever but was probably 5 seconds in reality. All I was thinking was that I didn’t have any weapons so I just had to be ready to throwdown and go for the eyeballs. After 5 seconds it darted away in an instant. It was so quick. I hiked pretty slow after that because I was checking my 6 every half minute out of paranoia. I talked out loud for probably 15 minutes in a constant voice so I wouldn’t come upon it and startle it again. I was on edge for the rest of the night just wandering if I was being stalked or not. And all I could think about was that if I was writing a movie, being swarmed by ravens earlier in the day would be a great foreshadowing tool of some tragedy.

I passed a few other people camping and there’s another guy where I am so I should be good. There’s some other easier meals around for Steve French if he needs a bite.

Song of the day: praise God-Kanye west