Day 34 (ODT 2)

Day 34 (ODT 2): 24 miles

Since I ended hiking early I was planning on getting up at 5 to get a good start to the day. But when I woke up at 5, it was raining. So I hit the snooze until it stopped, the luxuries of not being on a tight schedule. I finally got hiking around 8 and saw a rainbow starting to form shortly after starting. That was a good omen.

It was a beautiful morning. After hiking in a canyon for a bit, it opened up to a vast desert. I got to do some more cross country across the desert and ending up summiting a little mountain by accident while doing so. Why not add an extra 500 feet of elevation gain to the day?

Then it was walking on some dirt roads, crawling under a barbed wire fence, and a little more cross country before beginning the climb up Pine Mountain.

As I was approaching it, I saw a patch of trees that the trail was going to enter. So, I decided when I reached that, I would take a break. It ended up being deceptively far away and high up. I hiked for over an hour before getting there and earning my break. With every step my strides felt like they were getting shorter. My back was aching terribly. And I just wanted to sit down. But I just took it one step at a time and eventually made it to the shade.

When I got to the top of Pine Mountain, I was strongly considering stopping for the day. My body felt tight and beat down from the heavy pack. But it was only 5:30. I decided I was not going to let the pack win. I became determined to make this pack my bitch. So I kept going, and I felt significantly better after continuing. 2,000 feet of descent sure is nicer than ascent.

While on top of Pine Mountain, I approached some car campers and asked if they could take some trash from me, mainly the gallon jug I’ve been hauling from my cache. They happily did and offered me a beer and chatted for 20 minutes. It was a great break from the day, and probably some rare human interaction I’ll get out here. I didn’t realize it until they asked me, but before them I hadn’t seen anyone today. I’ve had so many days like that while hiking, it doesn’t feel strange.

Saw my first jackrabbit of the trail today. Fuckin love those