Day 36 (ODT 4)

Day 36 (ODT 4): 24 miles

I woke up in a pool of my own slobber after 9.5 hours of sleep which was a sign. I only do that when I’m realllly tired. I guess the weight of the pack is getting to me. Shortly after starting the day, I began a section that was 8 miles of cross country. It was the biggest section like this so far, but it was pretty enjoyable. The vegetation was kinda sparse so it was easy to walk around and keep a fairly straight line. I kept veering a little south and maybe walked an extra mile total, but did pretty good at staying on the line. In these sections, I’ll line up where I’m supposed to go, get a compass bearing, try to pick out something in the distance to hike to if I can see anything, and start hiking. I mostly go by gut and just periodically check my compass and Gaia.

After the bushwhack, I got to Peter’s Campground which was an amazing oasis. It had water spigots with clean water so I didn’t have to filter and power outlets. That’s not even mentioning the shade trees, porta John’s, picnic tables, and grass. It felt strange seeing grass out here. I hung out there for 2 hours guzzling down water, eating, and filling up 7.5 liters to carry. If the water wasn’t clean, it might take me 45 minutes to an hour to filter 7.5 liters.

Before I got to that campground, my pack was feeling pretty good. The weight was finally manageable and almost comfortable. Then adding 16 pounds of water changed that and my back felt rough the rest of the day. I could pretty much arch my upper back and crack it every 5 seconds, which I did because it relieved some of the tightness. Really I just wish I had someone to walk on my back at the end of every day.

In the evening, I had another 4 mile bushwack and this one was a little tougher. The vegetation was thicker so it was a slower, but still not bad. After joining a dirt road, I began to see some coyote tracks along with another hiker’s that is ahead of me. I’m not sure how far ahead they are but I’ve been seeing their tracks for a couple days. Wonder if I’ll catch em

I pitched my tent on the abandoned forest road I was hiking on cause nothing was open around