I don’t think I’ve ever been this dirty, not even on the PCT. I feel as if everything is covered in a layer of dust - it’s impossible to keep anything clean, even my beautiful quilt. I don’t mind being dirty, not really, but I DO like to keep my things as clean and organized as possible. Which apparently isn’t possible at all right now.
**Nick is currently having a solo dance party outside the tent, he’s a hilarious distraction from me writing. But I need to focus so I can finish this entry and get to sleep (I’m exhausted), so I’m going to attempt to ignore him.**
We had a slower morning than usual, mainly because Nick helped me tend to my heel situation and then we repaired a hole we noticed in the tent. But the weather has been pretty nice - in the 80’s and overcast today so it wasn’t too crazy hot - so it wasn’t a big deal that we didn’t get an early start. Soon it will be, though. I’m grateful for the easy train and the nice weather we’ve had thus far.
It was an uneventful morning, and by noon we made it to the water cache. Nick was there first (my blisters have me walking at a much slower, more deliberate pace). He was talking to a woman and had just asked her name when I walked up. When she said her name was Moonshine I asked her, “You didn’t happen to hike the PCT in 2016, did you?” I had experienced an epic day of trail magic with a group of people, including a girl named Moonshine. It was her!!! We both pieced together the day and the whole time I was in disbelief that we ran into her out here.
Even better, Moonshine was full of trail magic. She had everything we needed- more toilet paper for Nick (he went to the bathroom at least 10 times today, something’s up) and more Leuko tape for me (while I expected to get blisters I didn’t expect to have ones of this magnitude). She also had snacks (including olives!!!) and LaCroix to drink. However, the best part was just talking to her. She talked frankly about the CDT and how it made her doubt herself at times, which was so refreshing to hear. It’s always nice to be reminded that everyone has their bad days. Sometimes, when I’m hurting, it’s easy to convince myself that I’m the only one struggling, which makes me feel inferior and weak. Moonshine reminded me that everyone is struggling in some way, which makes me feel less alone. From here on out, when I have a bad day, I’ll think about Moonshine to get me through.
Nick getting TP from Moonshine, who has Leuko tape for me in her hand
I let Moonshine take two of Theresa’s figures because she was so awesome
The Warrior Expedition vans were there, too, along with B.Bigfoot and Hashtag Blessed. This meant I had the pleasure of eating more oranges. So rad.
Water was sketchy the rest of the day. Even though we didn’t want to hike more than 15 miles, we ended up going 20 just to get to a halfway decent water source. And when I say halfway decent this is what I mean:
Nick and Tesla trying to scoop around the algae
Nick and I decided to camp not far from the water tank - our feet and bodies need the rest. In fact, I actually put up the tent! Usually Nick does it - it’s sort-of his thing-but I decided I need to know how, even if it does take me longer. He gave me a few pointers and I think next time it will go exen smoother.
Along the trail:
most of the time hiking today was spent looking for the next trail marker, which sometimes eluded us
Camp:
in the background you can see a few bulls drinking out of the same tank we got our water