We stayed dry last night but the tent certainly didn’t, so we took extra time this morning drying it off with our liteload towels. It meant a later start but that’s ok, keeping the tent as clean and dry as possible is always a good thing.
I LOVED drinking the tea my BB ohana sent - it was the perfect beverage for the chilly, wet morning. I can’t thank them enough.
It was cloudy most of the day, sometimes raining, sometimes not. The rain didn’t bother me because we spent most of the day in a green tunnel, which meant I didn’t feel like I was missing too many views because of the weather.
One thing that wasn’t great about this morning was attempting to hike with menstrual cramps - sometimes it’s hard work being a woman. :) Before the medication I took kicked in, I had to sit down on the side of the trail and do some deep breathing to deal with the pain - I tried to hike through it but simply couldn’t. Once the medication kicked in, though, I was good to go - I felt very strong.
Despite the few hours of pain and the sporadic rain, good things happened, too. One good thing was that I met and and talked with an older man named Spokes who hiked the AT, the PCT, and the CDT back in the 80’s. He’s currently hiking the Colorado Trail SOBO and he was full of energy and excitement. Even though it was raining when we met, he was happy to be on the trail; his happiness was contagious and put me in a good mood.
Another good thing that happened was Trail Magic brought to us by Serendipity and Kami at the Timberline Lake Trailhead. Nick and I had just been saying how we haven’t had any trail magic in a long, long time, so it was a welcome surprise. When I walked up, G-String, Woodpecker, and Axel were already there, enjoying the chips, beer, soda, ice pops, and CHAIRS Serendipity and Kami had thoughtfully provided. It was a wonderful break towards the end of the day. Even better, they had toilet paper (I had used the last of mine this morning).
Serendipity and Kami, the thoughtful people who brought us trail magic. They were both massively impressed with Theresa’s artwork and think she should sell her figures on ETSY
The last but certainly not the least good thing that happened today was we finally hit 1000 miles!!! Even though it was raining, we took the time to make our own 1000 out of sticks. It was so much fun! Nick celebrated by drinking a beer from Serendipity and Kami.
Once we hit 1000 miles, we simply looked for a decent place to camp and called it a day. We are going to Leadville tomorrow and only have 11.5 miles to hike to the road (no need to worry about hitching, we are getting picked up by a PCT friend, Special K!), so I’m planning on sleeping in a little and taking my time tomorrow morning drinking more of that delicious tea.
Along the trail:
Camp:
