April 27, 2021
Mile 41.5 to Mile 55.9
This morning I woke up very very cold. It was around 26° last night and it rained and snowed. I had to shake the snow off my tent at one point. Even in my 0° sleeping bag I had a hard time staying warm.
My clothes were all completely soaked through still. My socks and gloves even froze a little. I stayed in bed until the sun came out because it was too cold to venture out with wet clothes. Eventually, Karinn came back to pack up. We were all too chilly to hike so we followed Karinn back to Joel’s hotel room to dry off and warm up. I’m not sure what Joel thought when four damp and shivering girls knocked on his door but he was very kind.
I had planned to stay away from groups of hikers indoors but the challenging conditions really made it hard. This group of 9 I’m with now is all vaccinated though. Which is pretty crazy. I havent been around this many vaccinated people before.
Anyway, we dried off at Joel’s and I dried off my shirt and got my socks mostly dry. We sat out in the sun and had hot coffee until the dudes were ready to go. Today I hiked with Karinn, AB, and Sarah (who all started the same day as me) plus Trip Wire, Henry, Tyler, Sam, and Joel (who started a week or so ago). It was a late start. I don’t think we left until 10am or so but at least it we were warm and dry.
We made it about 5 miles before lunch. We all dried out our tents in the sunshine. The desert has become more vast.
Then we had 10 miles or so until camp. I was kind of dragging though. I was thankful for the short day. We also had to pack out water for the next 25 miles so I have 5L which is pretty heavy.
We have a pretty camp spot but it is very crowded. My spot is a little small for my tent so my pitch was less than perfect. I’m just hoping all the stakes stay in the ground throughout the night. Its been a little windy. Over dinner, Karinn and I made plans to hike 19.6 miles to the last tent site before Scissors Crossing. Fingers crossed there’s a water cache at the underpass or else we’ll have to figure something else out. Sarah and AB agreed to the plans but the boys are taking it easy still so I’m not sure if/when I’ll see them again. They’re also heading into Julian. I’ll be pushing straight through to Warner Springs for my next resupply.
