Day 6 - hubris... hiking machine that I am NOT

Mile 55.9 to mile 71.3

Oh man... he that giveth, quickly taketh away. Today started out great - my gear was totally dry this morning - sitting on a rock drinking my morning cup of joe watching the sunrise... I stretched my legs, checked my feet and was feeling on top of the world.... still on the high of hell I may actually make it to Canada from yesterday’s hike...

As I started desecending Into the canyon I felt good ...the air was cool, the sun was out...the path was level... there were bunnies and butterflies... seriously, at one point I was like heck... I am Snow White... around mile 58 there was a small flowing creek and knowing the next guaranteed water source was 10 miles ahead... I stopped to grab a liter to be safe... that’s when Apple Pie walked up behind me and said girl, the backs of your legs are red... and I realized... crud I forgot sunscreen today... (my tennis friends will not be surprised to learn that despite 20 degree temps ... I hike most of the time in shorts and a tank top... let’s just say I run hot). I dug into the depths of my bag and applied spf to my already burned arms and legs...(Southern California sun is no joke)... I also decided despite what was turning out to be a warm morning to throw on my long sleeve sun shirt...

A few miles in on a long, steep descent along a narrow ridge line ... I felt the first one pop up... the little hot demons on my feet... by the time I reached the bottom, where I had space to take off my pack and grab my first aid... i could tell before even taking off my shoes-they had spread like a ring of fire on two toes... both heels and covered my right ankle... and when I finally got my shoes off and had a look - my first thought was gnarly... the tiny blisters on my toes could be handled easy enough... but there were two conjoined on my right heel/ankle that covered all the way to the bottom of my foot... I treated those the best I could... winced as I slid my foot back into my shoe and hoped for the best.

Sunburn and blisters in the same day... guess the trail was reminding me who was in charge after yesterday. Each step was painful and I had miles to go... embrace the suck - I reminded myself... I tredged along slowly entering the true desert terrain for the first time ... took a long- shoes off lunch break despite a lack of shade anywhere - by this point my feet were swollen and didn’t want to go back in my shoes at all, even with fresh socks - at this point I decided I was going to get to Julian a day before Charlie, so I could rest the little boogers... I pushed the remaining 6 miles... stopping one more time at a water source to let the doggies breathe ... there were a cluster of tentsites in mile 71 - and I was trying to get to wherever Warp Drive had camped... but I saw the first one - a solo site and that was it... I was camping alone tonight - I couldn’t take another step...

Luckily I was treated to another gorgeous sunset... I had left over rice/tuna from the night before threw it on a tortilla with some pepperoni and cheese and called it a burrito and fell asleep thinking okay maybe not Snow White... maybe more like sleeping beauty’s twin sister you never read about because she had jacked up feet ... ;)

Did I mention it only 60 degrees today... with no escape from the sun I could of sworn it was over 100 all day...