Day 94

I woke today after an extremely hot and sleepless night at Lori’s. It was a wonderful place to stay and I’m not ungrateful but it was hot. I had 3 fans on me. I had to get up and soak my head and body with a face cloth to attempt to cool down.

I walked to the PO and bounced my box to Seiad Valley since I didn’t need it. I got a quick snack for the trail then got some breakfast. I saw Planner and Thankful and we caught up. Apparently they’d been worried about me. I was glad to see them. We made tentative plans of where to camp and I said I’d love to hike to Oregon with them. I ate my food and headed back to the house. I laid around for a couple hours until Lori’s daughter was able to take me to the trail.

I hiked slowly and sluggishly to start. I was tired and my ankles ached a bit. I barely saw anyone. I passed two hikers, one who was playing a harmonica. I didn’t see someone else for about 2 hours. There was cell service so I called Robin and had a quick bar. Then I pushed quickly to camp so I could arrive before dark.

The trail wound the shape of the mountains. It was quiet and lonely. The smoke was at least gone, so that was good. I saw one more man camping about an hour after the last one but just kept moving. At one point I heard what I thought was a cowbell coming from a meadow steep below me. I stopped and listened. It was very active wind chimes. Or that’s what it sounded like. It was creepy and I didn’t understand why or how it would be there. I moved even quicker and pushed to camp. There was only one real spot left that was very uneven. I took it. I cooked dinner and got water next to a group of like 8 hikers cowboy camping on the lake. That’s not something I care to do. There are all kinds of weird bugs crawling around and giant salamanders in the lake. Hike your own hike.

Tomorrow I’m attempting a 42.2 mile day.