Day 59

Another record day! The weather was fantastic so I was up 30 minutes before my alarm. I have to admit, I was hoping for ponies grazing by my tent. Unfortunately, all I got was fresh pony poo around the area. They must have been around late at night. Anyway, after around 3 miles, it was warm enough to change into my sleeveless shirt and shorts. The weather got WARM and the sun was out all day. Even though I was applying my SPF 30 stick, I burned my shoulders and arms. I kind of expected it. I burn easily the first time, then peel and then will tan after that. I rarely ever can burn twice once I got the base going. I’m looking forward to getting color so it’s not just my hands that are tanned. (Which is hilarious because I have a tanless strip across the back of my hands where the trekking pole straps go.) So after seeing NO ponies today, my only real excitement is seeing Comers Creek Falls and rock hopping across in front of it. I love doing long exposure shots of waterfalls and I think this is one of my favorites. So my record is that today is my first 20+ mile day. AT-wise, it was 20.1 but my GPS says 20.31 when you add all the extra stuff like pee breaks, stepping off trail for views and snack breaks. I’m feel really good! I did 20 miles in 8 hrs 40 minutes and still had 3 hrs left of daylight after setting up camp. I’ll call that a success. Trimpi Shelter is really busy with tenters. It is a weekend and I know quite a few people tenting here are only out for the weekend or for a section. I almost didn’t find a spot for my tent but I squeezed in. Tomorrow, I have just shy of 17 miles planned to a shelter that will set me up for about 4.6 to the road where I’ll walk down to the alpaca farm. Taps is staying there as well so we’ll both be getting there the same day and both want to get a shuttle into town to resupply. That will help because it’s $15 and we can split it. Hopefully someone else wants to go too and it will be cheaper.