Tim’s birthday was a hit! We hiked 24 miles two days in a row to make it to Agua Dulce for the celebration on his birthday eve.

We got a beautiful sunrise above the clouds. Then we descended to the Acton KOA to pick up our first resupply box (thanks Mom and Dad!) and got ourselves some ice cream and soda as a reward for 14 miles before 10:30 am. We took advantage of the showers at the KOA to wash ourselves and our clothes, then took off for the last 10 miles in the heat of the day. The last ten miles always take twice as long as the first ten.

We proceeded to get margs, nachos, pizza, and pitchers and the day ended with a cowboy camp together in front of an abandoned supermarket. Worth every mile.

Today, I did not want to hike; for a multitude of reasons not least of which were my tired feet that had just done 48 miles in the last 48 hours, my overly full stomach, our heavy packs, a very late start, and the extreme heat, exposure, and incline for the first ten miles. But, we hiked anyway.

This start to the day made for a grueling and depleting trail day. Somehow, we made it to our destination 19 miles in. We only made it the final three miles by promising ourselves the chance to sleep in if we did. We are ready for a 0 (no hiking at all) and Tehachapi can’t come soon enough (it’s in 90 miles).

We are doing what we love, but it isn’t always fun. As with any challenge, we knew there would be some tough days. We are so happy to be loving and suffering through the hurtles this hike throws at us together.