Miles 716.5 to 733.0

I remember clearly the first time I saw the Grand Canyon in person... Rebecca and I were driving Charlie’s car cross-country on a Thelma and Louise roadtrip... we arrived before the sun rose... and as the light came up on the sky to reveal the vastness of what photos could of never prepared me for... I firmly felt the presence of a higher being... I was moved...

That same feeling came a year later... when Reed and I having just driven cross country to move me to California... pulled up to tunnel view in Yosemite... nothing in my wildest imagination could of prepared me for that site... since living in California - I have been able to explore the fruits of the Sierra ... enjoy the backcountry of three of our amazing national parks... revel in her beauty and mystery...today was different, I am not sure if it was because I have walked here... if because it was entering it deep in the backcountry and putting the sweat and tears in to earn the views... but i was moved to tears and nearly brought to my knees at the vastness of wonder and miracle before me. If you ever need an affirmation of faith in whatever it is you believe... you can find it here...

Back to the play by play...

I woke up around 8... no Hound... I was starting to get a little worried... two section hikers heading southbound came to the river and before they left, I asked them if they passed him to let him know I was aiming for camp at 730.8 tonight .... I sat around until 10:30... waiting for him to show up... he never did... I decided to move forward....

While yesterday was easy for me... today... even with less grade on the climbs... my legs were protesting... they didn’t want to get going... as I passed over 10,000 feet... this became more evident... as well as the increasing difficulty it was to catch my breath... I slowed down... took more breaks... I was hoping Hound was catch up anyway... I am in no hurry... I kept telling myself... I followed the wrong set of footprints away from a creek crossing... a two mile detour and more bushwhacking to find my way back to trail... crap... now I didn’t know of Hound was ahead of or behind me... I walked up to 10,800 and down to 8900... then wash lather and repeat... I reached my intended camp spot... it was about 6:00.... looking ahead at the climb back up... I decided I should knock out a few more miles to make the next day less strenuous... I was back to being slow on the climbs... Hound would get way ahead of me... I left a note for him in the sand... and pushed another 1000 feet up... I was standing there taking in the views...feeling the presence I was talking about in the beginning of this post and JRod (one of the bubble that had caught us in the last section) came up... he stopped and stood for a moment with me in silence... then spoke about how today had stirred something in him as well... the magic of this place is tangible and we are only scratching the surface... like entering the first steps from the wardrobe to Narnia... I asked if he had passed Hound and he said no... I was officially worried now... he went on trying to catch up to Pilot and Packmule.... I got my garmin out and tried to message Hound...which was kind of useless since I didn’t have his garmin address and knew neither of us had service... but it made me feel a little better.

It was a restless night... I don’t know if it was worry about Hound... sleeping at 10,000 ft... or just one of those things... but I had some strange and vivid dreams that kept waking me up.... and I can’t remember the last time I had dreams that I could recall in the morning... but when I woke up the next morning ... my dreams seemed as if they were tangible events in real life...