Written Thursday, 27 May 2021

Today was a bit of a long day, for no other reason than it was another day built around carrying water between widely separated water sources.

I had a restless night in the crowded camp so it was easy to get up and go in the morning after drinking a couple liters of water. I started walking north at about 5 minutes past 4.

The moon was very close to full, and I did try to do some moonlight hiking without a headlamp. Mixed results. I could definitely see enough to stay on the Trail and not get lost (which would be embarrassing), but the shadows are different than they are with a headlamp so I had a hard time avoiding rocks and other things on the footpath. I finally turned on the headlamp and picked up the pace. BTW, the first picture in the photo ribbon above is not of the sun. That's the moon, hanging above a mountain top

Did pretty well as the sun rose. Got over our first hill by the time the sun crept above the mountain and met another couple of hikers (as they passed me, of course), Mike and Merlin. I wish I had thought to take a picture of Mike's pack--probably the smallest, lightest pack I've ever seen. It goes way beyond ultralight to uberlight. No wonder they're fast.

The trail is not terribly difficult today. The ups and downs aren't very steep, but the path is completely exposed and hot so I am grateful to reach Robin Bird Spring (about 19 Miles into the day) where there is both water and shade.

I was pretty lucky to draw water and sit down in the shade before the spring was overrun by...cows! I am not making this up. See picture above.

Apparently hikers share this spring with roaming cattle. Four cows and two calves jostle each other for position while I mix up some chlorine treatment for the water I just drew... Finally, one enterprising hiker drives off cattle by charging them and waving his sunbrella at them, and hikers can resume getting water.

Leaving the spring, I am really not feeling my best, to be honest. Physically I'm fine, but I'm just unfocused and grouchy.

Luckily, we enter a beautiful forest toward the end of the day, and it's an immediate mood lifter. In fact, I get into the zone so much that I miss the turn-off to our camp for the night. Then, when I realized my mistake and turned around, I got back to the road and turned the wrong way and went another 4 tenths of a mile before turning around.

At this point, you might be forgiven for thinking, " Otter's not really very good at this." Personally, I blame my navigotter, Arthur. (NOTE: Arthur says, "I can plan the mission for you, but I can't fly it for you." Typical nav.)

Anyway, we do make it to a beautiful camp at Landers Meadow Spring with the nicest, cleanest, fastest flowing water source we've seen on trail yet.

Catch, Anchor, Maverick and Elle aren't here by the time Florian, Baewatch, and I are done with supper and ready for bed.

Safe, dry, and warm tonight in this gorgeous forest campground.

Miles Hiked Today: 26.6 Total Miles Hiked: 608.9

Sea Otter Fact of the Day: During feeding, sea otters will typically float on their backs and use their stomachs as dinner plates, balancing their prey on their bellies before consumption.