Mileage: 7.8

I woke this morning in more pain than I was yesterday. I knew I had to take a couple zero days. I looked on my phone for places to stay but they were all extremely expensive. I couldn’t afford to do a double zero out here. I called my mom and she offered to come pick me up and take me home for my zeros.

I hiked all morning on some of the easiest trail I’ve done yet. It was beautiful, cold, and uncharacteristically flat. Despite the easy terrain I was in so much pain that I took 6 Ibuprofen and still was hurting. It was about 8 miles down to the gap. I stopped only twice. Once to get water and another for a snack. Riley passed me early on and told me he was given the trail name “Bellows”. He took a selfie with my and I told him I was getting off for a couple days and wouldn’t see him again. We said goodbye and he hiked on much faster than I could in my current shape.

I made it down and waited a couple hours for my mom to arrive. I hit the trail again in 3 days. I hope I heal up by then.