Miles: 1202.4 to 1229.9
Trail Miles: 27.5
I awoke early to animals sounds at 0400. I think it was a mule deer. Later, at 0530, a mule deer came sniffing around within 20 ft of my tent. Time to get up.
I was on the trail at 0612. I stopped for second breakfast 90 minutes later, overlooking Tamarack Lake. — To keep my energy up, second and third breakfasts are now the norm.
Tamarack Lake
By 0845ish I had eaten through all my planned breakfasts. I was still tired so I stopped for a catnap. To that point, I had yet to see any other hikers. Of course, that when when they started passing.
I slept a bit, filtered some water and then started the 1500 ft climb over the next 3 miles.
When I stopped for lunch and water at Mile 1216, I setup the stove and actually cooked. (Meaning: I boiled water). I had a large fuel canister, so why not. I had ramen noodles with Bacos and some Russian tea. It’d been awhile since I’d cooked Ramen vice cold-soaking. It really tastes so much better hot!m
It was hazy today, as evident in the pictures. Several hikers asked about fires, but I think the haze was due to weather, not fires. Like haze coming from the coast or San Joaquin Valley.
My goal was to get at least 23 Miles in, if not more. I did 27.5 miles. I was pretty happy with that, especially since there was a big climb at the end. Seems like most days end that way recently.
Huarache arrived as I was eating dinner. He is such an interesting guy. He’s hiking the trail essentially barefoot. He has a thin (<1/8 inch) outsole tied onto his foot with paracord. He had made it through the desert and Sierras that way. He’s been barefoot for 8 years. When I asked about blisters he said he’d had some in the desert, but he just walked through them. When I said something about dirt and infection, he smiled sheepishly and said he had a strong immune system. Indeed!
We also talked more about food and nutrition. He has his food (and therefore weight) planned down to every calorie. He eats 1000 calories for breakfast over several hours and then 200- 300 calories every hour. He said fatigue is an indicator of hunger out here. Everything he said made sense. It was things I’d heard or knew, but he said it in a way that made complete sense to my tired hiker brain. Learning was in progress!