Feeding Peanut M&Ms to the Angry Gremlin (Me)

August 22, 2024

Mile 270.9-293.2 (22.2 miles)

It rained a good bit last night so of course we woke up to a wet quilt. If I haven't said it already, this is the Duplex's last trip. I hope it enjoys its final days. It was cold this morning and hard to get moving but we were walking by 9 am. No big climbs today but the trail was rocky and narrow with ankle turners everywhere. At our first water we laid the tent, quilt and all of our damp belongings out to dry.

From there we had a 14 mile water carry, our longest on this trail so far. It started raining and hailing but thankfully we'd just reached a stand of trees and took cover there until it stopped and the sun came out.

It felt so good to warm my freezing hands as my gloves had soaked through. Later on it rained and hailed again and I was... over it. Finished my audiobook Night Road and started Inanna to distract myself from the struggles. The rain had turned the trail into more of a water source and my feet were soaking and freezing.

When we finally reached our actual next water source it was drizzling again which then picked up to a full on rain as I splashed my face downstream to try to wash away the layer of grime that had already formed two days out of town. We hiked a couple more miles before dark. I felt grumpy setting up the tent but Henry babied me and cheered me up by hand feeding me peanut M&Ms while he cooked dinner. Now dry and warm in the tent although my trash compactor bag has a hole in it and my puffy is damp. Another day with less elevation tomorrow. My favorite part of the day is when it's over.