Day 3 by Rob
Mile 20 to 37
Today was our first and smartest wake up time at 6am to get started while it was cool. We really need to start even earlier. We have already met 3 people who start at 2:30am. We leap frogged with Angela all day 3. She’s starting her collection of section hikes with this segment. I’m sure we will see her more. This day came in little sections for us, too. The first was all the way to a small spring. The second to an oasis called Fred’s Canyon. The previous 12 miles of big desert hills with the tallest Manzanita “trees” topping out at about 5 ft didn’t offer much shelter but the views at 5000+ feet were awesome. Fred’s was a perfect place for us to reach at 1:30 for a siesta by a fast running creek under the only 3 tall Eucalyptus trees we’ve seen so far. Some lunch and a little nap were great. Our last stretch of 5 miles of the day took us to Long Creek. We found a great camp site but the creek was a steep brier filled 25ft down from camp. We hit bed by 8pm, ate a very romantic dinner in our tiny tent and reminisced about our trek thus far. The temperature dropped quickly so we snugged up and I was out cold soon after.

Lacy:
The way we hiked today was so much smarter. I felt so much stronger today and more hydrated which makes all the difference in the world. Knocking out 17 miles in a day is closer to what we hoped but we still need work. We keep seeing these tiny white butterflies with orange tips that make me smile. The best part of my day was about 6pm when the sun started to set and we came around a bend to wide mountain vista. My eyes welled up with happy tears.

Break in the shade

Filtering water

Rob

Today was our first and smartest wake up time at 6am to get started while it was cool. We really need to start even earlier. We have already met 3 people who start at 2:30am. We leap frogged with Angela all day 3. She’s starting her collection of section hikes with this segment. I’m sure we will see her more. This day came in little sections for us, too. The first was all the way to a small spring. The second to an oasis called Fred’s Canyon. The previous 12 miles of big desert hills with the tallest Manzanita “trees” topping out at about 5 ft didn’t offer much shelter but the views at 5000+ feet were awesome. Fred’s was a perfect place for us to reach at 1:30 for a siesta by a fast running creek under the only 3 tall Eucalyptus trees we’ve seen so far. Some lunch and a little nap were great. Our last stretch of 5 miles of the day took us to Long Creek. We found a great camp site but the creek was a steep brier filled 25ft down from camp. We hit bed by 8pm, ate a very romantic dinner in our tiny tent and reminisced about our trek thus far. The temperature dropped quickly so we snugged up and I was out cold soon after.

Lacy
The way we hiked today was so much smarter. I felt so much stronger today and more hydrated which makes all the difference in the world. Knocking out 17 miles in a day is closer to what we hoped but we still need work. We keep seeing these tiny white butterflies with orange tips that make me smile. The best part of my day was about 6pm when the sun started to set and we came around a bend to wide mountain vista. My eyes welled up with happy tears.