We had a beautiful skyfull of stars last night!  It felt so good to be back on the PCT, even though I was really tired.  We were up at 5:00 am so as to be able to hike “in the cool” as long as possible, and the early morning light was lovely in the east, lighting up the desert. 

Most of the day, the trail was basically easy going (with just a few “killer” uphills).  This was a good thing, because I still felt very weak and shaky, and with so much food and water to carry, my pack was still heeeeavy.  To add to the difficulty,  having spent the last 2 weeks basically at sea level, and then being here at 5,000-6,000 feet with no time to acclimate was hard, too.  Bill was often way out ahead of me and had to stop and wait, which made me feel very frustrated. 

 But the PCT was full of interesting things today— desert views to the east, ridges with windmills, rugged mountains.  We walked by a lot of windmills, actually, all of them perched on top of very steep ridges.  The trees were mostly digger pine, and there were desert plants mixed in with them.  In the earlier part of the morning, we came across bunny rabbits running around and playing right on the trail, which was very cute!

But as the morning progressed, I became more and more discouraged and worried about my slow speed.  Usually I can hike right along, even up hills.  Not today.  I had to keep stopping for a rest, and on hills, there were times I wondered if I would make it to the top.  I had figured out our food based on making at least 23 miles a day, and it didn’t look like that was going to happen.  The giardia/whatever it was wiped me out more than I had realized.

At lunch we were enjoying a spectacular view of Cache Peak when a Navy jet came roaring and twisting up the canyon, below the windmills! Whee!  On we went into the afternoon, and I was surprised to see how many wildflowers were still blooming.  There were plenty of an orange-red poppy-type flower, Indian paintbrush, and even some larkspur and Mariposa lilies.

At Golden Oak spring we took on more water and treated it with GSE. Hope it works! (GSE = Grapefruit Seed Extract, recommended by Meadow Mary). By suppertime at 5:00pm I was so totally wiped out and discouraged at being “slow”, that I ended up adding a few tears to my food.  Bill is very patient when I get sniffly, and I always tell him “It’s a girl thing.  I’ll be OK.” 

By 7:00 I could barely put one foot in front of the other and was eagerly looking for a campsite.  But bummer–there was a fair amount of private property right by the trail, so our options were limited.  Finally we found a spot on nice soft oak duff, in the trees, with just enough wind to keep the mosquitoes away, and best of all, right near the 600 mile “mark” on the PCT. When I calculated our mileage, I could not believe it–26.4 miles, even though I was so slow.  Man, did that make me feel better!  And then when Bill and I did our nightly Bible reading, which always begins with a Psalm, we came to Psalm 33, which is totally awesome and VERY encouraging.  So tired or not,  I am now feeling very much better!

Walk to Lórien: Windy day in mountains near Rivendell