31 miles
Got to camp late. 830 PM or so, the sun was setting. So many trees today and one cool mountain, I'd like to climb someday. Also, only one water source all day. That's why we pulled big miles to make it to the next one and not have to carry for dinner too. A 26 mile dry section, from the rim village with a possible 2 water caches and then a 16 mile dry section after a creek. Rough day, but not as rough as I expected. Still standing and not dragging into camp, still okay. I could go further if I needed to but very glad to be done for the day. Tarp set up and I have water and food has been eaten. All my needs are met, time for bed. I love how simple life is. Walk. Find water. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Although this endless Oregon tree tunnel is getting a little old. I don't really like walking big mile days through a flat trail with boring trees. I want big ridges and passes and snow fields and rock scrambling and route finding and something interesting to tackle. Not flat paths and boring trees where I run out of things to think about and every mile looks exactly the same. I'm sorry Oregon but so far besides Crater Lake you haven't been particularly mesmerizing, I just want to run to the Cascades. Also the mosquitoes are back. They are faster and more sneaky in Oregon.
Also my hands are in a bad way, they are chaffing on my trekking poles.I also have a few spots where the skin has blistered and came off from the poles.... They seems to be hanging in there though, they've been more or less in the same state since leaving the Sierra and don't seem to be getting worse. The side of my heel calluses have blisters forming slowly underneath them.They have been coming and going the whole time too. Annoying and painful but not the end of the world. I've put a hole in my shirt, apparently there was a seam on my pack that was a tiny bit rough and it wore through my shirt on one side before I found it and patched up the rough spot. Oh well, the shirt has more character now. My pack has been holding up nicely but one of the free poles poked out of it's spot and now there is a little piece of wood holding it in place until I can get a hold of a mini binder clip to solve the issue. My filter is running a bit slow so I'm going to change it out soon, the new system I've come up with should save me a few ounces and a lot of time so I'm excited for that. My feet hurt but that's to be expected. All in all, I think it's going well.
