Day 92: Grumpy old men and women

Day 92 – 8/4/16

2006.16 to 2027.11

Total miles: 20.95

I slept pretty good last night. I woke up a few times but was able to fall asleep again quickly. I of course was up at 5 but the group agreed on 6. Since we are only doing 20ish miles I didn’t feel the need to be up at 5 like I used to. I kept waking up every 10 minutes and finally by 5:45 I started getting up. I always seem to grunt and moan when I get up. Later Jeremy told Tami and Mayfly that I “was making old man noises.” I told them I’m 30 going on 80.

I got out of my tent and walked over to a tree and that’s when a deer leaped out from behind a tree about 10 feet away. It looked at me and licked its lips while I peed. I told her she could come have all the salty urine she wanted once I’m done. I finished packing up and we were all on the trail again by 6:45.

Once again we were going through a major burn area. So many burned and dead trees. There must have been a massive fire that ripped through here several years ago. We made our way through the burn and came across an overlook on a lake. Mayfly said she had to go to the loo and that she would catch up.

We hiked on and the trail was fairly nice. A few ups and downs but not too bad. We stopped at a lake around 9 to have a snack break and get some nice and tasty lake water. We stayed for a bit and then made our way around the lake and into some actual trees.

For a bit. Then it was more burn. The next water was about 6 miles away at Shale lake where we planned to stop for lunch. It was hard to regulate my speed especially since I was in front. So I motored ahead and was at the lake about 10 minutes before anyone else. I sat on my pad and ate some lunch. Everyone showed up and sat down in the shade next to me.
Tami went off and got into the lake and Mayfly washed her feet. Tami came back and helped Jeremy with his blisters. She is a professional at preventing blisters and has this huge multiple step process. We fixed his feet and by that time two hours had gone by. Long break!

We get up and start hiking up yet trail when I hear my tracker ding with a message. I knew it was my mom wondering why I hadn’t moved for 2 hours. I had Jeremy had me the tracker and sure enough I was right. I reply back along with the security question answer of the day. We hike on. Only 7 miles to our campsite.

After an hour I start feeling the digestive system is moving. I hike ahead of the others until they are out of sight and sneakily slip off the trail. I see them pass by as I’m digging my hole. I finish my important business and quickly catch up to them in a few minutes. I’m walking behind Tami for almost 5 minutes before she realizes I’m there. 5 Star used to do this to me all the time. Or wait until I was passing by to come out of the bushes growling.

We come to a junction for a creek thats a bit off trail and talk to some section hikers. There is a bigger creek  2 miles away so we decide to just go to that one since we all still have water.

We get to the creek and it’s hot. So hot. As I’m sitting on the rocks filtering my butt is on fire. I dip my hat in the creek which helps a bit with how hot it is. We are less than 2 miles away and Jeremy leads the way. About a quarter mile in he tells me he needs to bury some pinecones. I told him I would see him in a mile and three quarters. The trail then begins a pretty decent climb. Mayfly also says she has to visit the loo after half a mile.

We get about half a mile from the campsite and I start feeling bad. I get these weird anxiety attacks if I have dejavu type flashback. It’s very strange. I stop after a minute and sit down. Tami is behind me and says I’m looking at a huckleberry bush. I tell her about my mini anxiety moment and she picks some berries and gives them to me. So good! Mayfly shows up and she also eats some huckleberries. I get up after a couple minutes and follow behind them. We get to a junction and I make an arrow out of sticks for Jeremy.
We get to the campsite and it’s right next to a decent size pond. The area is kind of rocky and only enugh room for three tents. I see behind some trees another flat area for a tent. We sit down and wait for Jeremy. He shows up 10 minutes later and I say I’ll set up back behind the trees since my tent’s footprint with the guy lines takes up about an acre. I start singing “All by myself.” We set up our tents and then sit and eat in the main area.

We tell stories about trail shenanigans and laugh about feeling old with our sore joints and moaning. We decide we need old people names. Tami says I’m a Walter. Jeremy goes with Gus. Mayfly is Gladys. Tami is Ethel. We keep joking about it and decided Jeremy is now Old Man Gus. Which then evolves in to Mangus. By this time it is getting late so I creep through the trees to my lonely tent.

Allll by myself!