Date: 10/16/20
Daily Miles: 21
Total Miles: 2021
Since we had fallen asleep by 8:00pm last night, we were mostly awake and just tossing and turning by 4:00am. But we still stayed in our sleeping bags until it was light out at 6:45am. Not sure we’ll wait so long again, since our backs really bother us by morning time from sleeping on the ground.
We had just two miles to walk for water this morning. It was really clear water in a tire tank. Since it wasn’t too chilly out, we decided to do laundry at this tank. We had cell service there as well, so we took a few minutes to do some work before continuing on.
The landscape today felt pretty desolate. Not really any shade to speak of…mostly just pokey bushes. We did see our first barrel cactus and our first ocotillo of the trip. Interesting to see that they are just now showing up when we feel we have been walking through the desert for days now.
For most of the day the wind was blowing quite hard. We were really thankful for the wind, as it kept us cool even though the sun was pretty intense. Of course, the wind meant that Beardoh’s new umbrella stayed packed away in his backpack, but he wasn’t complaining since the wind helped keep things cool.
In the afternoon, it seemed like the sign posts started to be closer together. In addition to just being easier to spot, the closeness also seemed to help create a visible path from all the hikers just walking the same path. When the sign posts are half a mile apart, hikers can weave around a variety of different bushes, therefore not compounding their footprints into one route. Having the signs closer together means that folks are more likely to follow the same path and to wear that path into something almost resembling a trail.
We went by another CDTC water cache today. There must have been around 40 gallons of water! Since folks don’t need to rely on the caches, it seems like that amount of water could last almost an entire season.
Luckily the wind died down after dinner, so it is not a problem to cowboy camp again tonight. We can tell already that it is going to be cooler than last night. But the stars are out and the sky is clear…should be a good night.
During a break today, it became apparent how strangely different the soles of our shoes are wearing. Sweet peas soles look almost new still, while Beardoh soles look dead worn out and rubbed raw. The strange thing is that we got these shoes at the same time in Gila Hot Springs New Mexico. Just a couple hundred miles back. The shoes are even the same brand and model. Both are Brooks Cascadia’s. One key difference is that Beardoh has the 13 model and sweet pea has the newer 14 model.
And we saw our first javelina of the trip today!
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