Daily Miles: 18
Total Miles: 141
Our perfect weather finally ended today. It started raining before our alarms went off and when we heard thunder we decided to wait another half hour before getting up. By the time we got up, the rain had tapered off, but we all still started out with our rain gear on.
Our feet got soaked within the first minute, because all the plants lining the trail were full of water. The trail was quite slick and muddy, which made for some slow going in steep parts. It never really started raining on us, but we kept our rain gear on for several hours until we finally felt the sun on us.
It started raining again around noon, but stopped after just a half hour and the sun came back out. We found a nice open spot in the sun for our lunch break and took the opportunity to dry out some wet stuff. It felt really nice to sit in the sun after the cold morning.
Mace’s feet are still pretty bad and basically cause him a lot of pain whenever he is standing or walking. It is too bad that they haven’t started to heal up yet, but it is a constant concern.
Beardoh’s knee was bothering him a lot today…to the point where it is hard to bend it. He had tweaked it on the second day on a stream crossing, but it hasn’t been bothering him too much unless we have a steep downhill. However, after yesterday’s barrage of steep ups and downs, his knee was feeling pretty aggravated.
Today’s walking was a mixed bag…some steep ups and downs and a healthy dose of lovely flatish ridge walking. With Beardoh’s bionic eyes, he was able to see some elk and mountain goats on the cliffs in the distant. We see so much moose/elk (we’re not sure which) and bear prints during the day, we are surprised if a day goes by without seeing some big animals.
The afternoon was really nice with blue skies, but by evening, the low grey clouds had rolled back in and it started sprinkling a bit. The terrain at the end of the day was so thick and steep it was hard to find a place suitable for Mace’s tent. But, we finally found a good spot and we are all set up before any rain comes.
Our feet are really feeling the effects of being in wet shoes and socks all day. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a sunny day tomorrow.
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