DAY 111: TRINITY ALPS

miles: 30

Camped at Chilcoot Creek last night (deer and fawn heaven!) and were aiming for another 30-mile day today. In the morning, smoke had settled down in the valley where we camped and it was rather alarming. My first thought was, "Is there a new fire somewhere?" but it was just the residual smoke from existing fires nearby.

first "heavy snacking" break of the day after 10 miles. 

Today we split the day up into thirds, like we have been doing, which seems to work rather well. We do 10 miles, take a heavy snacking break, do 8-10 more and eat lunch, then do 10 more. This 30-mile a day thing is working and I want to keep it that way.

Did 20 miles by 2:00pm! There was rumor of an important creek being contaminated by a dead cow, so we crossed our fingers as we made our way towards it... it was a crucial water source for us and we were thirsty! This was one hot day.

Met up with Nurse Betty at the creek (no dead cow) and lunched there as inquisitive day-hikers came through and riddled us with questions. On a good day, when we are in a good mood, chatting with day hikers about our journey is fun and we love talking with them, but on a bad day... we tend to keep the conversation short. We don't mean to be rude, but sometimes, when you are exhausted/in pain/mentally DONE, the last thing you want to do is engage in conversation. It's almost as if they are invading your privacy in a way, when you are attempting to hide/shut down and you cannot escape the conversation. Granted... they do not know know what we've been through, cannot read minds and know how we are feeling, and mean well, but sometimes we just don't want to talk. There is no personal space out here. In real life, if you want some alone time to decompress you can retreat to your home and/or bedroom to be alone, but out here, you are constantly on display and are expected to constantly be "on", which is tough sometimes. Typically I do well with this, but there ARE days when I just want to hide.

Today was a good day, so I was happy to answer questions and chat with the numerous day hikers we met, and we met a lot. We even crossed paths with a trail crew who offered us cold beer back at their camp site (Thanks for the offer, if you are reading this!) but we moved on because there was a climb coming up and we wanted to get it over with.

We officially entered the Trinity Alps Wilderness!

Leaving the crags behind.

Granite!

After lunch, it was suddenly, surprisingly, ALL UPHILL! I was feeling motivated and energized so I took off first and literally powered up the climb in no time at all.

This was one of my favorite afternoons of hiking - entering the Trinity Alps, traversing the red rocks and granite, and winding through cliffs.

These rocks.

Can you spot him?