Sunday, August 19th

Sunday, August 19th: Todays miles = 18.5. Total PCT miles = 1635.5. Today was a lazy mileage day. It didn't feel lazy though! I'm not sure what made today so difficult for me. Sometimes you just have those off days. The uphills were a bit steeper than normal but that should not have made that big of a difference.

I didn't get moving until around 8:30 this morning. The bear I saw just before the campsite last night hung out with me most of the night. He was quite curious but definitely timid. It was about 45 minutes after I settled down in my tent that he came moseying around. I could hear him in the distance for a while. It took him a bit of time to gain the courage to come closer to my tent. Eventually he got quite close and began sniffing around me. I was ok with him until I could hear the sniffs. If I can hear you sniffing you are too close, bear! So, I gave a loud bark and he took off stumbling through the trees in a panic making so much noise I'm sure it woke the whole forest up. He was too shy to come close to me again. He hung out at the edge of the trees my campsite was in. Thats when I finally got to sleep.

It didn't rain last night but it did stay quite chilly. It was equally chilly this morning but it warmed up to a comfortable hiking temperature by 10am or so. Today was, despite the low mileage, a good day!

Tonight I am camped with Baboon at a pond at the base of a big climb. I have something to look forward to bright and early tomorrow morning. My plan is to actually wake up early tomorrow and hike 27 miles to Seiad Valley. Its chilly again tonight which I'm ok with because I always sleep the best when its just a bit chilly so I can curl up in my sleeping bag.

As I was filling up my bottles in the pond tonight I saw a beaver swim by. Nothing like beaver fever water! It's great when a beaver is swiming in your water. It was soon after I saw him dive down into the water to go to his dam that I realized he was not swimming in MY drinking water, I was just choosing to drink HIS living water.