Day 84
July 11
mile 1208.8-1235
26.2 miles

I didn’t get up until 6:54, which was very late for a thru-hiker, but I really needed the sleep- especially after my bad night in Sierra City. I had poptarts with my coffee for breakfast, and as I was sitting up in my sleeping bag, the two guys I had seen the evening before walked by and waved.
When I caught up to them later, they said that I was only one of two people that they had seen in the last two days! They were wondering if everyone else had quit! I told them that there were a lot of people in Sierra City, which they had bypassed.
The views were beautiful in the morning. Blue lakes shimmered in the distance and the trail was lined with evergreens. I had a nice view for my first break of the day!

For lunch, I sat on a rock in the woods and ate some salami, Tanya’s pistachios, and a Skickers bar for dessert. I later emerged at a dirt road to find one of the two guys doing push-ups! (Whatever floats your boat…)
The trail climbed again and I walked by some beautiful white lilies, which I love the smell of and watched some butterflies flittering on the ground together as if they were gossiping.

At the top, I noticed that I had reception and received an incredible comment from one of my readers that really brightened my day and lifted my spirits. After reading it, I felt like my life had not been meaningless.

I came to a nice stream and sat down to collect water as two women and a dog came along. One of them asked the other to pull out her water bottle for her. Even with the help, it took an incredibly long time and one of the thru-hikers got held up waiting! As I filtered my water, the dog named Angel, rubbed up against my back.
Although I had several intestinal emergencies, my stomach was not in pain today and I was thankful for that. My body and spirit felt good.
I continued along and ran into a man who was out here for a week to hike and fish, and who had brought his dog with him. He said that he felt guilty that he lived so close to the mountains, but rarely made it out here. He encouraged me to move out there so I could play in the mountains all of the time!
I had a lot of fallen trees to step over today. And although I was pleased with where I had chosen to collect water, I had to carry 2.5 liters for the remaining 8 miles of the day, which was a heavy load! I walked by Red and Andy Dufresne, who were camping along a dirt road and told them that I was going to walk for another hour, as I am not a morning person! When I found the next possible place to camp, I saw a tent set up close-by. It was definitely a thru-hiker tent and when I walked by, I could see a couple inside. I wondered who it was. I kept going as the light faded, hoping there would be something up ahead. Several minutes later, I veered off the trail and found a little secluded place to set up. When I checked my mileage, I realized that I had hiked a full marathon today!

I added some of Tanya’s seaweed, as well as a packet of tuna to my pasta dinner (two things that made the taste more tolerable) and had some peanut butter cups for dessert.
Today I felt good out here and didn’t want to return to Boston- even for a homecoming party with my friends. I wanted to stay on the trail. However, I was still strongly feeling the stress of the number of miles I had to hike for my remaining days out here, and the quickness of my remaining resupply stops.