Project Eveningland

6/15/2023 Thursday

What a pleasant sleep. Temps were cool in the morning and I got up early to eat breakfast, then went back to bed (in the tent) for 90 minutes. I had great cell service and treated myself to reading the news with breakfast.

Yesterday Sunshine and I deliberated while we were at the 501 Shelter and decided that we think Neil’s trail name should be “Thirst Trap.” He likes it, so it’s official. Or it is as long as he wants it to be.

The path was challenging right away from a tread perspective, but there was hardly any elevation gain or loss until the very end of the day. I felt quite good this morning and got in more miles than usual by lunch. The rocks are still beating the hell out of my feet. The left is always the sorer one but I took more breaks in the afternoon to massage my feet.

Later in the day I passed through a scar created by prescribed burns. The green of the underbrush struck a bright contrast to the blacks and browns of the aftermath.

Those oceans of fern! I felt like a king queen striding down the promenade, the breezy ripples of green on either side framing the scene. Mine eyes have been opened to the majesty of the mighty fern! I hope Ben reads this and fills the house with ferns before I return. Low shedding ones if possible.

Other than two groups of weekenders headed southbound (dads and sons from the looks of it), I saw no one all day. There was a clean, well-organized water cache early in the day and it’s a good thing, because I missed several opportunities and couldn’t find the last water source before town I’d been seeking. I had to hike a few miles dry at the end of the day.

A few years ago when I first started long-distance backpacking, I developed a little thing I say to myself when I’m feeling hard done by. Maybe a path has been horrid and rocky. Maybe a vital plan fell through. Maybe the weather is just horrible. So I say, in the manner of a teenager, “I deserve a zero for this!”

This time I deserve a zero because I hiked ten days without a day off! How did that happen? I guess some of the adjustments I’ve been making have paid off. Let’s see if things improve on the joint-and-tendon front in 100 miles when the worst of the rocks abate for a little while.

I’ll get picked up this Sunday, on Day 124, by my parents. I’ll spend four days reviewing page proofs for my book (Arguing Identity and Human Rights: Among Rival Options—coming this September from Routledge).