Dusted off the sleeping bag and packed the ground sheet after a couple hours of sleep. Back on the trail at 7:30.
This wind just never stops. I really, really hate it. Sand keeps pelting me in the face.
I ate my last pop tart on the go, then started feeding on a family size bag of peanut M and M’s. Passed a couple hiking together after a little chat. They caught up with me a couple miles later when I was taking a break. Said they have been finding peanut M&M’s on the trail which they were picking up and eating. Turns out I was leaking a slow dribble. 🙂
Woke up around 3:30 for the next segment. Given the boost from last night, I figured I could take down some big miles. Hit the water cache for a reload and ran into Indigo (the tree counting gal) and Kara again. Sinatra was there stocking up on free food. Some other gal rolled up, sat down in the dirt, and stuck her face into a single serving Nutella cup that our trail angel left us.
Next came a mega climb from 5.3 to 7k over 3 miles. The youngsters passed me on the way up. I’m getting used to that. After this climb I was rewarded with mile after mile of burned out terrain. Used to be a nice forest here. Now it is a bush filled sadness.
This wind will just not stop. I got on some dirt road and started scouting for a camp spot around 8pm. Found some hikers cowboying it in a dismal spot. Moved on. By 9 I was getting a little desperate and settled on a spot under a lone tree around mile 642.
Stopped, and started setting up the tent in this nasty wind. Lost a tent stake when the wind tore the tent out of my hand. Finally got it up. Blew up my air matress, pillow, took off shoes, changed into my sleep clothes and buttoned up.
Laying there the wind is relentless. I can hear the tree crackling. For some reason, the wind is whipping around and hitting my tent violently from opposite sides every 30 seconds to a minute. First it blows from the left and the sides deform to hit me in the face. Then the other side which deforms and hits me in the back of the head. Face…Head….Face….Head…. Screw this.
At 10:30 I reversed the whole process. Deflate the mattress, pillow, change back into hiking clothes, put on my shoes. Take the tent down, put on my puffy, look around for my missing tent stake (never found), pack everything up into my bag, throw a rock at a couple kangaroo mice who I have decided to blame for this mess. I turned my tracker back on and started walking.
Left the dirt road and got back on the trail. I was stumbling around, super tired. Finally I got on the East side of a hill which was blocking some of the wind. Kept looking for spots, but nothing good. Around midnight I finally found a narrow spot that was semi-level between some bushes. Threw down my ground sheet, pad, and fell asleep in my bag.
I figure I’m camping around mile 645. That makes it a ~20 mile day, so I guess that’s good. I need to get back into sync tomorrow. Will this desert shit ever end?