By the time I got out of my tent, Mayo had left and the other 2 folks were packing up. I spent some extra time doing stretches and, after the last one left, found a nice vista for a morning constitution.  

We camped around mile 587 last night. Didn’t have much of an objective today, just wanted to make the next water and see what else I could do. Unfortunately it turned out to be a rough day.

Started at about 5k feet and the trail is generally a long exposed mild upward climb for a while. These loud windmills seem to never go away. There are not that many of them, it is just that the trail seems to keep coming back to the same area. Had to blast the headphones to get that grinding sound out of my head.

Before Hamp Williams Pass at around 594, the trail turned vicious. Steep, exposed climb up to 5.8, down to the Pass, then another slog up to 6.2k at 597.5. I stopped for a some brunch at 10:30 with a couple of folks (Pinata and Sour Straws). Temp on my thermometer was 92 and climbing. By the time I reached the second peak, I was covered in sweat and could not keep up on the water intake. Shin splint on the right leg was killing me from the brief down hills.

Time for a change in tactics. Around noon, I found a nice shady spot under a tree, threw down my pad and went to sleep.

It is hard to describe water anxiety when the temps are pushing 100 degrees. Middle of the day, Out of water, leg hurting, still carrying at least 35 pounds, and relief is 4 miles away. Only solution is to reach down and grab some grit.

If I had the water, I’d have stayed longer. By this point I was down to 1 liter and getting worried. Still another 4 or 5 miles to Robin Bird Spring. So, back on the trail.

The trail joins some crappy dirt road to a private residence. There are lots of “No Trespassing” and “No Water” signs next to the structures here. I expected to see some bearded guy with a shotgun standing guard. Didn’t see a single hiker and pulled the last water from my bladder 2 miles from the spring. No love in this stretch.

Reached Robin Bird around 3:30. I’m pissing dark yellow and I’m super dehydrated. Bunch of hikers laying around, some of whom are packing up to do some late hiking. Shade and water. Paradise.

I setup my tent and then spent the rest of the day drinking, eating, and sleeping. I pounded at least 4 liters before nightfall. Was dozing in my tent when a couple and another dude setup next to me. The couple wanted to start a fire. The dude was like “I think that is a really bad idea…the wind is going to blow embers into our tents”. It went back and forth for a while but I figured he was going to win the argument, so I went back to sleep. There was no fire thankfully.

I did a pathetic ~14 miles today. Need a better plan tomorrow.