Day 6
Published:
Today was a day of many firsts: first marathon (in fact my phone says I walked exactly 26.2 miles, though my map shows that I ended at 119.6 for 28.4 miles on the day), first 100 miles done, first shower and laundry, first wildflowers, first gross water.
I’ll keep it brief because I’m tired. After waking up to another magnificent sunrise I practically ran thinking I would catch one of the early risers I knew from the huge number of campsites near the water cache where I slept. I didn’t. After refilling my water and watching a lady wash her pee cloth in the water tank (what the fuck), I briefly chatted with two Australians before salllying forth.
After walking for quite some time through boring cow pasture (the first time hitherto), I made it to Eagle Rock, which is exactly what you think it is:
Tourists were everywhere. Bailey, one of the Aussies from the last water source, caught up with me and took my photo. We hiked together the rest of the day, mostly through more cow pasture until the end—a beautiful desert grotto and an ascent halfway up a 6000 foot mountain. He’s in great shape from having just hiked the TA in New Zealand so it will be fun to try to keep up tomorrow.
After Eagle Rock, we showered and siestaed at the Warner Springs community center: hiker heaven. Showers, laundry, junk food, you name it. It was glorious.
The hike afterward was uneventful except for the fact that I ran out of water for the first time, a frightening but ultimately benign experience.
