Tuesday , September 3rd

Tuesday, September 3rd. Day 77

Today's miles = 27 Total CDT miles = 1,155.3

I didn't quite make it the 30 miles to the water source today but I made it pretty darn close. The water is 3.3 miles from where I am camped tonight.

This morning leaving camp I had 15.4 pounds of water on my back on top of all the weight of my gear and four and a half days of food. It wad a miserable weight to carry. It was a miserable trail to hike today. And it was a miserable sun to do it all in. It was almost unbearably hot today in the sun and with there being absolutely NO natural shade I turned to my trusty umbrella to better the situation. Unfortunately, the desert is a very windy place and it prevented me from using the umbrella as much as I would have liked. Yesterday I got a bit too much sun on my arms and I was sure suffering from it today. I invested in a short sleeve shirt in Lander and my only long sleeve at this point is a thermal. I had nothing to put over my arms that would have also been suitable for the desert heat. So, I wore my rain jacket backwards so that only my arms were covered by it. It worked in protecting my arms from further burn but it was hot!

By 5 pm I had hiked 20 miles and was exhausted from the hike but mostly from the heat and lack of water. I tried to ration my water as best I could but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that no matter how well I rationed I just didn't have enough water. I did my best to hike through the dehydration but only made it 7 more miles, 3 miles short of that glorious water. One of the main reasons I stopped for the night was the thunderstorm brewing in the distance. Two nights in a row in a land where it typically only rains once a year, I got rained on!  I set up my tent on piles of decayed cow shit yet again in the dark and rain.

I went to bed before I had a chance to eat. It was already 10:30 pm, I hadn't eaten or drank in hours and miles and I was too weak and thirsty to bother with food. I curled up in my sleeping bag and went to bed with a thirst I had forgotten was possible since after the desert on the PCT.
I couldn't wait to sleep because it meant that when I woke I would only be 3 miles (one hour) away from precious water.