July 7th

Journal entry by Jenna

Howard Lake, 12 noon
Weather: sunny and hot (85 in the shade)
Stuck in my head: old Beck

Tom and I got up at 6:30, had a cold breakfast and packed up camp. I slept like a rock last night, but when morning came I felt like I could have used a few more hours of sleep. We hit the trail and put in a nice, quick 8 miles before resting for lunch. We detoured to a lake where we rinsed our socks, and waded in to cool of a bit. This morning I rolled my ankle and fell on my knee (now it is scraped up and matches Tom's knee- he fell out of a pickup that gave us a ride yesterday). I am feeling pretty good, but I am starting to feel my feet. Our goal is 20 miles today- which means 12 more before sunset (a bit daunting).


South Brown Mountain Shelter, 8:07pm
Weather: cooling off a bit- practically comfortable

My feet are screaming, I am exhausted, and I cant seem to get enough food in me, but Tom and I just completed our first 20 mile day! I feel great (mentally, that is. Physically, I feel like I just hiked 20 miles). The pain started to kick in around mile 16, but we prevailed! And we are rewarded with a shelter- complete with wooden "beds", 4 walls, a well, and a wood stove (this is our second night on the trail, and the accomodations have been pretty cushy thus far).

I am very grateful for my am/fm radio, too- it really helped pass the time. Tom and I sang along a lot and enjoyed having something to focus on besides the miles (and we averaged a bit over 2 miles/hour). It's a good feeling knowing that today was one of the hardest days we are going to have until after Crater Lake (with combined heat, mileage, and pack weight). It was HOT today- 95 in the shade and if the sunshine wasnt blasting us, the mosquitos moved in. It was a great day in all though- I am really proud of us. We saw some mountain prairies, lots of forest (with huge pinecones!) and got some great views of Mount Shasta. We cooked up pasta for dinner and ended up making this huge pasta mass in the pot- partially burned to the bottom and surrounded by a thick, pudding-like mucus of starchy water (thats what happens when you dont add enough liquid to corn pasta). When I tried to drain it, everything wanted to move together. But it was delicious.

I have some major pinky toe blisters that have doubled the size of my toes, so I hope they cool down a bit overnight. I am nervous about how I will feel tomorrow, but my muscles are already starting to quiet down. We got so dirty and dusty today. Aparently the mesh on my shoes doesnt keep anything out (I am dealing with a case of super dirty toes).