So smokey was up and gone before I had even opened my eyes! We left camp at at around 7am. It was 12 miles to the road and we were hoping legend might be there.
We played games all morning and after 8 miles got water and had some food because I was starving. The whole day was up and down, five and a half thousand feet of elevation gain and five and a half thousand feet of elevation loss over the day.
4 more mile to the road and…there was no one there. So, we carried on, up a big exposed climb that was really hot. And I ran out of water. Cool breeze shared his but that was soon gone too. We had 5 miles until the next water. When we were half a mile away we saw and heard the cows and their bells. My first thought was for my precious water, if there was any evidence of cow in the water I would be most displeased! We saw Smokey sat in the shade, got some (cow free) water and sat and had a chat. That afternoon we would come across many streams with great water.
We saw Smokey again down the trail collecting water, we moved on through the gentle rolling trail that contoured the mountains. We stopped to get water, Smokey caught up. That’s how it is on the trail. We then had a big climb which we could see in front of us. Through the burn area so no shade.
There was the distant sound of thunder and we could see a storm rolling in behind us. Around the corner we were greeted with another long uphill trail. We continued on through the forest.
We came across a group of young girls who asked us where we were hiking to. We said Canada and they were incredulous. Maybe we have planted a seed in one of them and they may take on the trail someday.
More and more uphill that seemed to go on forever. Burnt trees and rumbles of thunder. Were we walking toward the storm or away from it?
At the top of the hill we saw a rainbow peaking through the clouds. A huge bolt of lightening came down and struck the ground and it didn’t look very far away. We needed to get off the exposed rocky ridge so we hurried down to our intended camp site just off the trail at Paynes lake.
The lake was beautiful and completely hidden from the trail. We set up camp and had a delicious noodle dinner.
We noticed a deer roaming around so we made sure everything was completely tucked away tonight. My pee rag already has about 13 holes in it! A really dirty dusty day on the trail. 26 miles. It has been warm and dry for a while so I have been sleeping without the fly on my tent. I fall asleep gazing up at the stars.
Tomorrow we go to Etna to resupply our food.
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Adventure with purpose.
785 million people globally don't have access to clean water. That's 1 in 10 people. In 2020 this is not ok.
I fundraise for Just a Drop in the hope that if I walk thousands of miles for clean water then the people who need to won’t have to. Find out more
Alex, every morning I check your blog in hope you have updated it. I love reading about your adventure so much, always so amazing to read and it sets me up for a good day!
I hope one day I can experience something as wonderful as what you are now.
Looking forward to reading more and following you to the end…. x
Wowzer! You are going like gangbusters!! And you both look great considering the mileage! Like to know how many shoes you have gone through! Enjoying living my life vicariously through your blog enjoying everything except the bugs and sometimes your food—-understanding how you miss family!!
Hi Alex, just started following your journey via Instagram. I’ve spent the last two evenings reading your blog…it’s like a good book I can’t put down! Looking forward to reading more! You’re doing something many of us have only dreamed about doing… Keep on keepin on!