PCT SOBO DAY 131 – Tension

Julian – tent site 
21.4 miles.
4830ft up. 1875ft down.

We got a shuttle service to pick us up at 6:30am. As always, waking up from the second night in town is difficult. But we were back on the trail by 7. The wind and rain had been replaced with crisp blue skies.

The rain had dampened down all the sand making it easier to walk on. It was a climb for most of the day but a very gentle one. The view was much the same for most of the morning as we climbed up the side of the mountains.

Nothing particularly eventful happened today and I listened to my audiobook for most of it. Occasionally my mind would drift off and I would have to repeat some chapters. We saw a guy called Jameson with all of his stuff spread out in the sun, everything, even his toilet roll was drying! He was caught in the storm with strong wind and sideways rain. We definitely made the right decision to wait it out, especially as today is such a beautiful day.

We wanted to make it at least 18 miles today and when I had reached 17 by 2:30 as it was nice easy walking, I made a plan to go a bit further. When Catwater caught up around 3pm we had our first sort of argument. I suggested doing 4.5 more miles in 2 hours which was totally achievable, but she said she couldn’t do it. There was a campsite listed in 1 mile but I said I wasn’t going to camp at 3:30 because it was too early. So she said I could do whatever I wanted and she would do whatever she wanted. So I hiked on. I had waited for her for half an hour but that didn’t seem to count for much.

Stupid stuff to argue about. Especially when we have hiked over 1400 miles together and we are 3 days / 55 miles from finishing. But I’m sure fatigue and exhaustion had their part to play. Small things become big things out here. I angry hiked the next 4.5 miles and bashed them out in an hour and a half. I set up my tent as the sun was setting and it was starting to get really cold.

Catwater arrived 15 minutes after I did. She didn’t talk to me. I was frustrated with myself for getting annoyed earlier but I didn’t think I had done anything that bad so I asked what was up and we talked it out. She told me that I make her feel really slow because I’m always in front. I guess the last 1400 miles of patience, encouragement, flexibility and positivity have just been overlooked. I have a little cry in my tent. This isn’t how I wanted it to end.

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I’m walking thousands of miles for Just A Drop because everyone should have access to clean water. Please donate here, every little bit helps.

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