Today was a rather uneventful day, but as always, tough again. I slept in, wanting to give my body a good rest, and was hiking around 0700. Having to leave the wildlife preserve was a shame, but since I was running out of food and there were no options to resupply there, staying an extra day was not an option. Otherwise I would have seriously considered it. In the morning my ankle was feeling lots better than last night, but I was not yet assured of the healing process. After all I hadn’t hiked any miles yet. As a precaution I taped it up again, and set out. Today the trail would follow Mission Creek for the better part of the day. This meant carrying a minimum water-load, which was a big relief. Alleviating the weight on my legs. The downside was that the creek runs through the valley. And valleys don’t get wind. So at 0700 I was already sweating heavily in the merciless sun. ‘Early miles – Easy miles‘ did not apply today. The trail briefly climbed out into the hills and over a crest, which was tough, but nice to catch some cool airflow. The trail dropped back down into the valley however, and would stay there the remainder of the day. There where the creek flowed, the vegetation boomed, oasis-like. As if hiking along, and through a green belt in the desert.
My ankle was hanging in there, and I was thankful that it was not getting worse. I stopped often for drink-breaks and I believe today was the day I probably drank the most while on trail so far. Because I was sweating heavily non-stop, I dunked a sachet of re-hydration salts into one of my water-bottles, just in case. I wanted to relieve my ankle as much as possible, so I opted to hike slowly today. This meant however I had to cut my breaks short, taking many mini-breaks. Getting 20 miles in would put me in a good position to get into the next town (Big Bear Lake, now 48 miles away). I hoped to get there somewhere around lunchtime the day after tomorrow. In the end I managed 18.2 miles, which considering my situation, I was happy with. This leaves 30 miles to tackle, to be split over 2 days. In Big Bear Lake I plan to take another zero. This section has proven to be tough on the body.
Many people decide not to zero early into their hike. I figure that its probably the period where you’re most prone to get injured (my body is giving plenty of signals to be careful). So I figure some extra recovery early into my hike will go a long way. Plus I’m excited to explore the town, apparently it’s supposed to be great fun. I’m camped alone in a wooded area overlooking a dried up riverbed, at mile 236.
Follow me close
It’s gonna be a long way to travel through life
And knowing that,
It’s so illogical
Steady it goes
It’s gonna be a hard one to see what you find
And knowing that,
It’s so illogical
An Endless Summer – Tom Delonge
