I woke at dawn and found frost and snow slushies on my tent where the rain water had collected the night before. I finally started packing up and could see my breath inside of the tent. I tried shaking out the walls but all the snow slush was just stuck inside. I figured I can dry it out later and let it melt in my pack so I stuffed it on top and put on my frozen tennies and gloves. Ouch. It was so cold it was hurting real bad.
It was such a nice morning to see blue sky and clouds.
I hiked out to warm up just as the sun was coming out and burning off the clouds. It was such a nice morning, especially to see sun! I love hearing all the birds sing their songs. My toes were finally thawing out. I kept wondering to myself where Kristen and GB were. It's always kind of sad when you don't end up seeing each other for like 1.5 days. By nineish, I found a good spot to dry out all my things. I was so happy to get everything dried and finish off my last part of the day. I've decided to split my day in half. Hike up until lunch and take a long break before knocking out the rest of my mileage. I went down to the creek to get some water. This was our first "ford." Aka just step over some rocks to get across the stream. Seems easy enough, but I ended up stepping on an unstable rock and dunked my feet straight into the water. I was so sad! I had JUST dried everything out for an hour. So I went and sat back down and dried what I could but carried on. When I fell in, this guy laughed at me and then when he went across I saw him dunk his boots in too. Not sure what his deal was.
My favorite kind of sky.
I walked with soggy feet for the rest of the day. I found out I got my very first blister today on my pinky toe. All of the wet shoes finally got to me after 20 days. The San Bernardino Mountains are sooo pretty. The weather was perfect with clouds and just the right temperature. There were a lot of burned trees and overgrown bushes but the views were amazing. It was like we were walking through half mountains and half desert. I finally got a hold of Kristen and GB and told them to meet me at the Deep Creek Bridge. I went there and took another 1.5 hour break and ate cold mashies, summer sausage, cheese and Cheetos wrapped in a tortilla. It was SO good. Cold mashies were not bad at all. I am pretty stoked on how good they taste! All of the food I've resupplied with have been so yummy. It was starting to get super cold so I hiked on.
After mile 300, I started looking for a site but there was none. And looking at the map, I would be on a ridge for the next seven miles or so. I just wanted to set up camp! Then I looked at my guide and it said there were some sites by the creek down the unpaved road. I walked down and decided to pitch because I was so tired. It took forever because the ground was all hard from loose rocks. I can't wait to get my new stakes. I eat a second dinner and Kristen comes up!! I was so happy to see her. We caught up for a bit and now it is bed time! We might have tons of condensation tomorrow since we're right by the creek but it is peaceful listening to the water and crickets.