Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman left early this morning. Snow Monkey has a job interview in New Jersey they need to go home for. So today, they had to hike a whole day of miles before the afternoon when they get picked up. At some absurdly early hour in the morning (like 3a), they were woken up by six raccoons. I think they decided it was as good of an alarm clock as anything else and headed out.
We, however, did not. We slept until 6:30a and left around 7:30a. We hiked up into the sunrise. Today the forest was unusually filled with chipmunk activity. Usually I’ll see several throughout the day, but today they seemed to be everywhere. One even saw us, ran just into the woods, then decided to come and check us out. He walked right up to my foot. I wanted to see what he would do, but I got nervous. He ran away when I shifted. Another darted in between our feet. He was being chased off for stepping into someone’s territory.
It was a warm day somewhere in the high 80’s or low 90’s. When we came to a road crossing we saw stores down the street and decided to get a cold soda. We were right at the edge of a lake community. We sat in a parking lot looking out at the water because it was the closest we could get to the lake without trespassing. It was nice. We hiked on for another five miles until lunch. Lunch was at the top of a mountain under a pavilion. I could have napped there, but knew it would put me out for the rest of the day. We still had ten miles to hike. Sleep walking isn’t a viable option, so we left before I could be too tempted to fall asleep.
It was a windy day. I enjoyed listening to the breeze, it cleared my mind. When I needed to engage my brain, we turned on podcasts. It was around 8p when we got into camp. This late time is starting to be the normal. An early start and late end seems to be the way you can fit in large mile days. It took us an hour to set up camp, make and eat dinner, and go to bed. We are both exhausted. Our bodies are tired and they hurt. My feet are especially bad right now. I’ve switched to my new shoes and new inserts. I just need a little time to adjust.
Photo Above: Veterans Monument in New Jersey
Whenever my feet hurt I think about poor Lotus and the month long struggle she went through trying to find a solution to her foot pain. We checked in with Atlas and Lotus again to see where they are at. We hoped they would be able to catch up soon. Lotus is now fighting migraines. So they took some time for those to clear up. Poor lady. I hope she starts feeling better soon. I want to share this adventure with her!
-ansel