Today saw another long walk through wetlands. Whereas yesterday the walking was along doubled planks laid end to end, today’s was on a four foot wide boardwalk where the boards ran perpendicular to line of travel. It was fun.
Around 11 I stopped at a farm bakery. There was a lot of touristy stuff to buy (jams, bespoke pasta etc.) but what little there was ready made to eat was super expensive. I settled on a small $12.50 quiche with a 50% off sticker. It was nice to have a mid morning snack but not as tasty or filling as the last few days.
Bull came towards the farm just as I left. He and Ghost have to do 25 mile days today and tomorrow because they have a train to NYC to catch on Friday. A couple of hours later the two of them passed me as I ate my lunch.
I didn’t feel up to 25 today, partly because of the heat, and partly because my right hip is hurting. I think it is caused by my having tightened my waist belt on the backpack too tight a few days ago and bruising the muscle or tendon on the side right below the hip bone. Hopefully a couple more days of slightly lower mileage and being careful about how tightly I cinch the strap will clear it up.
After the farm there was the boardwalk followed by the Stairway to Heaven. Translation: challenging clamber over many rock steps up a steep hill to some views. Calling it a stairway was probably to make the clinb sound less daunting.
I ran into Josef around 4:30, he was sitting beside Furnace River, which is really just a stream. Since he went 3 miles further than me yesterday he wanted to keep going to a stream a couple of miles further. Both streams had FarOut comments about nearby tentsites. But the comment for Furnace Creek were more convincing so I decided to stay here.
There’s a vireo singing above me and the sound of a waterfall down the hill so it’s quite pleasant, but it would have been nice to have company. I haven’t seen any of the other hikers from last night, so I guess they aren’t traveling as far on a daily basis.
Tomorrow may be challenging. Highs expected around 31C with lots of humidity and afternoon rain. Summer is a cumin in.
Mile 1354.8 to mile 1371.9 = 17.1 miles
View from the top after climbing the stairway to heaven. The farm I ate at is near the right side.