agua dulce!

the trail angels/legends donna and jeff saufley are running at full capacity now as the big push is coming through. i arrived yesterday and last night was their first night of 50 hikers. it's amazing to watch the efficiency of this place, and how it allows everyone to relax in the midst of apparent chaos.

there seem to have been more bugs lately. sometimes while i'm hiking the little gnats that love my eyes and nose drive me crazy, leading me to take extreme measures - waving my poles erratically in front of my face as i walk, tying my bandanna over my mouth, yelling at them, etc. and there've been mosquitoes lately too, even when dry camping. i still prefer sleeping out in the open, but the other night i had to set my tent up in the middle of the night to get some sleep.

i had my friend john mail a new pair of shoes to me here, and there are few things more exciting to a thru-hiker than new shoe day. the shoes i've been wearing have been great, and i was pretty happy to get 450 miles out of my first pair since they're so lightweight. i'm kind of hoping to get a few more out of this next pair, but we'll see. in other gear news, i dropped my camera in a stream yesterday, while recording a video, and i was worried i'd lost all my pictures up to this point. after quickly taking the battery out i used a small screwdriver to open the camera body up a little and let it dry out overnight. it's probably one of the few times i've been grateful for the dry desert heat and the camera (and more importantly the memory card) seems to be fine. another crisis avoided.

planning a trip to magic mountain tomorrow in a rental car with four other thru-hikers as i try to make the most of my zero/nero days here!


an early morning time lapse.