ICT Day 4: May 30th

I was feeling the soreness this morning. I was tired, dehydrated and sunburnt. I didn't fall asleep until well after sunset, probably around 12:30 or 1am. I got a decent amount of sleep, but my body just wanted more rest. I drag my feet in the morning. I've been that way for my whole life though, so this is nothing new. But it hasn't taken me long to figure out how precious the morning hours are in the desert.

With our parents there, we were able to have an amazing breakfast and hot coffee. I also did laundry out of one of the pots. I also took advantage of being able to do a shake-down. I got rid of one shirt and some food. I over estimated how hungry I thought I was going to be. I'm finding myself wanting to just snack on my beef jerky and applesauce. I had no desire to eat all the ramen and tuna I had brought. Elijah sent home more than I did, including a pistol. My feet are absolutely shredded so I took care to wash them really well with the extra water that we had. I also double socked to help with the blistering. I'm hoping that those actions will make the next few days slightly more bearable.

My dad was the one that pushed me out of camp this morning. Even though we're still in the first week, having the car there was very tempting. I'm not going to lie and say that going home didn't cross my mind briefly. With a late start, we're headed towards the old Hunter's cabin.

Funny story: 1.8 miles up the trail, we find where the gorge we camped on top of meets the trail. Imagine the scene from The Lion King when baby Simba comes into Scars lair and there's hyenas maniacally laughing and bones everywhere. That's what this gorge was. Straight up coyote kitchen. Thankfully, no animals were down there, that were alive at least. There's a dried up creek that seems to run through the gorge at times. The name of the creek you ask? Cougar Creek.... I am quite thankful that I did not know this last night.

At the other side of the gorge, the trail splits off to the west (left). This is the first time we're off the road (albeit only for like .5 miles). We cross this "field" and squeeze through a barbed wire fence. There's a second "field" and then the trail meets up with the dirt road again at the Poison Cherry Stem Creek sign. So I'm calling these "fields" but its really just like desert plains. Also, I don't know why the sign says creek when there's no creek, or even dried up creek, in sight. There was a sign with a BLM map there and the legs of the sign were casting a sliver of shade. So we decided to eat lunch there. We took an hour and a half break to get through the heat of the day.

About 3:30 we got up and moved forward. The scenery did not change for the entire day. So, naturally, the next several hours were filled with StarWars lore.

Around sunset, we reach a fork in the trail with another BLM sign. We sit and have a break here. There's a tiny bit of service so we were able to check in with everyone. It's the first bit of cell service we've encountered so far. We were not too far from the cabin, only about 4 miles I think, but it was getting dark. I told Elijah I would brave the night-hiking for as long as I could. Which only lasted about 2 miles. I started to get tired and spooked out so we threw up our tents a few yards off of the road.

It's quiet tonight. No birds, crickets, cicadas, or coyotes. It's eerie. This is about the place we saw the wolf when we were water caching. Trying not to think about that. Dust is everywhere. In my food. In my eyebrows. In my butt crack. Everywhere. We have been fully immersed into the desert.