Day 18--30 Highs and Lows

In 30 miles of road walking these mountains in the distance were the only picture worthy moment...besides the elk in the early morning sun drenched cow pond, but he didn't hold still long enough

1.  I slept great
2.  My shoes weren't frozen
3.  My water was too frozen to bandana filter, but at least I had a lot of water.
4.  Saw an elk at a cow pond
5.  Trail was only a trail for a mile or so before turning into a road
6.  We were on a slow downhill for the morning
7. I had a king sized Milkyway for mid morning snack
8. We had cell service and called the cafe to reserve 2 slices of chocolate pie
9.  Took a break at a primitive campground where dayhikers gave us more water--enough to make it to Pie Town
10.  Then we climbed. Bo, Portrait, and I hiked up Mangus Mountain together while talking about BBQ, books, and hiking.
11. Fire tower was locked so we couldn't go all the way to the top
12.  Had lunch in the shade at a picnic table on the top of the mountain
13. Saw Bo's tracks head down the wrong road off the mountain
14. Ran into two hunters who told us they had just seen two other hikers--neither of them Bo
15. Hiked down hill on jeep roads for most of the afternoon
16. Played leap frog with Styles and Flyby, but still no Bo
17. At some point in the mid afternoon we decided to try for a thirty mile day to get closer to Pie Town
18. By late afternoon my feet were hurting--mostly the bottoms and my pinky toes felt squashed
19. A rancher who lives trail side had a water pump hikers could use that gushed cold water when switched on
20. We took a break in "thick" shade around 25 miles
21. Portrait read two chapters of Matilda as we walked and we passed a quick mile and a half
22. It didn't occur to me to loosen my shoelaces until the next break
23.  My pinky toes felt better, but my insoles are shot
24.  In the evening I walked on the left side of the road in the shade thrown by the few trees and by the looks of the tracks everybody else walked there
25. At the top of a small rise a distant mountain range appeared in the golden light. It looked grand. And was the only picture I took all day.
26. A promise of a hug at mile 30 is good motivation to keep hiking--so is pie
27. We hit the 300 mile mark right where Styles and Flyby were taking a break
28. It is fun to think about where we'd be if we were on the PCT
29. Ranchers have a lot of fences that make it so much harder to camp
30. Hiking 30 miles before dark, even having dinner with enough natural light to eat by, feels really good.