The closer I got to the end the more eager I was to get there, but again I worked on staying in the present moment. My goal for the day was about 18 miles to what was considered a fairly reliable water source out of a cement trough.

The wind stayed with me all that day. I passed through some open areas with no shelter from the wind. I stopped for lunch at a cow pond and had to walk all the way around the pond to find a way to access the water without sinking into the mud. still, it was a challenge and I was glad I had water bags that opened fully at the top so I could more easily scoop the water out.

I hiked many miles through a burned area that had little to protect me from the wind or the sun. I find it difficult to sit and relax when it’s really windy so I kept pushing myself to move on. The problem with having to keep moving is that at some point I start hating it. In this case my body was hurting and I was hungry. I needed to stop.

Sometimes on days like this, I’ll look at my watch and say “OK I’ve got 6 miles to go. It’ll take me 2 1/2 hours.” And then I’m looking at my watch again five minutes later wondering how far I’ve gone and how far I have left to do.

I think about how wishful thinking gets me nowhere. No matter how fast I feel I might be walking, 6 miles is still going to take me between two and 2 1/2 or even three hours to hike. No amount of wanting it to be different is going to change it. It’s a really good lesson in accepting the things that really can’t be changed. In this matter there’s a pretty set reality and I either accept it and go with it or I’m miserable. So rather than focusing on how hard it might be to do the remaining miles, I distract myself by looking for things along the trail, thinking random thoughts for these blogs, Doing random estimations about how many footsteps I’ve taken or how many miles I’ve walked in my life and by singing. I’ve taught myself to sing the entire alphabet song backwards, starting with Z and ending with A.

I’ve also learned when I’m feeling spent on the trail that it pays to stop. I was walking for miles through a burnt area which was not incredibly inviting. I worked to find things that were beautiful such as some flowers coming up through the burnt soil, patterns in tree bark that was burnt on the ground and some other sights along the way. When I saw a lovely white and pink colored rock on the side of the trail a little bit out of the wind, I decided to sit down and take a break. I pulled out some food, mixed up an electrolyte drink and rested my poor body while I marveled at how life finds a way to continue even after a big fire.

When I stood up to go, I thanked the rock I had been sitting on and discovered it had small fossils in it. What a lovely gift to see and I wouldn’t have even seen them if I had not stopped for break.

I finally reached the water source I had been aiming for and knew immediately there was no way I was going to camp there. It was on the top of a hill and the wind was howling. It was strong enough to blow my fully loaded pack over when I took it off and placed it against the fence.

I went through the gate, pushed aside the algae filled my bag with water, and connected it to the filter to start filtering. Then I quickly strapped it all back on my pack and headed down the trail. I wanted to get out of that wind.

I was thrilled in about a mile to find some lovely pines where I could again throw down my tent and spend the night. For some reason, I turned in circles for quite a while not sure which spot to pick. But finally, I settled down for the night once again glad to have some shelter from the wind.