Day 37 : What To Do About Water

26 miles today

2054 miles to go

Thru-hikers show up at three am and jolt me awake when they drop their packs. I am so disoriented that I think a raccoon is trying to steal my food. Then I realize, no, it's just Thru-hikers. I wake up at four thirty and start my day. I am hiking down the trail by five thirty. I feel good. I pass numerous windmills today. Two complete wind farms. My knee definitely feels stronger today. I hike non-stop until noon, over eighteen miles. That works out to about two and a half miles per hour. That's ok, but I want to be hiking over three miles per hour. That requires my knee to be fully functional. I stop at the six hundred mile mark for lunch. I force myself to eat even if I'm not excited about the menu. Everything I eat I no longer have to carry. 

After lunch I hike to Robin Bird Spring, another two miles. It's there that I see Billy and Kitkat. They are relaxing in the shade along with Cleensweep, Miko, and OB-wan.

I gather some water for the next eight miles. To clean my water I use Aqua Mira. It is a chemical I add to the water to kill all of the bugs that would ordinarily make me sick. I notice that I have very little left. If I lower the dosages it still kills all the bugs, I just have to wait longer. The other problem I discover is that the cap of the little bottle of chlorine I brought is broken and the bottle is empty. The problem is that chlorine is my backup way of cleaning water. I am at the stretch of trail where the water sources are few and far between and the water is historically buggy. To make matters worse the next water source in eight miles is the last water for the next forty two miles.

I have two more liters and I set off for the final eight miles for the day. There is a lot of uphill. I like it. The higher I go the more the forest changes. I find myself walking through a beautiful pine forest. The granite Boulder typical of the Sierra are poking through the decomposed granite soil. The trail is ideal for walking fast, smooth, firm, and relatively flat. I zip along at a pace I have had for weeks. I enjoy myself immensely. It's a beautiful day. A high cloud has blocked the sun so it isn't as hot as it would ordinarily be. I see OB-wan on the side of the trail eating snacks. I stop and chat with him a few minutes before moving on. 

It's a great feeling knowing you have all the water you need. That's what is have right now. I have found that I tend to drink a liter in about four miles. Doing the math reveals that I am going to need ten liters of water to hike forty two miles. Additionally, since I am camping in the middle, I need another two for my two camp meals. That's a total of twelve. The maximum amount of water capacity that I have is seven and three quarters liters. I am not sure what I am going to do, but I am not going to worry about it now.

I arrive at the Landers Camp fire tank. There are scads of Thru-hikers here. Most of them I've never met, meaning that my pace has increased to the point that I am catching up with people in front of me. Most of these Thru-hikers are getting ready to night hike the next section. The good thing about night hiking is you don't drink as much water because it's a lot cooler and you don't lose as much water. The bad thing about hiking at night is you're hiking at night. After my last hike through the desert at night I am not interested in night hiking. I'll leave early and try stopping for the hottest part of the day. I only need to walk twenty-one miles. If I hike from five am to eleven I could do most of that depending on the trail. Then sit around till four or so and hike from four to six. Sitting around for four hours in the middle of the day is going to be the hardest part for me. I guess I'll try to take a nap. This is the best camp spot of the trip so far. Nestled in a pine forest it's relatively flat. The ground is covered in a soft layer of pine needles and the sound of the wind in the pine trees is one of my favorite sounds. I drift off to sleep without worry.