Easy Miles

Day 34 7/16
Mileage 11.2
Camped at Mosquito Creek

Today is what a day on the trail should be like. Beautiful weather, few bugs, nice rolling hills. I've been noticing the terrain changing over the last few days. It's been getting more dry, more open, and more light. We took a ton of long breaks and hung out and talked today. To give you an idea of the kind of stuff we talk about to pass the time, we just named as many state capitals and presidents as we could. Fast times in camp. We met the first northbounders today! Quad, looking tired and sad, walking up a big hill, and Dainty Fingers (whose fingers were not all that dainty) blazing by with a huge pack. Exciting! We also saw Alabama, who's doing a flip-flop from Cascade Locks (the Oregon/Washington border). Tomorrow is mosquito judgment day. Or, as we've been calling it, DEET-day. Everyone who's come through has told us horror stories of the Indian Heaven wilderness area. One guy said that we won't need to eat because we'll get enough protein just from breathing. So, with that in mind, we only went 11 miles today so we can get through all of Indian Heaven tomorrow, which will surely be a hot, sweaty, bloody slog. Supposedly they're not bad on the other side, though! Besides, I don't think they could possibly be worse than what we came through, because if it were, nobody would have made it out to tell us about it. Mosquito creek is ironically one of the least buggy sites we've had this week. I'm a bit concerned I'll be low on food for the next few days. It's going faster than I thought. I don't think it'll be a problem in the future, though, since this resupply was so long, and it's hard to fit it all in one box. It's hard to believe we'll reach Oregon in only four days. This first significant part of the trip is already almost over. We've really made some progress. It also seems that it will tend to get easier from here on out, both as we get fitter and as trail conditions improve.