Day 10: Waaaater

I started the day at 5 am -- I needed to make it my biggest day yet due to the water sitch. 

Being from the Midwest it’s odd to rejoice when I see cows but out here I almost sing with happiness. Cows mean water. 

Sure enough, I saw cows around the 13 mile mark today and soon after walked up to a water trough pumped by a windmill. I got out my filter, walked towards the water, and stopped dead in my tracks. No. Freaking. Way. There are what seem like hundreds of bees guarding the water. A year ago this wouldn’t have frightened me but just last fall, I had an allergic reaction to a wasp sting and didn’t want to push my luck without putting together a plan. 

I decided a drive-by approach would be best. Just run up scoop water into the water bladder and run away. It worked (so I did it again and it worked again). It was relief to get extra water. I snapped a pic and then took off. 

I was into a groove after my good fortune. Then 40 minutes later, I suddenly realized my trekking poles weren’t in my hands nor did I put them in my bag. *face palm*I left them back at the water. 

After the retracing of my steps, I risked the bees again for more water (it worked again), grabbed the poles, and took off again. 

The rest of the day felt like I was in a Star Wars movie set due to the starkness of the landscape. It was fun to use my imagination pretending I was a Jedi. 

Then I listened to a podcast about Phish at the behest of Stacy. He’d been trying to get me to listen to it, and it was surprisingly good (had to get a small jab at Stacy here). 

I saw my ending water source at horizon line with 11 miles to go, and it seemed to take ages to get there. I couldn’t stay hydrated in the 85° degree heat of the afternoon so I low key panicked at the end... getting nervous in the last 3 miles there wouldn’t be water. 

No stress needed. The workers at the ranch filled me up with water and gave me an orange (clutch!). A few miles past the ranch the river appeared for a beautiful sunset view.

I scared a Burro as I was setting up camp and wow, they make the most loud, ridiculous noises when scared. It gave me a chuckle before bed. 

Miles: 35.0