We are totally in bear country and the bear poop that litters the trail highway is getting to be ridiculously big and way too frequent. While we didn’t see any bears today, we definitely know they’re nearby and by the size of their loads, they must be the biggest black bears we’ve ever seen.
Now for some random thoughts from today:
Welcome to wussyville: while I’ve always thought of myself as tough I’ve found that I’m not very manly. My hands and feet have made it apparent that I’ve done indoor work for a long time and that manual labor isn’t something I’m too familiar with. My feet, while getting tougher, ache everyday. And worse, my hands are so soft and delicate that bushes and the outdoors in general are tearing them up. I hope to finish this trail with tough man hands.
I love refrained beans!: we eat dehydrated black beans or pinto beans every day with Fritos mixed in and I love them. They’re my favorite food everyday. Plain nuts are probably my least favorite so far.
This water thing is getting old: Again today, we struggled to find good water. We eventually found some from a spring but not until I was completely out and freaking out a bit about not finding any. To that regard, a huge thank you to Will and Lynnae, local trail angels that cached some water for us yesterday on NM 35. It was a life saver.
Lastly, cleanliness is slacking a little. We started out strong but are now down to only using one baby wipe each at the end of the day. However, we have been washing our clothes pretty regularly and we also have both been using my Old Spice deodorant. Yeah, totally against hiker code but our packs are light and I’m trying not to stink too bad. I think it’s working pretty well. However, it does nothing to offset all the beans.