Today was the day, the time to even out the tan lines on my body by hiking naked. Although I’m not sure the sun rays can even penetrate the dirt caked on my legs. The combination of rain and sun has wreaked havoc on my cleanliness. I finished out the Russian Wilderness and cross the road traveling into Etna. It was my last chance to get off and go to a town before fully committing to the tiny community of Seiad Valley. But I entered it and climbed into the Marble Mountains. Climbing and hiking through old burn areas was the theme of the day. Parts of my body that rarely experienced fresh air were dark with ash and soot by the end of the day, and mosquitos bit parts not normally offered to them. It was a long day, one in which I met and passed both long distance hikers and day hikers. At the end of the day, while looking for the perfect campsite something in the middle of the trail looked weird. As I neared I saw it was a tent. It was dusk, but the person was snoring, and while try to carefully and quietly walk around them, I seemed to snap every branch possible, almost in comedic fashion and they responded with a very sleepy salutation. I whispered sorry back and hiked a mile further to camp. It’s been an eventful 5 days, covering over 210 miles, but I still feel pretty good and everything but my phone is in order. In only 3 days since Castella both the phone and my battery pack have run out of power despite very low usage. After 2.5 years and over 11,000miles of hiking, it may be time to replace the phone in Southern Oregon.
Miles 46
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