August 23rd
Segment 14
We slept in this morning and got ready with Denise. She packed up and headed home. We hit the trail around 8:30.I expected the day to be fairly mellow, no big mountains to climb. We did have some nice easy sections.
Overall we ended up doing more than 3,000 ft of elevation gain. It was hot and the climbs felt hard. I felt tired and heavy. We heard a horse neighing, sometimes sounding upset. We left our packs off the trail to go back and have a look. There was private property nearby and a line horse in a corral. Probably letting everyone who passes by that he’s lonely. We gave him some love before we went on our way.
Barns (Barns&Noble) caught up with us after zeros at the hot springs. I enjoyed chatting with her, then as we were moving on she pulled out book and sat by the stream to read. We thought we might see her again at camp but she must have bounced on down the trail.We’re camping in cow country tonight and they have been everywhere! Jodie found a tent spot for both of us up the hill. It’s a bit lumpy and has a lean to it but it’s clean! We filtered and chemically treated our water. I opted to eat dinner tonight instead of just chocolate which is what I wanted and feel better going to bed with a full belly. The rain fly is on tonight with a possibility of rain. The wind is gently blowing through the trees.
