Up @ 5:30 AM - beautiful sunrise - pink puffy clouds everywhere! A morning bathroom hole with a view!

On trail by 6:30 - ominous clouds catching on nearby mountain range - will it rain today or tonight?!

Trail is on the inner edge of the mountain range, weaving in and out along every inlet for miles and miles. The wind is BLOWING 🌬️ in strong nonstop gusts that almost blow you over - slamming into you.

…makes for some intense concentration while hiking on a mountain ledge…

Stopped for breakfast (Paul had leftovers from in town lunch yesterday - a Caesar salad and brisket sandwich!! I had cold soaked oatmeal 🫤).

Eventually made it to a wash and low point and out of the wind - stopped for some shade and snacks. Crazy jets doing low fly-by maneuvers in the valley - you hear them before you see them.

Also saw a chonky Horney Toad lizard - rusty mustard in color - so cute!

After a break we head up onto another mountain to continue the roundabout edge walking until we reach the water cache.

Thankfully some friendly German hikers hauled up a bunch of water from the off trail cache (~ 1/2 mile or so one way) saving us some effort. Filled up and had lunch with another hiker - Aaron from Ohio.

Also found another NEW blister on my other heel - I don’t feel them forming so can’t be proactive! 🤬 I feel like my feet are entirely blistered now - two big blisters for feet. … it’s difficult to keep them clean when my feet are so dirty by the end of the day 😥

Goal to make it about 4 more miles to a wind buffered campsite - may prove tricky as so many hikers all bubbled together…

The camp spot was taken so we need to keep going at least another mile and a half. Passed many small single tent sites and a creepy little cave.

Paul almost fell off the mountain 😶 His pack got caught on a tree branch and he side stepped and fell off trail (on the side of a steep mountain) into a manzanita bush - Devon had to pull him back up. Thankfully no injuries - no death - only a rip in the pants.

Finally found a spot and got setup but the wind was relentless and sooo strong and gusty - decided to pack up and find another spot.

Next campsite is about another mile and a half up trail… 😔

Got to the listed campsite - a wash - and there are several hikers already setup here - not much choice but to squeeze in or hike another 3+ miles.

I am setup near a man named Trout - he is hiking with fishing gear & he is also cowboy camping.

Setup tent - found a tick on my tent 🤮 - Trout was impressed I even saw the tick - He killed it!

Ate a “Thanksgiving Dinner” in my tent.

It’s getting chilly so I’m bundled up - I may have nightmares of wood ticks crawling all over me.

Some sprinkles of rain at 2:30 or so in the morning.