Miles Hiked: 24.8
Total Milage: 252.5
Location: Gila Alt Mile 102
Last night it was really cold. I wish I had pitched my tent for some extra warmth. We heard coyotes howling all night long. They have reintroduced wolves to this area as well so it could have been one of them. They were still howling when we left camp around 7am.
The day started off on a trail and then quickly became a road walk. The road walk lasted the entire day after about the first 5 miles. At first the road was a nice soft dirt two track and then it quickly progressed to gravel and dirt, then larger gravel washboard as the day wore on.
I hiked with 12 pack all day and it was super nice to have company on such a boring stretch. It was pretty, but boring. 12 pack and I took a short break about 10 miles in before running into everyone else at mile 11 shortly after. Of course we took another short break.
12 pack and I hiked a lot slower than everyone else today and needed a lot more breaks. At mile 10 my feet were feeling amazing. At mile 15 they started to get pretty sore from the road. Around noon the wind started to get incredibly strong. It was nice when it gave you a boost from behind but sucked when it was blowing cross ways. We were able to cover 20 miles by 2pm today. It was crazy. The road walking was just so easy and it was nice to get a lot of miles in on such an opportunistic day.
While we were walking we saw some pronghorned antelope running across the field in the distance. It’s been cool to have so many new wild life encounters lately! We ended up going 24.8 miles today. My body and feet definitely feel very sore from it. We were able to get to camp around 5:30 with plenty of daylight for hanging out and cooking. I met “Costanza” today and he ended up joining Free Fall, Jenga, Heidi, 12 pack and myself at camp as well.
Overall today was such a nice day on trail. I love thru hiking so much. I’m so excited to wake up and do this all again tomorrow!
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 