June 5th - Near Camp Glenwood to North Fork Ranger Station

It was one of those mornings that is hard to get up - knowing that your sleeping bag is warm and cozy and the weather outside is not so great. It looked like it was going to be a wet, cold day. We tried to count our blessings that at least it wasn't the heat that we would be battling with today. In actuality, we were in our element - the weather was similar to Washington weather, so at least we knew how to handle it.

The entire day was spent walking through low clouds, fog, and drizzle. It was damp and cool. I don't think our rain jackets came off the entire day. We didn't take a single picture today since you couldn't see a thing in the fog. I am sure we were walking through beautiful country, but we couldn't see it. Ran into some Japanese tourists who thought we were quite the sight in our bright yellow rain jackets and navy blue rain skirts. I am sure they had seen nothing like it before. They even took our picture. ha!

We stayed warm when walking, but chilled at breaks. This made for short breaks...and amazingly it made it easy to bank up the miles. Had lunch in front of a privy at the Mill Creek trailhead since it was the only shelter we could find out of the rain. Glenn rolled in and we were able to visit for a while with him.

We both had a secret desire to try for 35 miles for the day - in order to get to the North Fork Ranger Station and water at the end of the day. It was a large task, but ended up not being so bad due to the cool weather. Unfortunately, my legs were still tired from our 32 mile day the day before...and eventually my right quadricep muscle started to whine. I thought I was in shape before, but this thru-hiking thing takes endurance to a whole other level. It's like running 50k ultra marathons - back-to-back days with no recovery time. The last 5 miles into the ranger station were rough - the steep up and down hills were the worst since I just did not have power or control in my right leg. Tom did a great job encouraging me...and somehow we eventually hobbled into the ranger station. With a big mileage day today, it will make for an easier 18 mile stroll into Agua Dulce...and more time for relaxing.