Day 3-4: Hiking at night & Cowboy Camping |

Day 3: Mile 34 – 52 (18 miles)

Woke up this morning and headed into Mt Laguna which is a small community of only 40 residents. I bought some inserts for my hiking shoes at Outfitters which might help me out in the long run. They had people spreading out all their gear and having employees tell them what stuff they don’d need and what to mail back home. Spent some time at the lodge, buying some snacks and eating lunch. Right before I arrived in Laguna, I was passed by five runners who turned out to be Olympic runners. They come up every year to train in the high altitude.

Over at the campground, I took my first shower and washed my socks which were so dirty. I took to much time in town and in order to makeup time, I decided to try some night hiking and see how it was. By 7:45pm, turned on the headlamp and made my way for two hours and found a great place to camp for the night. I cowboy camped for the first time which went well as well. For those who don’t know what cowboy camping is, its just sleeping without a tent really. As long as you aren’t expecting rain, I almost prefer it now!

Day 4: Mile 52 to 70 (18 miles)

Left at 6:15am again. I need to find a way to make myself leave sooner in the morning to help avoid the heat! I met Wow and Monarch (like the butterfly) who are both from Australia. Super nice people. There is a Korean guy who doesn’t speak any English, but apparently he is attempting to catch up to two other Koreans who are one day ahead of us. I been playing leapfrog with Jpeg who is from Michigan. If you are wondering about some of these names, they are trail names that people are assigned by other hikers. My trail name is Eagle Eye, which I will get into later. I was finally able to stop early today (6:00pm). I found a little opening on the side of the mountain where cowboy camped and laid there listening to the coyotes howl in the distance and stare at the stars till I feel asleep.

Good news, I have good reception so far, so I have been able to keep tabs with my soccer team. They sent me a team picture before their game today and wished them luck. They had a great first half but unfortunately they fell behind in the second half. Either way, Go Turks!