It was near freezing last night. Slowly, throughout the night I added additional layers of clothing. I ended up tightening the sleeping bags face cord to minimize my skin exposure. I tried sleeping with my face in the bag but my own body odor was too strong and I gave up.

I was pleased to be able to exit the tent in my customary injured turtle crawl this morning without being observed by other hikers. Or perhaps they observed and gave me politely diverted eyes.

Coming across these old trail markers sure bring a smile to my face.

What goes down must also come up…It was a very long day of hill climbing.

We hiked uphill most of the day. There were a few stretches of downhill, but primary it was a climb up, roughly 1650 feet.

At lunch we observed another hiker curled into a fetal position. Upon providing color commentary to this effect, he corrected my statement and said he was in a recovery position. A recovery position would allow him to vomit and not choke on the vomit if he was sleeping. It’s kind of comforting to know that we’re not the only ones struggling with the rigors of beginning this hike.

Please note him (recovery position) in the background and Noelle sleeping in the foreground.

This afternoon we enjoyed our new pastime, watching our tent slowly dry after we draped it over a bush. (We’re going to pick up some dice in the next town we visit.)

Tomorrow brings another hill climb, and then, perhaps a hotel/motel for our first “zero day” on Sunday of no hiking.