Today’s prescribed mileage was 28.8 miles, covering segments 5 and 4. Breaking camp at sunrise, I cruised effortlessly through these two segments on a beautiful and cool day. Even the cows on Long Gulch seemed to be enjoying at as they “moo’d” at me when I ran through. Some folks are afraid of them, but growing up in western Nebraska showed me how docile they are most of the time. Yes, you can piss them off, and some of do have a natural bad attitude, but for the most part, they’re easy to get along with.
After twelve hours of sleep yesterday, I was fascinated how quickly the body can recover. Today, I had two helpings of Ramen Noodles at lunch time. Ramen became the staple of my nutrition later in this expedition. In the first few days, I tried all kinds of things – dehydrated foods, pizza when I could get one, nutrition bars, trail mix, honey packets. But nothing seemed to fuel me and settle my stomach better than Ramen Noodles, with the carbs and salts that I needed. Added bonus – I became “regular” with my bowel movements, something that I’d always had problems with in the past.
For the past week, all I wanted was to get home and take a hot bath. Now, as I was getting closer, all I wanted was a little more time to bond with nature; to become and stay one with the trail.