Day 123 - Saturday, August 28

Tenting on an old road (mile 2173.4). Walked 18.2 miles today.

The alarm went off at 5:30 am and I promptly went back to sleep until 6:20. Frank slept horribly last night and barely got any sleep, so she used the extra time to try to get more sleep. Finally we got up and going. Frank left about 8:30 and I left 5 minutes later and met her at a stream a half mile away where we both got water.

From here, we continued the big climb from yesterday. I hiked ahead of Frank with plans to meet her in 4 miles where I was planning to stop to dry out my sleeping bag more; however, I found a good spot sooner and lay the bag out to get a little drier.

While I was waiting, a hiker who we had been leapfrogging yesterday passed by. Her name is Fugitive and she told me she had to do the same thing to her bag this morning, but she had some other issues too. A liter of water had spilled and soaked her bag, so she thought she could use her stove to dry it out. The next thing she knew, down feathers were flying all over the tent, and because they were hot, they made small holes in the mesh. It was a rough morning for her.

She hiked on and Frank arrived soon after. She hiked on and I packed up my slightly drier bag after 10 minutes and followed after her. Her hamstring is still hurting today, especially on the uphills, but she's powering through. We got to a ridge and the smoke returned. The views were smoky, but we could still see a bit of Mt. Adams in the distance.

We continued on (trying to ignore the way-too-early fall colors) and stopped at a campsite for lunch where I once again put out my bag to dry.

After drying throughout lunch, I think it's almost completely dry. We began a downhill section and Frank suggested what I had been thinking about with her hurt hamstring and consequently slow pace: "I think you should go ahead." Not like "I'll meet you up ahead," but a possibly "Goodbye for the rest of the trail" type of farewell. I told her I'd think about it and meet her at the next water source. The pace is frustrating slow for me, but it's hard to leave someone you've hiked with for over 1500 miles. I also felt awkward about leaving her while injured.

At the next water source, I ran into Abby and Abby's Person who I'd last seen way back in the desert. We chatted briefly, then Frank rolled in, got water, and we left together. I plan to camp with her tonight and will probably stay with her tomorrow too, I don't plan on leaving her.

We began a big, 2000 foot climb in which Frank had to take several breaks, but she kept pushing through the pain. I know how much it's hurting her because I can hear her grunt in pain every now and then. After a couple hours of climbing, we reached a dirt road which had a ton of flat spots to camp. We picked one and set up, ate dinner, and got ready for bed, hoping Frank feels better tomorrow.