Chap. 50 – Sunburned legs and panoramic views

I didn’t want to get out of the quilt when the alarm rang at 5:30 in the morning. I felt very cold, even with all my layers on, my liner and my quilt. Boostie and I decided we would probably share his tent for the rest of the Sierra. It’s nice to have our own spaces (and not have to smell each other), but warmth and a comfortable sleep are more important to me.

When we finally got going, Boostie beat me to it to start the day. I wanted to find a good place to eat breakfast, so I ate granola bars while he ate breakfast. After a couple of kilometers we reached the first water source of the day. To our surprise and delight, Rawhide, Skunk and Acorn were there. With only 17 miles ahead of us, we had all day to take our time and be a little lazy.

At every decent water source, the five of us took off our packs and made ourselves comfortable. For lunch, we found a nice, flat spot with a view of Mount Whitney and the surrounding mountains. Today was our first view of Mount Whitney, and it definitely added to my excitement! We stayed at our lovely little lunch spot for over an hour and I spent far too much time with my legs out of the shade. I lay down on my mat and, without realizing it, I had left my legs in the sun.

First time I’ve seen a groundhog!

As we walked the last few miles to camp, I noticed that my legs were pink. At the last water fountain I applied some sunscreen, but it was too little too late. Once we got to camp, mosquitoes were swarming and I had to cover my legs with pants. The heat from the sunburn radiated into my pants and literally made me sweat.

In fact, Boostie and I are sharing a tent tonight. I boiled his water to eat while he set up the tent, and then walked with the bear cans the recommended 70 steps before finally jumping into the tent tonight to escape the swarm of bugs.

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