Distance hiked today: 21.4 miles / 34.4 km.
A double double on trail: double breakfast, and double lunch. When I have extra food I try to eat it sooner than later otherwise I'm just carrying the weight. A feast for a hungry hiker.
A porcupine was meandering through the bush this morning - I had no idea they lived in these parts, and have never seen one in person other than on the side of a road (and usually dead…). It was cute and prickly, but I couldn't get a picture since it was too far away in some underbrush.
I can usually tell how good of a day I had by how many pictures I took. Today I didn't take many, it just wasn't very scenic. It was a hot and steep climb up an unnamed mountain. Down the backside was another strange moonscape, with red and black rock chunks and scree, although the colors don't really show up in photos. Also there was one random very white rock that looked like snow.
Tight switchbacks led us down and across a stream, where plateaus stuck out from the trail. We'd already walked farther than we planned, looking for a decent campsite. Another hiker had left a comment in the map app about an unmarked tentsite on one of the plateaus, and it turned out to be perfect. Room for one tent, not too windy, and flat.
Total trail mileage: 1046 miles / 1683 km
