Date: 2018-09-06
From: Stealth Site Near River

To: Logging Road 
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up this morning about 6:30 to the sound of waterfalls. Ahhh bliss. I made myself a tea of sorts. This is my last night in the 100, and I was out of tea, so I boiled water and poured it into my cup with a jolly rancher in it. I had a nice warm fruity drink, minus much needed caffeine.  I made sure Hugs was awake(she was), and I started packing up camp. I haven¢t seen Papa Big Swig in about two weeks and today when I pop out he¢ll be there...0nly 14.5 miles to go! I put a few things away then pulled the rain fly off my tent. Without any warning or indication it was coming, rain began to fall.  Nooooo!  Not in my tent! I grabbed the rain fly and haphazardly threw it over the top before I jumped inside. 3/4 of my tent was properly covered and 1/4 was not. EVERYTHING was soaked! Sleeping bag and all. Not a great start to my last day out here.  We both packed up our wet tents as soon as the downpour stopped. I packed up the rest of my wet gear, and braced myself for a very heavy pack. I hated being right. Guessing it at over 45lbs...Ugh! Ok here we go.  More UPs that really take effort and maneuvering. I woke up with a stitch in my ribs today. Taking a deep breath is difficult. Moving a certain way is painful...what on earth?!? Hiking today was just exhausting.  I came to a large rockslide and was still figuring out my way when Hugs arrived. I finally deciphered a path and turned to go. Just then I heard that familiar sound of loose footing. I turned in time to watch Hugs take a HARD fall on the rocks. It was bad. She cried, I cried. But in true Blue Raccoon and Hugs fashion we worked together, shook it off and trudged on. Trust me, shaking off a fall on hard jagged boulders with all of this extra weight slamming you down is not an easy thing. I was in the lead again. Breathing hard on those UP¢s, mouth wide open, I got a big fat flying something all the way in. I coughed and spit and coughed and spit some more. Until I finally had to swallow.  Chug-a-lug went my limited water, and I just kept on moving.  4.7 miles down the trail was a shelter. I stopped for a break and water feeling pretty down. Hugs arrived feeling equally low as me. She found a logging road on Guthook¢s that was 5 or 6 miles further. 10 more miles just wasn¢t in us today.  I must have been so hungry.  I was salivating smelling ham and eggs! I laughed at myself deciding this must be olfactory hallucinations!  Another brown snake took me by surprise. Good thing these things aren¢t venomous!  I came to a river crossing and waited for Hugs there. There was a nice split log bench to sit on where we could remove our boots. This would be a full on hold a rope river crossing. I put on my crocs, held on tight and carried my pack across. It was difficult in the middle when the current grabbed me. Whoever put up that rope is a saint! Just a few more miles was our logging road. We bravely took our chances and in 0.8 miles we found civilization! Papa Big Swig was there to rescue us. That¢s my knight!  After 8 days we finally got a much needed shower, a burger, and clean laundry.  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?