April 20

Wake up was at 4:20am and we were on trail at 5:15am (still working on streamlining set-up and break-down). It was up hill for most of the early morning until sunrise at about 6:30am.

Kawecki's shin and ankle were completely fine when he woke up and we kept good pace to the next water, a dead-mosquito-filled box spring. It began to warm up as we left but we were just riding the ridge for the next 8 miles to a water tank.

We arrived at the tank to find it belonged to a trail angel, Mike. Mike wasn't around himself but two friends were and they were just putting burgers on when we arrived. With 25 miles to the next reliable water and the heat of the day coming up we decided to wait it out until 3 or 4 and try to get the distance done at night.

During burgers we were reunited with Abby and Carolyn, both of whom had been having rough mornings. Hot burgers and a cold beer had everyone in a good mood and we settle down for a nap on the porch after the meal.

Once it had cooled down sufficiently we camel-ed up on water for the dry stretch and headed out. It was a bit of uphill followed by a lot of downhill. Abby and Carolyn took off ahead of us and we opted to camp before reaching them in order to get enough sleep for an early morning.