Once again, The Three Bears were out of civilization yesterday and back on the trail that has become so dear to us.  We got a late start, but the fresh legs and healed wounds allowed us to crank out miles like they were nothing. Also, that section of the trail happened to be not that difficult to begin with.

It was our first real cloudy day, and that coupled with the fact that we were no longer in the desert made it quite special. Along the way, I, myself, stopped a few times to look at the awesome views of the piney mountains and the high desert off in the distance, about 4000 ft below. Looking up from the rocks in front of you every once in a while seems to be pretty important.

That stretch of about 19 miles that we completed might have been one of my favorite parts so far, in terms of ease and beauty. The real fun though came during the night.

By the time we got to camp, the sun was mostly down, the wind had picked up incredibly, and the temperature sank like a cinder block. Retiring to our tents to escape the weather, we all tried to fall asleep wearing pretty much every article of clothing we brought with us.

3 AM rolls around, and there's a familiar pitter-pattering on my rainfly, which I had barely decided to setup before falling asleep. I thought it was rain at first, but it turns out it was just snow/hail, or whatever non-desert dwellers call it. My only thought was, "Well, at least the wind is gone."

During the onset of the snow, I heard Chrobot scramble around outside to setup his tarp. I tried whispering to him, trying to see if be was okay or if he needed help. He didn't hear me.

Half an hour later, the wind picked up again. The ridiculousness of the situation struck me, and all I could do was laugh. I didn't hear Chrobot moving around anymore, so I figured he was fine. But there I was, sitting in my tent with my toes about to shatter, just laughing away.  I couldn't seem to help it, even though I knew I was in for a dreadful morning.

Right now, I'm laying in my tent at 3:30 PM after having covered 20 miles today. It's lightly hailing, and still super cold. The wind is supposed to start up again, immediately after this precipitation lets up. Still, all I can really do is smile and laugh.

A lot of seemingly awful things have already occurred on this journey as a result of the circumstances. Sometimes it's hard to handle, and getting mad at the uncontrollable universe can be the easy path forward. But as I'm walking along the trail, all I'm looking forward to is for that next moment to arrive and what it has in store. I don't think that's too much to ask for.