march 14

Today was a long day. Not a bad day, just a long day. Did a little over 16 miles today. I wasnt planning on doing that many, but when i got to the shelter about 12 miles from where i started, there was still 3 hours of daylight left, and only 4 miles to the next campsite. The day started cold, really cold. The kind of cold we havent had since last week when we first started this adventure. The temp got down into the teens overnight, and the water bottle i had inside my tent with me froze during the night. The condensation on the rainfly of my tent was frozen too. My feet had gone partially numb during the night, and i had gone to sleep wearing everything i have, even gloves. My sleep was frequently broken by bouts of shivering until i'd fall asleep again. I packed up and left camp as quickly as possible. it was too cold to sit around and make breakfast so i ate a zone bar and started walking. It didnt take too long to warm up and soon after i had taken off my down jacket and long underwear and was wearing a sweatshirt and just my hiking pants. I stopped at the first shelter i came to to check the register for signs of dj. He hadnt signed in to that one. There was a guy there making lunch for himself and 3 other hikers who were out on standing indian mountain. They were only in for a few days and had plenty of leftover food. So he gave me a bowl of ramen and a bag of snacks. I continued on, feeling renewed and fed, and hiked as quickly as i can. Today the elevation went up to about 5500 feet. The highest ive been yet on this adventure, but the terrain was relatively easy. With gentle inclines and declines the whole day. The view from the top was nothing less than amazing. I was able to see as far as the horizon, with dozens of mountains all around, in every direction. I think i saw some even higher than the one i was on, but its hard to tell from a distance. At the shelter i was aiming to stop by, i bumped into owl and zag. Owl had given me a bag of salmon jerky a week ago on the trail. Trekker was also there, he helped me last night after the alcohol incident. And pilgrim was there, an older guy, yet still making good mileage. Trekker told me there was a message for me in the shelter register. Dj had written the lyrics to the tenacious d song "dude i totally miss you" sometime today. Probably in the morning before he left the shelter. I continued on until i got to betty creek gap. And ive eaten, and im about to go to sleep,. Its 745pm, and evryone else here is already sleeping. Its also getting cold, gonna be another long night...