Day 8 - Windy Uphill

I woke up this morning early, before the sun rose and did a little blogging.  I started to hear others stirring, so I started getting ready.  After eating some breakfast, I walked to the road to wait for someone to get a ride with.  It wasn't long before Ed the trail angel showed up with his minivan.  A few other hikers show up and we get a ride back to Scissors Crossing.  Cliff Walker and Stakes got dropped off at the same place as me.   You could see clouds rolling over the mountains, there was actually a chance of rain today.  I walked to the water cache under the bridge there.  There was a couple camped there with their two dogs, Daniel from Oregon was there getting water.  There was trail magic;  a cooler with a couple of local craft beers.  I had a taste of the 805 beer, it was really good.  A few more people arrived, then we noticed another cooler, with tequila and grapes!  We all had a swig of tequila under the bridge.  It was quite a nice moment, drinking tequila under a bridge at 8 in the morning with people from all over the world.  I would never have guessed it a few weeks ago.

I hiked with Daniel all day today.  It was very uphill, winding slowly up the side of the mountains. The wind was blowing hard, and each time we rounded a corner, the wind was stronger.  The gusts were around 30-40 we think.  We saw a milk snake with damage to it's tail.  Daniel touched it as it slowly slithered away and it didn't seem to mind so I did, too.  There were big, fat caterpillars munching on grass.  Not many campsites here, just steep hillsides.  There were a few little tiny tent sites in the washes.  With the chance of rain, I didn't want to be there, but it seemed like the clouds were not quite rainy.  A little gray underneath, but not dark yet.  We ended up hiking 16 miles to get to a ridge with campsites.  It was windy up there, but a great place to watch the stars.  When I got into my tent, it was flapping so much in the breeze, at first I was afraid it was going to fall on me, but I had knocked my stakes in good, so I fell asleep and didn't worry about it.  I was so tired, I slept really well.