I don’t know when I got around to writing last night, but tonight was tough. The trail really tested me for the first time with some slightly adverse weather conditions: intermittent gusts of wind but strong enough to make it impossible to pitch the tent. We walked longer than planned – I think almost 25 kilometers – so as to shorten the last stretch before Julian as much as possible. Tomorrow we should have about fifteen kilometers to go 🎉 Then a city, which means: a bed, shower, a dinner like god prescribes.

Not finding an easy tent site right away like other days has put me in an unwanted anxious state. And when I panic a little bit, I react a little bit like a child, “so I don’t do this anymore.” As if I really had a choice: I had to find a tent site, I had to set it up, I had to make dinner. There were no alternatives.

Now I’m ready to go to sleep, my tent set up behind two bushes near another group of hikers I don’t know. I’m not in a picnic area like yesterday, and here the night noises are quite a bit wilder. Am I scared? A little, yes. But of what, really? Of a mountain lion assaulting me during the night? Of rats gnawing on my tent guy lines or eating my shoes? What is really the worst thing that could happen? Probably nothing at all. Good night then.

An extra load of water for a dry stretch in the desert.
An extra load of water for a dry stretch in the desert.