500!

Mile 511.7—Bush camp [17.7 miles]
Monday, April 29

Yesterday was a bit of a self-own. I realized this morning it was mostly the consequence of WAY too much caffeine in Damascus—coffee and chocolate. So withdrawal on Saturday (snuffles and sinusy headache) and sleep boomerang yesterday. I slept from 3 to 7, got up to pee, then slept all night. I was on the trail at 5:30. Pony day! [The self-own knocked me a day off schedule. But I’m still one day ahead.]

The weather was supposed to be nice. Instead, it was chill and blustery with a solid wall of fog. Visibility, maybe 20 feet. This… sucked.

Here’s how pony day went:

8:38: Pony shit! 😀

8:58: Foggy, windy. This is going to be another no-pony episode.

SOBO: “There were so many ponies at the shelter last night, I had to camp somewhere else just to get away from them!”

No ponies.

Another SOBO: “There are tons of them just a mile ahead! Some of them are really friendly! They won’t let you get by!”

No ponies.

Anothet SOBO: “There are so many! Just a half mile ahead! This girl stuck out her hand and they came right over!”

No ponies.

But the weathet cleared. And BOOM! Two ponies! Hiker Mike was there and said I’d missed a couple of “herds” that had walked into the fog.

So… yay! I ended up seeing five. They’re not invisible!

Also, bulls. Bulls! Steers? Cows with horns!

Oh… and I crossed the 500-mile mark. Go! Listen to The Proclaimers! (I did. Twice!) 😀

500 down, 1700 to go.

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