ET's Info-Stew

9:30: Last night's sleep wasn't great, but it wasn't too bad either. I probably woke up 10-15 times to change positions. Also my neck wasn't very well supported by my pillow. I need to stick something underneath it to raise its height.

Most of the time I woke up because my arm hurt from sleeping on my side. Come to think of it, I don't remember even waking up on my back, though I know I feel asleep that way a couple times. I think my extra weight is one of the culprits, since my own body squishes itself into the firm pad. Just another reason to lose weight.

This morning I got up a little later than I wanted because the sun was well up when I got up. I don't know what I want to do today. I can maybe go to the top of a peak which is 1/2 mile east of the ranger station. It looks like a plausible 2 mile hike with a 700' elevation gain. There would be some bushwhacking but the terrain seems possible.

14:30: We're back from the hike, but we never made it to the mountain. We started bushwhacking our way to the trail, but we kept going and going, not reaching it. After maybe 1.5 hours of this, we found and area we remember going past on the way in and we found the trail. We were quite tired so we decided to go back, being sure to mark the trail and the way to it. We don't want to do this again tomorrow.

After getting back I took a bath. The water was much colder than many other mountain lakes I've swam in. I also did a little sock laundry. Then I went to the point and got a series of pictures for a panorama, if it turns out well. Unfortunately I forgot how to use exposure lock.

When I put my shoes on, I didn't check for bugs. A red ant got in there so it was chewing up my ankle. It felt like a bee sting and I have a small welt in the place. Lunch and book time.

22:30: I ate lunch and read for a while. Then my back started to hurt so I laid down in the tent to relax some. I ended up taking a 2-3 hour nap. Afterward I did some chores and had dinner. Carl had already got the fire pit set up and it turned out well. I had some dinner mishaps though.

I was boiling water and I move around on the bench some people had set up around the pit. The seat I was on wasn't too stable and I tipped my stove and pot full of water on the ground. Flames started shooting out of the stove and eventually I got it turned off. Then, I went to start my stove again but the lighter wasn't lighting. I removed it and tried it out only to shock myself. I flailed my arms and sent the lighter flinging into the air. Thankfully I didn't have any more issues, but it was kind of fun.

I'm ready to come back and see Jenny again, but I'm not ready to go back to work. Tomorrow I hope to get up earlier and maybe catch sunrise. The sooner I get up the sooner I can dry my tent, pack up, and head home.