Stuart Fork, Trinities. Day 3.

Matt awoke from a restful night's sleep and rifled through his clothing pile looking for his jacket. Myself, on the other hand, awoke from the last of many nights of broken sleep with a snarl on my face. With the cold and the miles, it was finally too much. I stayed in the sleeping bag, moaning in discomfort. Sleeping on the ground without my inflatable Thermarest really is awful, I thought. I could never be an ultralight backpacker. The sleep has to be comfy. So after a little more whining to myself, I popped some more Dayquil to get through the day and emerged from the tent for breakfast.



We pumped some more water at the stream and were on our way. Brian set off at a blistering pace. Seems he had even less sleep than I did and one of his knees was aching (one he had previously injured and never went to the doctor for, but obviously should have) from the descent. He just wanted to be back at the car with his flip-flops. We decided to have burgers in town when we got there, so the images of the tasty lunch waiting for me, kept me moving along without a single complaint.




We stopped in Weaverville for lunch. The burgers were basically microwaved, and by most people's standards, absolutely disgusting. But after a few days of eating things out of packets, anything that I had to actually chew was orgasmically delicious. We stopped again for more calories in Willow Creek. There's a little snack stand next to the grocery store called Raging Creek. It has THE. BEST. SHAKES. EVER!!!! I always order the blackberry. It's made with so much deliciousness that the blackberries clog in the straw on the way to my face. mmmmmmmmmm... Every bit as awesome as my beloved Dairy Queen Blizzards. :)

When we got home, I didn't unpack my backpack for two days. Normally, I like to unpack immediately from any trip just because I don't like clutter. Leaving the mess for that long was a true sign of how crappy I felt. I'm still fighting something, which I think has morphed into a sinus infection. I feel good in the morning and then have a raging headache by dinnertime.

One thing I did realize while on our first (and only) California summer backpack: I really don't function well in the heat. My profuse sweating really does mess up my electrolyte balance quickly. I'm looking forward to winter. Backpacking in the snow is probably going to become my new favorite winter activity. It's ridiculously slow, but at least I don't spend the day drenched in my own excretions. :)