The first re-cap

This morning I celebrated one month on the trail with a delicious breakfast of a huge cinnamon roll and a giant blended coffee beverage (free for hikers!), eaten in a cozy king-size bed in a beautiful inn. Yessss.

I've experienced too much in the past 30 days to write about all of it, but here are some highlights:

Hardest day: after hiking almost 24 miles in freezing, snowy weather, we came across a swiftly moving creek. It wasn't too deep, and on a different day I probably would have just put my Crocs on and waded across. However, motivated by the dropping temperatures and a desire to get to camp, we tried a route walking across some boulders. Nolan went first, and was successful. In my attempt, I lost one of my poles (which was swept away, never to be seen again) and came to a point at which I just sat down on a rock paralyzed by fear of taking the next step across. Nolan came to my rescue, walking back across the rocks to search for my pole, take my pack, and give me one of his poles. We finished the crossing without any other mishaps and made it to camp shortly afterward.

Proudest accomplishment: completing the freezing 24-mile day followed by a 23-mile day and a 20-mile day, in order to get to Wrightwood a day early to get our packages.

Best food: giant apple dumpling at Thelma's in Big Bear City or amazing pizza in Idyllwild.

Most painful experience: limping through a blister that took over my whole right pinkie toe for a few days during our first 100 miles.

Favorite area: the high pine forests we've come across at around 6000 feet and above.

We're now only a day or two from hitting the 400-mile mark, which is a small milestone with respect to the whole trail but a huge accomplishment to think my two feet have actually walked 400 miles, while carrying a pretty heavy weight.

Four more months to go!