August 10

Distance: 18.2 miles (+1.2 off trail) | Ascent: 2280′ | Descent: 2830′

Mile marker: 747.6

Lunch: J – spicy mac (B-), A – chicken soup (A+)

Dinner: J – chili with rice (A), A – spicy tomato pasta (B)

Today was pretty uneventful. We woke up early at 4:30am. It was our first time hiking in any level of darkness. We’ll probably be doing that a bit more often.

The trail was nice but not particularly exciting. We stopped for our lunch at 8:15 by a lake with a nice breeze. Since we were heading into Shelter Cove Resort, we thought we’d get food there and didn’t want to show up with a full stomach.

Our last climb led to a view of several pristine lakes and Odell Lake. We sauntered down and thought about taking a swim, but didn’t for the sake of time. In hindsight, we should’ve swam. Hopefully, we find more lakes and won’t let the opportunity pass.

We got our packages at Shelter Cove. They did charge us twice. I get it. They’re running a business, and they wouldn’t be offering this service if it wasn’t profitable. Jason got his new pack. It feels so much nicer than his crooked pack.

We showered, laundryed, and charged our devices. We’ll try to get some good miles tomorrow, but Jason needs to figure out if and how to send the old pack back to Osprey.