I roll over and out of my bag and into a normal-yet-weird morning. I do everything the same as I normally do, grab the bear cans, pick out the food for the day, pack up, stride off into the flat behind both Yoda and Outro. But today’s the setup – we’re climbing Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48 states, for sunrise tomorrow, and it’s got me bouncing through the morning’s flat in anticipation. Continue reading
I’m one of the first ones up this morning. My tent is pitched all weird, deeply involved with a tree branch – and it bothers me until I take it down, trying to be quiet for all the still-sleepers. Outro’s out first – how quickly she manages, even with the bear can! – and then it’s me, off into the rocky ups awaiting us. Continue reading
My alarm goes off at 4:30, but it’s still dark-dark outside. And cold. At 4:45, I persuade myself to get up – my friends aren’t going to wait for me. Dally, yes. Wait, no. The bear can take a longer to deal with than I’m used to, and it takes me 45 minutes to get out. Still, I don’t think the Pack will be up this early, if past experience is any indication. I’ve got to use this time to move before they do. Continue reading
Everyone’s already packed up by the time I roll out of bed this morning – I think about packing, but Pineapple tells me she had a dream about me, namely that my box didn’t come. Great. I stare balefully at my tent, decide not to pack yet – I’ll have to figure out how to pack everything differently once I get the bear can anyway. Continue reading
I wake early today, go back to sleep annoyed – why get up when there’s no walking to be done? But I can’t stay asleep for long with the sun shining merrily down on my tent, and I flee the bright for the relative chill of the outside world. Continue reading
I’m getting into this terrible habit of ignoring my alarm – it’s cold when it goes off at 5, and there’s no one else stirring, so I roll over and go back to sleep. At 5:45 though, Evac starts stirring in a manner it’s impossible to ignore, so I’m up myself, if only marginally. I ask for just a sip of coffee and she offers it to me, sweet brown liquid rolling warmly down my gullet. I guess it’s time to start the day. Continue reading
Morning comes quickly, since I stayed up past 10 writing. My alarm goes off at 4:30 – nobody stirs. I reset it for 5, still nobody stirs. It’s not until I hear movement at 6:05 that I finally feel like a lazy fuck enter consciousness for good, try to relax into the morning. No one’s in a hurry today. Continue reading
4:30 comes way, way too early, everyone’s alarms going off in sync since we’re in town on the network. I’m the only one set for 4:50, so I get to lounge for a few more minutes. This bed is so soft, the covers are so warm, how could I ever leave? But there’s a bus coming at 5:30 and there are people scurrying thither and yon, stuffing things into backpacks. I suppose I should join them, and I do even though I’m tired-nauseous and have to sit down a lot. Continue reading
I wake late – 8am – but it’s still earlier than most of the others. I’ve got a lot to do today and so little time to do it, but I’m trying my damndest to get it all done. This is a working zero, or so I tell myself before I grab coffee and sit chatting with U-Turn, then U-Turn and Evac, then then then, as the others all slowly emerge from bed. Continue reading
I’m sO EXCITED in the morning – Walker Pass awaits! – that it’s easy to get up and moving, easy to roll out of camp despite being tired from the wind last night and the desert holding on for so many more miles and and and. I’m just ready to recoup in a town, even if that only means resupplying and going to the post office for my shoes. I hope it’ll set me straight, get me out of this funk I’ve been in. First, though, I gotta get there. Continue reading
Brown Girl on the NST 