We’re camped tonight on a ridge between Low Camp and Blow Mountain. I’m hoping it’ll be warmer when we wake up then when we got up this morning. It was 35 degrees with a steady 20 mph wind and it felt cold, Cold, COLD! I got up, grabbed the food bag and we munched on candy bars while waiting for our water to boil.

All day we altered between wind and sun, sometimes hiking in fleece and hats in the morning cold, sometimes just wearing a shirt. We entered Hogpen Gap where Bruce (a former thru-hiker) and his wife had set up a bunch of beach chairs and were handing out fruit, snacks and soda. My apple tasted SO good! Thanks guys!

D & I made it to Log Gap Shelter in the early afternoon where the Roman Noodles were taking a break (He’s Roman, she’s Noodles). They’re both MDs and told me the extreme knee pain I’ve had sounds like iliotibial band (IT band) tendonitis! I’ve never had any knee pain before but I’ve been walking with a stiff left leg for a few days, trying to give it a rest. My right leg isn’t very happy about the deal either, since it’s doing all the work!

Back in October or so, I ordered about 100 freeze-dried meals from REI when I caught them on sale. They were in a box in the living room for a few weeks before my wonderful dog, Tally, decided to make herself dinner. Beef Stroganoff, to be exact. Luckily, she only demolished one meal (perhaps because she emptied her water bowl and didn’t want to dare try another one?) D and I want to thank Tally for leaving some for us – it was rather tasty!