300 Mile Hike Day 11



Sunday, July 23 2017

Was it Sunday? I didn't notice until I put the header on this post. 

We hiked a 21 mile day. I'm exhausted from doing it. We had some amazing views. Except if you notice we are kinda grimacing instead of smiling... that's because we are hurting. 




CJ got attacked by an angry rattlesnake right after I took the following photo. I didn't get a picture of the snake but it was high sierra green, which I am told is different from the Mojave green rattlesnake. We were walking along and all of a sudden CJ was leaping backward. He was a ways in front of me so I didn't immediately understand why. But I quickly heard the rattler letting him know it didn't like him one bit. Then it slithered off into the bushes before I could get it's mugshot. It was fat. Wouldda made a nice headband for a hat.



About a mile later we came to road crossing. There was an old guy standing beside his truck wearing a hat that said, "Backcountry Horseman's Association." Paul was hiking a good distance ahead so he came to the road crossing first and was already talking to him when CJ and I got there. I saw the guy's hat and recognized it as an organization that a family friend belongs to.

I was so tired I didn't even say hi to the guy. I just walked up and looked at his hat and asked, "Hey, you ever ride with a guy named Jerry Ledbetter?"

As quick as that, he looked straight back at me and nodded, saying "Yeah, I have. I know Jerry. You want a cold beer?"

Paul stood there dumbfounded asking "What just happened here?" Then Paul realized I must have recognized the guy's hat.

That was fun. The beer was super cold. He lived nearby and he was waiting to see if a crew of back country horseman came off the trail right there. They were behind us so we got one of their beers! haha

Not only did he give us an ice cold beer... he took our trash. This was a big deal because we were carrying 8 days worth of trash and if anything could attract a bear to us while we sleep,  that definitely could. I told him about CJ getting lit up by a rattlesnake and he told us someone got bit in that area last year and had to be airlifted to a hospital. 

When we got to our campsite, there were three other hikers there and they had all seen rattlesnakes today. 

Our feet are tore up.

Total Miles: 21.6
Total Up: 2895'
Total Down: -3453'

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