July 12th
1/2mi down County Rd 63 from Mineral X Rd(1490.3)-2.5mi before Benton Spring(1525.1)
Campsite Elevation: 6,825ft
34.8mi
Last night was a rough night. We all got very little sleep because there were strong wind gusts til almost 2am. Estero tried to move his tent in the middle of the night with no success, so he cowboyed in a sleeping and no tent. Then it rained loudly a couple of times through the night. I used earplugs and it helped a bit, but it was a rough night of sleeplessness for all five of us.
There isn’t much to say about today except that it was more of the same road walking. We were pretty much on the same eternal road most of the day and it was mostly straight. We could see it rolling straight ahead for miles off into the horizon. 
I hiked with Bloodbath and Rampage all day, while Estero and Mark hiked a bit further back. We saw them at our two water breaks. One of the water sources was a solar well. We were ready to scoop out of the well when we noticed instructions from previous hikers on how to turn the pump on. Then water flowed out through a hose. 
I treated it, but most the others didn’t…it tasted strongly of metal, but three wasn’t much of a choice as the next water was 14mi away. The next water was a nice piped spring and we had to each get a little less than 4L because it was 16mi to the next source and we needed extra for cooking at camp. That added an extra 7lbs to our already fairly full packs. The good news is that there was a nice breeze all day and it was even cloudy or overcast for a large portion of the day. We were very lucky!
One really cool thing was that we walked through fields of wild horses and they were really amazing! One time we had a group of horses gallop in a group together right in front of us. It was like they were performing for us and showing off. It looked like a scene that belonged in a movie as they galloped along together!
The last few hours had really sandy terrain that slowed our pace down a bit. We still haven’t seen any signs of ticks, so that’s been a relief too! We hiked til 7:30pm and were very happy to get almost 35mi in with little effort. We are expecting more of the same tomorrow. We have been seeing very fresh footprints from a group ahead of us that seem like they are just a half day away from us. One is pulling something on a cart or tote with two wheels as it has left a track for us to see all day. We are intrigued and are wondering what it could be and who is pulling it…
We passed the day by talking most of the day since we were on easy terrain and we could walk side by side. I haven’t spent a lot of quality time with Bloodbath and Rampage, so we had plenty to talk about all day and it helped pass the time.
The main goal was to end today in a good sheltered campsite so we could get some much needed rest. We ended up choosing a sloped area just off trail that was shielded by possible wins. The ground was thick grained sand and we were able to clear off flat spots to put the tent. 
I’m really looking forward to a good nights sleep! Estero showed up and Mark is camped further back, so it is the four of us. I’m falling asleep as I write this and going to sleep sooo well. Good night!
Sponsors
