Day 82

(Originally written on Saturday, July 25)

I'm not ready to declare victory quite yet, but the new insoles I got yesterday seem to be working! Even if they don't fix everything, the improvement is definitely worth it already. I was able to log a 30-mile day today without any worsening of the hot spot on my right foot.

I decided to be up and hiking by 6 this morning and was able to do that. I did a "10x10", which is 10 miles by 10 am. I've found that as long as I start by 6, I can do it. Anytime after that and it's out of the question. The terrain was very mellow compared to what I'm used to, and stayed in the 7500' - 8200' range for most of the day. At the very end of the day, however, there was a very steep decline down to about 5200'! I can't remember the last time I was below a mile high.

So tomorrow (Sunday), my plan is to be up and going relatively early so that I can arrive at Sierra City about when stores begin to open. Sierra City is only five miles away so I'm thinking about being on the trail by 9.