There is nothing more wonderful than waking up to a dry tent! We have evaded the constant borage of rain showers, thunderstorms and constant dampness. All is good in my world now. We hit the trail early and watched the sunrise behind our backs. The trail was clear and made for easy miles even if they were uphill.

I have found the trick to slowing Triple-Z down. Load her pack with tons of food. She is a much slighter person than I and even though I have the same eight days of food that she has, 15 plus extra pounds is much harder on her than I. Don’t get me wrong because it’s killing me too. I spend all this time lightening my gear and then I add 15 pounds of food. That’s wrong on many scales!

As I wobble down the trail, with my not-so-lightening speed, I encounter a family of grouse. They are oversized chickens, brown in color and tend to scurry away as soon as they see me. This is the third time I’m snuck up on them but before I can get my camera out of my pocket, they run and hide. The cows are still hanging with us. I’m starting to recognize a pattern between the Mommas and her Calves. When they are very small, they hang out underneath her always ready to trip her if she moves too fast. As they become toddlers, they hang out within eye shot but not too close, checking out the greener pastures on the other side. Once they are teenager cows, they are meandering all over the place, high and low. So I guess they are much like my family! It is so fun to watch them play in the open lands, no mind to us hikers at all.

Around noon, we came down a desert-like section of desert flowers, dust and sage. Then I saw it, Monarch Pass -Highway 50. All I need to do is head west and I betcha I could be home in a couple of days. I called my husband and he reminded me that he was picking me up in Durango! So hiking I continued to do.

Today was a workday, not a whole lot of scenery. We had a long dusty road walk, in the heat. I know girl, what do you want? Sunshine on your shoulders or raindrops overhead? I think I’ll stick to blue skies, thank you Lord.