My tent site selection was lacking last night but God was not. I so needed some rest to get ready for today’s events, and our sweet Jesus calmed me down. What a blessing, more down than up today! That hasn’t happened in a long long time. The morning was stunning. We have been traveling on a ridge line for a wee bit now, so if you don’t like the views to the west, check out the east side! Honestly, it’s hard to choose which side is more glorious? We had a wonderful sunrise, then crested over Engineer Pass and dropped into this meadow. If I was a dog, this would be the best Dog Park ever! There were all sorts of critters to chase and things to smell! Triple-Z brought out her mountain finder app and we located Cross Mountain. It looks as though it has a steeple on top. So appropriate for this paradise that we are traversing. The morning was simply easy walking. The trail was manicured, no crazy roots to grab hold of your shoe laces, no menacing boulders or rocks, just absolute perfection. I would love to meet the volunteers who work year after year clearing, maintaining and caring for these trails. They are the true hero’s out here! We are leaving the San Juan’s and entering more forested territory. There are still huge majestic mountains but they are different. As we were walking just below the ridge line, I kept looking to my left and about tripped again. This is a regular occurrence of my flawed hiking step. I finally stopped and went up the ridge line to see this red rock beauty! It’s so interesting because you’ll be walking on grey ashen soil and all of a sudden, it turns to red clay. I can’t get over the diversity of this place!We are getting down to the wire. We hit mile marker 445 so only 40 miles to go. We have a twenty mile water carry as a gentle reminder that water is so precious, even here! We filled up three plus liters and climbed our last hill for the day. I was in charge of picking a site and boy oh boy, it is as flat as a pancake, and has a super nice view. Glorious God! Life is good.

And I will be to her a wall of fire all around declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.

Zechariah 2:5