This has to be the worse day of hiking I’ve ever had! Today was the first day in the Bob Wilderness and it was a disaster zone. My only explanation is that no one, and I mean not a single person has done anything to this trail. I have never ever seen so many fallen trees in all of my hiking miles combined! There’s no way that I can get across what this trail looked like but there are few areas in which the trail is clear.

Trees are crisscrossed on top of one another for miles! That is no exaggeration. If it doesn’t get any better tomorrow then I’m looking for a bail out and skipping this entire section. Both Natalya and I look like the walking wounded!

We tried to keep our sanity over the day. Between crawling under, on my belly, rolling over, climbing up, balancing on a log and walking in between pokey branches, my legs are sliced and diced. They are rubbed raw from trying to straddle some logs, and my hands are black with sap from holding on for dear life.

Natalya had one bad fall that needed some cleaning, antibiotic and double bandages. She’ll be okay but I tell you, if the queen of balance can fall, I’m in big trouble. We had all intentions of hiking 15 miles today but we’re lucky to crank out what we did.

Camp couldn’t have come early enough. All I wanted to do was soak my wounds and look for an exit strategy. I’m not one that bails when it gets tough, but this is life changing. This isn’t like a train that’s not moving for hours on end! This is Lincoln logs scattered in your path for miles upon miles! I’m not sure my busted up body can take much more of this abuse. I’ll take a road walk any day over this mess.

Sorry, not the most uplifting blog but it was a tough day. Praying that the next 107 miles are not much of the same.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭121‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭