Monday, April 08, 2013 – 20.3 km

During the night a group of cows passed by. One of them approached my tent and started mooing, like ‘Hey, you think there’s treasure in here?’ Then a cow from the group would moo back, like ‘No, not in this one either, Bob… no, leave it… LEAVE IT, DAMMIT!’

The good news from today is that my ankle felt fine, which was a big boost to morale. The AZT passed Beehive Well and climbed onto a ridge, which is where I first noticed the wind. Ah, a friendly breeze… that intensified into a torrent. It was the Churchill-type wind that blows you off your feet if you don’t brace yourself. The end of Passage 14 and beginning of Passage 15 are just flat desert terrain with little shelter, though with no ledges to get blown off of either.

At Freeman Road, I replenished my water supply with the water John had helped me cache. The wind still wanted to blow me over with fifteen additional pounds in my pack.

When the trail entered hilly terrain, I found a somewhat sheltered place to camp, struggled to pitch my tent and took an eternity trying to light my Esbit stove. DAMMIT BOB!