Not every day is going to be a great day.

Today had the potential to turn out great but a few things caused it to turn out to be “a hard day”. Which we thankfully turned around in the end. But man was it hard.

Why could it have been great?

The weather was cool so despite the big climb and long water carry we could do it without needing much water.

Toothless somehow woke in a great mood and hiked for like two hours straight.

The sun was peeking out.  But it was overcast. So not too hot. But with wind diapers would dry quickly.

What went wrong?

We ended up in a calorie deficit in this section. Not intentionally. But I’ve finally got some hunger in the past five days and notice my legs and body thinning out. So I really need the calories. 

But in warner springs we miscounted our food (I blame the single fun size packaging for feeling like we had more food than we did) so ended up with maybe 2/3 what we should have. We have not enough snacks. Not enough lunch. Some extra dinner to offset.

Also in warner springs they didn’t have many gluten free hot food options and we weren’t coordinated well so I didn’t calorie load lunch while there.  I should have eaten so much more but got caught up in chores then didn’t have a lot of easy food options and just ate what little I could.

As a result I was hungry and not feeling 100% today.

Toothless also ended up with a sore tummy today which I think caused his mood to shift from great to not great. He tried to get a reaction out of me all day. And I was too tired to really regulate myself.

The weather was also colder than I expected. It started overcast but just cool and turned cold.

It was windy and cloudy. Lil Flier was tired and the wind kept blowing her and keeping her awake. She was in the carrier in her puffy but it wasn’t enough. So we got the down blanket out and that got her to sleep.

The afternoon was slow and cold.

Making it better

The area was pretty cool. Very Flintstones vibes. Lots of large boulders.

We got to our site and Natasha pitched the tent enough for the kids to go in while I held Lil Flier in the carrier (which straps to my backpack so I couldn’t help much). She took the kids in to get out of the wind and I finished pitching the tent then joined them. Thankfully it a a good pitch. The wind right now is blasting hard. We have some rain. And the tent is keeping most of it out.

We snuggled in the tent. Natasha cooked dinner including our extras so we get as many calories as possible. No concerns with carbon monoxide – there is so much air exchange from the wind that it’s a non issue. Natasha and I ate beans and rice and Toothless opted not to eat the beans but had plain rice with corn chips and olive oil. He liked how it was warm and cozy. We ate other snacks and cleaned up. Kids read some books. I patched a pinhole in the tent. We snuggled and sang songs then went to bed. It was nice.

For the days ahead we are thinking we will pull food ahead and eat snacks allocated for the last day earlier. This will even our calories.

Tomorrow we will aim for 10 miles. Then stop at the Little Bear Hostel the night after that where we can supplement our snacks and food (and make up for the snacks we are pulling ahead from the last day). Then PVC (Paradise Valley Cafe) the day after where we can eat a full meal. Then from PVC we will get a ride to Idyllwild for a zero. Then back to PVC and head on San Jacinto if the snow is manageable with kids.