First Zero Day

After hiking a little longer yesterday (and 43 miles to date), I had originally planned on hiking only 7.5 miles today to our next stopover. It was only supposed to rain until noon, but the latest forecast says it will pour all day and drop to 23 degrees tonight. We have good raingear and could push on through, but I decided it makes more sense to take a zero day and stay put here where we are already warm and dry. We have an extra day of food, so that's not a concern. The rest of the week is supposed to be cold, but dry, so for now I'm going to sit right here and listen to the rain on the tent and the drone of Forest sawing logs. 💤💤

In case any of you are wondering if or how we are keeping warm in these damp temperatures, it's all about the gear. Hikers pay extra to get the best gear at the lowest weight. We both sleep warm. We both have down quilts rated down to zero degrees. Mine is a top quilt, and Forest's is a bottom quilt made for a hammock. His underquilt is called a Winter Yeti from Warbonnet Outdoors. He also sleeps with a synthetic jacket called a Quinzee from Ruffwear, on two yellow, closed-cell foam pads cut down to his length.

Now, all we need is a Trail Angel with a drone to deliver a pizza!