All of a sudden we realized it was 6am already!! We HAULED ASS!! We had broken camp and were out of there by 6:30 -- the fastest we'd ever broken camp. We had to head down this mountain on a really great (or "bomber" trail) that was switchback after switchback. It was all downhill, and Lee and Trevor were in the lead. Lee was just flying down. Trevor was trying to keep up but was at least 50 feet in back of Lee. I was managing to keep up behind Trevor, running with my pack to do so (it was fun!!). Unfortunately for everybody else, Ally was next in line behind me and she was really, really far behind. This kept Kara and Mark behind, too. I really though she should be trying harder since she was leaving that day, and I was disappointed.

Anyway, we were all speeding down this trail because we were late, and all of a sudden, Mark takes this huge fall down some rock off the side of the trail. That was the first time I had ever seen Mark really pissed. Because we'd been in such a hurry to break camp, he packed his backpack completely uneven and unbalanced. It had to have hurt him, it was a really bad fall. But he eventually got up and kept going.

I had to go to the bathroom extremely bad, but I kept holding it in. Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore and I told everyone I'd meet them at the bottom. Kara insisted on staying right there with me. I really, really didn't want her there (I felt very sick) and after about 10 minutes of arguing I convinced her to go down to the bottom of the mountain with the rest of the group and wait for me. This distressed her greatly (smile) but she honoured my request. Well something I had eaten the day before wasn't agreeing with me, and I got very sick indeed. However, I felt much better when it was all over.

I went down the mountain & met up with everyone. They teased me about taking so long and I laughed and said I had "feminine problems"...didn't want to go into the real problem. We shared alot, but that was just too much.

So they all stood up to go (they had sat down snd waited for me with their packs still on), except for Ally, who howls, "I'M STUCK!!!" It was terrible but all we could do was stand there and laugh. None of the guys, not even Mark, budged an inch, and she just kept howling over & over, "I'M STUCK!!" I finally helped her after I caught my breath from laughing so hard. I mean, we were rolling on the ground clutching our stomachs.

So finally we get to the bottom of this mountain & start to follow some railroad tracks like Markian told us. By this time it is already 8:45am. But we figure that Markian can't be too angry because he forgot to give us his watch. Wrong.

So we follow these tracks for a couple of miles until we find the resupply sight, with an extremely unhappy looking Markian awaiting us. All the other groups had already gotten there and left!! But he got over it. And BECKY was there!!! She was sooo glad to see us and we were overjoyed and we all hugged her. She said she had to stay with another patrol for the night, and that ours was so much better by far and how much she had missed us. The doctor gave her medication and she was going to be just fine. Lucky her, she had also gotten a shower. We had really, really started to reek, all of us. And our hair...oh my Lord. It looked wet, it was so oily and grimy. She looked fresh and we were jealous. *laugh*.

Anyway, we started resupplying right away. Dan was rushing us because we were so late (the train was coming to take everything away in less than an hour). Some people went to resupply the first aid & spice kits, some the fuel bottles. I helped do the food. Now normally, we could leave the food we had before and hadn't eaten & didn't want. But Dan looked at our food and said we hadn't taken care of it (it was really gross, full of dirt and grime, very sticky). So he made us take it back with us as punishment. So we were stuck with some really nasty food, but we got new soups, more pasta, more cheese, etc. This time we had to get enough food for ten days. It was an incredible amount to carry -- but I'll get back to that.

Anyways, when we finished resupplying everything, they gave us fresh lunches of turkey sandwiches, chips, salsa, and cookies. It was fabulous, and we completely stuffed ourselves.

The train came, and Ally was ready to go. Right before she left, she told us, "You guys are the nicest group of people I have ever met." I was shocked. I could tell Lee was about to make a snide comment but I glared at him and he didn't. However, the kindest person in our group, Kara, did. Much to everyone's surprise, she grunted, "That's really scary". But Ally only laughed and got all of our home addresses. Lee told her he didn't have one. Anyway, she left, and our group was back to six people. We had gained Becky, but had lost Ally, and Travis was still gone. Dan told us the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with Travis' knee, but Dan didn't think he should return. So he was going to put a heavy pack on Travis and make him hike up and down a mountain all day long as a test to see if travis would still want to continue with the course. And that was the last we ever heard about that.

Besides having many more food and other supplies to carry now, Markian decided we needed more. He gave us the group rock climbing equipment that he and Sara had been carrying up until that point and told us that we'd have to carry it from now on!!

So Markian left, too, after showing us on the map where to hike to. We had 6.5 miles uphill with heavier packs. We just didn't know how much heavier. We finished our lunches and decided we were too full to hike just yet. We lounged around for a good hour and then slowly began the re-packing process. It was definitely not fun. We decided that we had way, way, way too much food. We were complaining about it when two hikers came along our lounging path. Lee greeted them with, "Hey guys, it's your lucky day!!" like game show host. He whispered to us that he was going to give our food away. We grinned, knowing he was crazy enough to do it, and to do it in a way that would be hilarious. He said hello and introduced himself and asked them if they were hungry. They said not really and asked why. Lee then explained our sad situation in a most pitiful way. It sounded absolutely pathetic. It worked and you could tell they felt sorry for us, because they were awfully patient while he went through every item of food for them. It reminded me of Vanna White showing a car. He'd take out an item and exclaim "Would ya look at how great this looks?? And it doesn't weigh much....Can't you just feel the flavors melting in your mouth? Come on, whattdya say??" Teehee. They politely refused almost everything, but at the end they conceded and took a pack of crackers or something out of an obvious sense of sympathy. It was one of the funniest, most memorable moments of the 23 days.

So when that was over, it was time to get a move on it and put on our packs. Well, Lee went first and he literally fell over. So did the rest of us when we tried. Plop. Like, right over. Splat. The damned thing weighed around 60 lbs, which was more than half my weight, which you are not supposed to carry. My back was completely hunched over.

We started our 6.5 mile uphill journey. The tears were already flowing. I was beginning to think Ally had the right idea, that she was the Smart One. We got to the base of the mountain and started our ascent. We got about a quarter of a mile up when I nearly collapsed. Nobody could believe what they expected us to do. We were all steaming. That hike was something awful for everyone. I was concentrating so hard to make my legs move, and I was so out of breath, that whenever anybody spoke to me I simply could not reply. I just couldn't. I remember people getting angry at that. Everyone was just in a really bad mood. I cried more that day than any other. I felt like my back was going to give out any second. Kara started having probelms with her hip. We stopped often, mostly for me.

Anyway, we were way, way off schedule. It took us 7.5 hours just to meet Markian at our checkpoint. (Sara was still out with Travis). When we did, and he saw that I wasn't going to make it any further, he shortened our itinerary and led us to a nearby campsite that was just across the lake we were at. I collapsed when we got there.

Later when I felt better I went to change and I saw a huge rabbit. We just watched each other for a while. I slept very soundly that night.

Day 8


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