CDT Day 4 (4/18) 3rd Water Cache to Cow Paddy

This was our most exposed day. A long one with lots of cross country. Very hot, no shade, and too much wind to use the umbrella. The mouth was continuously dry. Drainage from sinuses got worse and the hacking cough started. 

We did another 16-17 mile day. 

The worst part of the day was about an hour in. I went to pull my Nikon W300 out of its shoulder pouch and the pouch drawstring was loose. The camera wasn’t there. I use it frequently so my hypothesis was that it fell out when I tossed the pack over the gate at the water cache (to avoid the barbed wire). Though it could have fallen out when the pack fell over there while camping. This pack doesn’t stand up and there is nothing to lean it against. Every plant has thorns!

[Day 6 update:  someone found my camera and it’s back. Fantastic people on the trail. ]

The rest of the day was miserably exposed. We camped outside a cow paddy with ‘good’ water. I used the Steripen and Aquamira tablets. 

I cowboy camped next to a big thorn bush. It was the only plant over knee high for half a mile. The wind died to a breeze during the hot night.