Date:Aug 9, 1979
Time:7:30 am
Alt.:?? ft.
Temp.:67°
Barom.:steady,
Place:Soda Springs
Has it only been ten days? My legs are so cramped up that I couldn’t sleep with them stretched out, I had to keep my knees bent and the thigh muscles under tension. Hard to do when you’re asleep.
Sherry tells me that she should be here in about five hours. She is the best, I couldn’t love her more if my life depended upon it. Maybe it does? I decide to read, nap and sit in the shade revising these notes, waiting for her pea green Hornet.
My plans had kept me on the trail until reaching Beckworth Pass, another three days to the north. Something about stumbling upon Cold Stream pass last night ended the trip early. Somehow I had turned the trip into an endurance trial, 18 or 20 mile days, little or no time spent doing the things that brought me to the mountains. Last night I found Cold Stream Pass, and all I could think about was how to get off that mountain, and how to get off fast. The same thoughts the Donner Party felt I would imagine.
