Mile 1,788.9 - 1,813.8

Heavy smoke filled the air last night. I was wokeen up a few times by the strong smell of smoke. This can't be good for you. By morning our tent was covered again with ash. We hope this gets better soon.

What was worse was the mosquitoes. They were horrible for a section of today's hike. As bad, if not worse, than the Sierras. We needed our headnets and full bug protection. Not only do we have to deal with the wildfire smoke, but now mosquitoes. Not to mention that it is still very hot and humid. How much can one take before we snap. Apparently a lot because this trip has thrown just about everything at us. Still we wake up every morning, pack up, and hike on. It is

now much more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I like to say a thru-hike is 75% mental and 25% physical.

The kicker to this day is that we have a 20 mile waterless stretch tomorrow. So that means filling all our water containers to the max and carrying a heavy load. No choice there, we need water.

No, we don't look happy here. Can you blame us? The guidebook even calls this section "mosquitoe hell".

1,800 miles hiked. It is starting to feel more like 1,800,000 miles. Yes, we are getting stronger and are hiking more miles per day, but it is still a long way.

This is the closest fire and the one that's causing the most smoke and ash. There are many small fires burning all over near the trail.

The smoke began to fade as we crossed this ridge.

And the mosquitoes faded too.