Today I passed the 600 mile mark! It happened with little fanfare. I didn't even stop to take a picture. It was a very hot, and overall a challenging day with very little water or shade and way too much uphill hiking. I didn't have cell service in the morning and I don't have it now in my campsite. I had a signal once, sometime in the early afternoon, but I was too consumed with getting to the next water source to take advantage of it. Since water is so important, but so scarce in the desert, hikers tend to congregate at water sources. Below is a picture of hikers resting at water source: a spring with a very slow trickle of water.
It might be hard to see, but there are 10 people in the picture and at least 4 more, including me, that were outside the shot. I've seen even bigger groups!
I met a hiker named "Buttercup" today and we chatted a few times throughout the day and then for about an hour in the evening over dinner. He is retired military and he got his trail name by repeating something he used to say to soldiers, to a complaining hiker: "suck it up Buttercup." I had no idea how many times I would tell myself that very phrase the very next day.
Butter Fingers
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Thank you for sharing!