Sunday 10 June.

I slept well and was stripped down and ready to go by 7
I was a nice sunny morning . hmmmm going to be hot I thought.
my first target was the next shelter maybe 3 miles away . shapes had come past my tent last night  and was heading there.
I was impressed as I was struggling this morning as  it was all uphill and very steep.
So steep that I had to keep stopping . come on snail  i ssaid  to  mysself to  motivated and urge me on . but appeared to be lacking  Umph , Why am i struggling ? As i had slept really well  and had eaten my fill last night
I pushed on ,eventually coming to the sign to the next shelter but as it was off trail I decided not to visit it.
As I passed it the trail became even steeper and had to really urge myself on  as i climbed trail  became much  smoother and  neater, It was really well mainatined and  cut back but it was just steep and rocky so I struggled to get any speed up.

It was no good i didnt seem to be making much progress so decided to stop for a morning break (. a sign that I am struggling )
I ate  a few snacks and glugged water. I was still relaxing when shapes passed by and was gone !
I finished my break then set off down the trail but I still didn’t have any ummph, even my normal plod was slow.
Eventually I came to the next shelter there was one tent left but I I passed it to get water I recognised the owner.
bloody goodd effort i said   laughing
This hiker  walks miles and late into the night . (Sorry  forgot his name )

I told him that today  I was struggling
He  pointed out that it was a very steep elevation. and that  the air was thinner

That made me feel slightly better  as  I filtered water
Then it was back to the trail, it was 12 miles to town but with more climbs I dont think I will get there today .
I continued climbing but this part was open with no shade and I was roasting as the sun beat down on me .Oh and did I say it was steep, oh and so hot.
It seemed to take me forever to climb it. but of course  once up it was straight down which annoyed me as my foot now began to hurt as I stumbled over the rocky trail
My map said I should be going down but I just kept climbing , when I came to a stream I filled up as I had decided to camp at the next suitable spot .
As I pushed on my energy  decided to returned , how mad is that I thought as I steamed into camp
I had just got my tent up and had begun to relax when the rain came big buckets of it the sky went black as the Sun retreated oh well I guess that I will be cooking in my tent again

Start 764
Finish 784
mileage 20 miles
Remaining 1406 Miles

NB  my Vblog is one day out !!