May 19, 2021
Miles: 27.4 miles
Steps: 64,334
161 is how many times I cross the Gila River today. In the last 2.5 days of about 50 miles on the river trail I crossed the Gila River a total of 279 times, that’s more than I was expecting.
My body is getting pretty good at waking up around 5:30am but it’s closer to 6am for me to actually get up.
The whole day was spend going across the Gila River. Like yesterday the terrain was very diverse, sometimes rocky, sandy or through thick forest.
Never really took a long break today as I was trying to get to Snow Lake before it got dark, just lots of little ones. Snow Lake is basically the end of hiking on the Gila.
In the afternoon I got my first sighting of a bear. I believe it was on the other side of the river and when it heard me it went up the mountain but not far as it stayed close to get a good look at me. Not going to lie, I kept looking over my shoulder for that next mile.
I had a steep little climb out from the river and onto Snow Lake just as the sun was setting. Then found a spot to set up my tent in the camping area before it got too dark.
