Our next day on the trail began by hiking through the valley until we reached a camp. We filled our water bottles and participated in Atlatl throwing. This was a hunting technique used thousands of years ago that relied on a stick as leverage to send an arrow/spear using momentum.
We used the weapon on a “range” scattered with targets of animals and other objects. Our crew hit so many of the targets that the arrow used was renamed “C4”, hence our crew name, 630-C4. Leaving the camp, we hiked to the top of Hart Peak and ate our lunch.
Nearing the end of our hike for the day, we had to fill our water again and ventured to an old drum in the middle of the woods. The drum was about 15 yards across and was extremely rusted; covered in a film of debris and gunk. We filled our canteens and bladders and placed our tablets inside of them to sanitize it. There we rested for a bit and a number of our crew members fell asleep. It was only our second day on the trail and we were already exhausted.
I wanted to include the moment of our crew member sleeping. We had trained extensively for this trip and were prepared. Although we had prepared, we were not expecting what would come in the following days. The experience itself would speak for itself and test us. We were all physically fit, but myself especially, was feeling the effects of the drastic altitude change. Reaching the end of our day of backpacking was always refreshing and we always hit the sack early to rest up for the next day of hiking.
The next post will include our sighting of Baldy Mountain and an unsuspecting event that occurred.
