I awoke to a cool morning which was a good thing because today’s hike started with a 17 miles of cross country through sage brush. I made good time and stayed mostly on track until late morning when I was buzzed by an Air National Guard F-15. I had a fascination with military jets when I was a kid. I was immediately captivated by the jet. So much so, I was not paying attention to my map and was looking at it the upside down and went the wrong direction for 10 minutes before I figured out what was going on. I got back on track and made good time to my food/water cache that I left on Friday.
I took a couple hours off and then hiked towards the Burma Rim. I had 7 liters of water on my back (15.75 lbs) plus a full resupply of food. This was the heaviest my pack has weighted since I started. I worked my way up to the Burma rim and was struck by its awesomeness and the fact I was the only person out here. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world at that moment.
I continued up the 4×4 track until it ended and headed cross country again in the sage brush and set up camp at 7:30. That night I could hear the coyotes singing up on the hillside. Tomorrow was going to to a huge cross country and the Diablo Peak and Rim. This was day three without seeing another person. I was not bothered at all that I was not seeing anyone. In fact, I was energized by this!
Oregon Desert Trail 