Saturday, August 27, 2016 - Zero Day

I'm tired. No trying to hide it. Fatigued. Drained. It's been 13 days of constant motion and I'm pooped. Yesterday, I fell twice. I could blame it on shoes, or slippery rocks, or some other outside influence, but the truth is I was tired and making mistakes. Today is a zero day. I planned to lay on my back here at Italy Lake and watch the day go by, and that is exactly what Craig and I did. 

I'd start out and say we got up and cooked breakfast, but I did not. I rolled over, lit my stove, made oatmeal, ate it, and rolled back on my posterior and lay there. 

Sometime around 10:00am I did drag my sorry butt out of bed, emptied the bigger of the two bear cans I was carrying of its food, filled it with all my clothes, and staggered to the lake shore. There I employed the bear can as a washing machine and washed all my clothes. Craig did the same. Then we erected a clothes line and hung them to dry. Then it was back to my Z-Pad for more zombie time. 

Maybe an hour later, I got up, staggered back to the lake and went for a refreshing swim. The lake was cold, but not shrink all your body parts ice cold. With the sun shining directly down on the tarp, and no shade at treeless 11,200,' it was very warm under the tarp. The swim felt good. That pretty much sums up my activity for the day. Oh!  I did inventory my food and found I had a few extra dinners, so I cooked one for lunch, and then I cooked one for dinner hours later, but in between, I just rested. 

Craig was quite a bit more ambitious. He walked the lake's shoreline, did a little exploring and spent more time out from under the tarp than I did. 

I learned on the PCT two years ago the power of a zero day and how much it can revitalize a person, so I was making the most of this revitalization. I was confident the slothness of today would transform into the energy of tomorrow.