A couple of days ago, I started to feel an earache. That continued this morning, so after grabbing one more egg and bacon sandwich from Penny’s Diner, I stopped at the grocery store to get some Q-tips to clean it out, as well as some apply Neosporin—which made it feel better. I also snagged an extra-strength 5-hour Energy to help power me through the long road walk out of town with five days of food in my backpack.

I passed the 200-mile mark shortly after leaving town. The road walk went as expected, with beautiful views and decent water sources—a much prettier walk than the road section south of Highway 40.

About six miles into the day, the road changed from pavement to dirt, and the climb began, which I definitely felt in my legs with the heavy pack. After turning onto Forest Road 959, I passed many really good dispersed campsites. I ended up staying at the Sheriff Reservoir, a paid campsite with pit toilets and good water sources. I chose it mostly because I didn’t want to go any farther, and I didn’t want to backtrack to one of the many dispersed sites. $14 per site, with six sites total.

There was one other group camping there, which made for a quiet—but not lonely—evening.