This day was supposed to be the Deva Temple day hike but I decided to give the feet a day to rest and see how they feel. I have an extra day over here so I could still do Deva tomorrow if they feel ok.

8:40 - In camp

I slept pretty well last night, awake a lot again it seemed, but I feel well rested. Just laying down and doing nothing for 12 hours is good even if you don't sleep much. I tried taking some photos of the stars last night and I hope I got something good.

Dinner last night was extremely unappetizing and I could only stomach about a quarter of it. Bleh! I had granola and blueberries for breakfast and that was the best meal yet!

The toe didn't look as bad this morning and after breakfast I lanced it, drained it, and put on a band-aid. That's about the best I can do here. I will be in my tevas all day today to give the feet a rest. I am still hoping to do Deva tomorrow.

The plan for today is just to stay out of the sun and follow the shade. I am in a small patch right now next to camp but it is fading rapidly. There is lots more next to some cliffs down canyon that may be shady all day. It's a very pretty spot to just hang out even if I don't get to do any hiking today.

12:50 - Resting in the shade

I just finished lunch---same as yesterday and it went down about as well. Tonight's dinner is chicken cashew curry and I hope it is better than last night's chicken with mashed potato and stuffing.

I have been hanging out about 100 yards down the wash from where my camp is. I lost the shade below the cliffs on the east side and have switched to the soft shade of a juniper on the west bank. In about 3 more hours the Sun will go behind the western cliffs and there will be plenty of shade up at my camp.

The toe does not feel bad but I have not taken off the band-aid to look at it. I will do that later this afternoon and make the final call about tomorrow's hike. Right now I would say it is a go though. I keep staring at Deva and it looks so close.

16:00 - Back at camp

I took off the band-aid and the toe doesn't look as bad as it did this morning. There is still puss draining from it and it hurts a little after messing with it. I think the problem may have been caused by a small hole in my inner, liner socks as it's in just the right place. I am wearing fresh socks tomorrow and may even skip the liners since you really don't need them with Smartwool. I think I am going to give it a try and just hope I can make it. I feel well rested after basically doing nothing all day today.

I got back in camp around 3:30 and the west side was already in shade. I filled my water bladder and will top off the bottles after dinner tonight. I made a list of the stuff I need to have with me tomorrow. Hiking up this wash with my headlamp is a big unknown.

19:00 - The end of the day

It's dark outside already and I am hunkered down for the night. I called Robin a little before 5 and told her I was going ahead with the Deva hike. She asked "Are you sure?" but she did not try to talk me out of it. Another problem with doing it tomorrow is I have to make it back to camp the same day as I have to hike out of here on Thursday and I will need most of the day to get to camp for that night.

Dinner was good tonight and I ate it all. The chicken cashew curry was very tasty and I had two cups of coffee afterwards along with a chocolate brownie Clif bar for dessert. Hopefully I will have enough caffeine in my system to get me through tomorrow as I won't have any coffee tomorrow morning. The alarm is set for 4:15 and I want to be out of here by 5:00. I will have my breakfast at the base of the Redwall climb.