April 5 - Runners, Snakes, and Flowers

The morning started with a bunch of runners racing on the trail. 

A cactus flowering. It's a little early in the season for the spectacular desert flowering show. 

I did a fancy dance step when I almost stepped on this guy. This was the second snake of the day, no rattlesnakes. 

It's a long trail, and all is well. I've made it 78 miles (17 miles today) and still no problems other than the typical aches of not being in good enough shape to start this adventure. I did training hikes, but I certainly needed more :). Now it's time for me to take three "zero" days. I won't be hiking (or blogging) the next three days as I'll be spending a few days with family off the trail. The plan is to be back on the trail for a couple of days starting Wednesday.