A terrible, awful, no good, very bad day

Day 34, Mile 545.1 - Wow. Last night the wind got me up and out of my tent twice. So with not the best nights rest i headed into today. It started mundane enough, too mundane in fact; walking the la aqueduct for roughly 11 miles, some of them on a road nearby. I apologize ahead of time for this posts language and poor literary standard as i am writing under duress, but we will get to that in a minute. Towards the end of the aqueduct walk around lunchtime the wind started picking up again. It was a head wind mostly and with m straw hat on i had to keep my head down. So my world became 2 dimensional for the entire walk after lunch. It was like one of those old school video games where you shoot things and avoid things as they pass by; except there was nothing to shoot and all i wanted to avoid was the wind. The wind only got stronger as the day progressed. At one point i swore it was pushing the brim of my hat down so hard on my brow that it was increasing my inter-cranial pressure. As we climbed ! the wind started to get to where it was physically pushing me around. As i walked i thought about how if my Uncle Steve was here he would say, "Jesse you just aren't fat enough", i would have to agree. I wished many times today that i still had the other 15lbs i started this thing with. We made it to a canyon and discussed the logistics of where to camp, how many more miles we could go etc. Little did we know that when we tried to proceed the trail would be completely obliterated up ahead. We ended up having to turn around mid trail and back track to the canyon floor, but not before i thought Gina might die as she got semi-stuck on hardly any footing and could barely get turned around let alone back to better trail. The rest of the day was very 3 dimensional, we climbed up a slope to reconnect with the trail about a 1/2 mile down the canyon. We then forged ahead on slopes with an indentation you might mistake for a game trail, but in this case was the PCT. I should mention t! hat there was a caution sign just after leaving the aqueduct saying that this section because of fire damage can be particularly well...f%#!#d up. They were correct. Even as i lay here now smashed inside my sleeping bag, i have to keep wiping the screen to get the grit off as the wind howls by. At times today i kept looking up in the sky cause it sounded like a jet going overhead, oh no just the wind, yeah no biggie. I had a few times today where the wind almost took me completely off my feet, and a few others where i had to take a knee to keep tipping over. I have sand/dirt particles in every orifice, my nose is sort of running and i wiped it, it looks like mud. Too windy to put the tent up so its cowboy camping tonight. Also new development, well not really just first time writing about it. I got an ingrown toenail and i pulled it apart tonight and the usual puss came out but then it started bleeding and wouldn't stop for awhile, real odd, never seen that before. Its getting too hot in here so i gotta go. Thought of the day; to be able t! o find the right motivation for the right task at the right time is a good skill to have. Songs of the day; Dina wont you blow your hororrorn, and Swiiing low sweeeet chariot, comin for to carry me hooome. Craving of the day; not food actually but an eyewash station like you have in chemistry class, could def use that right now.

JWC on the PCT