March 23rd - Day 22

Today was the day we were going to push 23.6 miles to Deer Park Shelter, this was my first 20+ day and I was pumped to get this under my belt. The day went by quickly and the terrain was a lot of steep climbs but it wasn't bad. I reached a sign that said the shelter was 3.3 miles away at 5:22 PM and I really wanted to push myself to see if I could make it there in an hour. This would be a tough pace normally and after already hiking 20 miles it made it a little harder of a feat but I wanted to see if I had my trail legs. I was eyeing my watch closely and really hustling. When it read 6:19 I saw the shelter but it was still pretty far away down hill. I started running. I really wanted to make it. I got to the shelter said hi to G and Nate and checked the watch. It was 6:22 exactly. I was super proud of myself for knocking out a 23 mile day and ending it off hustling real hard to make it before the hour had past. I went to bed knowing I was going to eat town food for breakfast the next morning being only 3 miles from Hot Springs.