Day 51Little Grass Valley, California

I finish the day before in a campground mostly frequented by tourists. I found Cesus, gone long before I did. We have dinner together at the front, he sleeps in cowboy camping while I set up my tent.

The next day, I meet another hiker called Extra. During a break, a pain under my shirt attracts my attention: a big tick hangs on my abdomen, with a purple area around it. I’m using my tick for the first time. The tool looks small compared to the animal, but I manage to remove it entirely.

Pain also appears to the left calf, probably after accelerating in the descents that became less technical. I’m watching her for a scheduled day of 34 miles. The landscape is quite monotonous, made of long forests, but some particularly beautiful butterflies bring a distraction.