Today was one of the most beautiful trail days yet.  The trail was well marked and maintained, and the views were magnificent.  The trail ascends one mesa after another after following the rim for a couple of miles.  There were many sandstone formations, gullies, surprise passages, and terrain to keep things interesting.

We ran into Caroline (from Australia) and Perry (the ex-military guy from the Toaster house).  We all sat in the sunshine and talked for 45 minutes on a sandstone ledge before going our separate ways.

We did 21 miles today, camping near Jones spring where we got our water. We also were the beneficiaries of some awesome trail magic from a nice man named None Yet.  He drove up from Albuquerque with an ice chest filled with sodas and Gatorade.  He also had oranges and bananas and Ding Dongs which we happily sampled.  He let me take an additional Coke which I drank about a half hour later.  Very nice man, although I thought he seemed a little sad and lonely.  I wish him well.  He just watched videos to see what thru hikers wanted and tried to oblige.

It turns out Cuba is just 14.5 miles away so we reserved a room for tomorrow night.  It is supposed to rain/snow Monday so we should be good.  Dang it’s cold!  Night.