Miles hiked: 20.0 (2252.9 to 2272.9) Elevation: +1896/-2855
Number of new, exciting blisters: 3

I woke up to the fitting sound of the glacial cascade from Mt Adams; it was damned cold out. Unzipped my rain fly and was sprayed with dislodged frost. Glad I got my zero bag in Trout Lake. I know the cold weather is problematic, but I am enjoying it at the moment.
A whole hiking day can often be predicted by the first steps in the morning. Hiker hobble is normal. The feet take a little time to warm up when they've been repeatedly abused. When hiker hobble becomes a series of desperate, falling lunges rather than steps, however, I predict a day of unhappy feet.
There was beautiful, old growth forest all day, interrupted by large meadows and lake-ponds overgrown with algae. These had a wealth of animal tracks and scat all around them. Lava Creek, on the outer edge of a huge field of pyroclastic debris, flowed into small pools of volcanic material just inside the forest and crossing the trail.
Most of the day, the trail was deep, coarse sand, making my aching feet sorer and more apt to blister. Unable to recover well enough overnight, the generalized, undifferentiated foot pain keeps compounding. Added to new blisters and the usual injuries, I experienced a cacophony of ouch all day. Maybe I can get some damned sleep tonight and recover a bit for Goat Rocks tomorrow.