Day 31. 86 miles.

Nobody told us that Iowa has monstrous hills. We began the day with a killer 40mph downhill, then continued on a series of climbs and descents for the remainder of the day. The hills reminded me that I had become a bit spoiled with the mild terrain of the past few weeks, and that I had better prepare--both physically and mentally--for the Rocky Mountains that lie ahead. Despite the sheer pain of pushing hard up steep hills, the climbs felt good. Forcing my muscles to overcome gravity and continue pushing onward for 86 miles is both humbling and rewarding.

It also happened to be one of our most beautiful days, with sweeping fields and hilly landscapes lying beneath blue skies.



My only complaint of the day: the opossum/s that ran around and growled outside of our tent at night. I tried to scare it away from our food bag by shining a light in its direction, but it did not seem to mind. Instead, it continued to run around making noise and severely disturbing my sleep. Though it did not get the chance to take our food, it did get the chance to bother me throughout the course of the night. Adam neglected to wake up during the rustlings, and babbled relentlessly in his sleep.