It was lovely to get nine and a half hours of sleep, minus the pee breaks and frequent reinflating of my mattress. I hit the trail energized. The first 7.5 miles were mostly downhill towards a highway. That went reasonably fast. At that point I had to decide how far to go for the day. Since I’d made good time, I chose a campsite over ten miles ahead and with 4100 feet of climb.
The early morning was cold but by nine I was in shorts and t-shirt. I climbed slowly, at first because my knees were both stiff and sore, later just to keep the pace sustainable. By midday my knees felt much better.
In late afternoon I hit the first peak of the day. Looking ahead to the next peak, I thought there’s no way the trail goes up there, but again and again it did. A peak can look really imposing and half an hour later you6on it. I summitted four peaks, all with excellent views.
The campsite is rather spread out. I had to settle for a tentsite away from the main group of people because there was nothing else available. And since I arrived fairly late I only had time to set up, cook and eat before it was time to get inside. But overall the day was great, the trail fun to hike, talked to plenty of people on trail, and for the first time in ages I did not add any new cuts to my shins!
Mile 2002.2 to mile 2019.9 = 17.7 miles
This sign was at mile 2011.5!
Some chanterelles to add to my Knorr pasta side with ramen