Day 8, 27.0 miles!!!

Well Hellllloooooooo!!!! (In a Mrs. Doubtfire voice of course). After yesterdays “short” 15 mile day, I was antsy to get after it! I was still walking through the section I had biked before, so the familiar trail was fast and kind to me, albeit steep.

Staying warm in my Patagonia Synchilla Fleece Gloves! :)

Amazing water source. It’s surrounded by flowers, it’s a popular place for people to get engaged! 

Yellow flowers galore

Don’t be a Cairn! 

Top of Searle Pass

Look familiar? 

Sept 26, 2023, with Richard of the Quad Squad. Also rode that day with Jessy! 




:(

Since I was the first one over the pass (again) I stepped on what I believed to be smooth and hardened solid ground amongst some mud. Turns out it was just more mud… I was over 2 miles until the next water!! 

Dang Marmot!

I’m sooooo glad I didn’t continue on yesterday into the storm! This entire 7 miles is above tree line and very exposed! It would’ve been a bad time! 

I let a guy named Prison Mike around this time (real name Jim) 🤣. He told me that he had checked the weather when he had service and there were a string of days coming up (including this one), that there would be thunder and lightning potential early than the usual 3pm. He said it was supposed to come down hard at noon today.

I stayed dry last night in my tent but there was a lot of condensation so my some of my things got a little wet inside, and the rain fly was SOAKED! It rained all night until about 2am. I knew I wanted to stop soon and dry out all my gear and get my pack sorted for the potential storm!

🎶 Thaaaaat’s where we wanna gooo… 🎶 

Hard to tell but an ACRE at LEAST of Indian Paintbrush! 

Pack explosion! 

I dried my gear out while having a mid morning snack. This is common to see on long trails and especially in alpine environments! I wanted to get this done early so I could repack. When I am expecting rain, I pack my pack differently, with the tent and fly inside, and my rain gear ready to go on the outside. Vice versa on a clear day.

Freshened up the ole mud shoes while I was at it! 

Another pack explosion…

Somewhere I’m not supposed to be… 😱 

Cataract Falls

After my descent and this beautiful falls, the trial got dry and hot and exposed for a few miles. And almost like clockwork, Prison Mikes prediction was starting to come true at 12 PM on the nose…

Ruh roh Raggy!!

🥵 

Camp Hale Bunkers

Camp Hale was a WWII training facility for alpine soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army. Unfortunately the insides are riddled with graffiti… :(

Met a bike packer named Michael (not prison Mike) 🤣, and he started only 1 day after me! I almost have the same pace as a bike!! :)

Ok, so after this point, it started raining. There was loud thunder. I had entered a creepy forest lacking any openness or views. There were bad mosquitos even around no water 🤷‍♂️ This was literally the case for the next 10 miles! Less pictures, less discussion, gonna skip through this part..

I did find a swing!! And you know I swang 🤣 

Increasingly rocky and wet…

Holy Cross!!

The rain let up just as I left the forest and popped out into the Holy Cross Wilderness. It had already been such a long day, but what I’m quickly learning is that if it’s not raining or storming in the evening, you better crank some more miles out! 

I was excited and although tired, determined to get to the tippy top of the ridge to a.) avoid mosquitos b.) practice camping right at tree line, and c.) do more than a marathon today!! Marathon plus baby!!!! With a full pack and still plenty of food! I ascended over 4,700 feet today! 

High ridge right next to where I’m camped 

Watched the clouds full the valley I just climbed out of 

And then, watched it clear! 

It was a really long day, 60 percent of it was awesome but man the long rainy forest section was bleghhh! I’m honestly just glad to be out here, experiencing a wide range of emotion that I’m feeling each day, seeing what my body can handle at age 34! Well, I took so long making this post, it’s already10pm! I gotta stop burning the candle on both ends! Good night!

Thanks for reading!