Day 9 - Mar 1
I slept amazing last night, best night of sleep so far hands down. Most nights I might wake up close to 10 times. Last night I slept from 8 to 2 and then on and off after that. Felt great.
We woke up to another cold morning. If I had to guess I'd say low 20"s. Not quite as cold as the previous morning but definetly not warm. We got moving by 730 again and by 9 we had gone 3 miles and climbed our first 5000 footer of the day. What made this one particularly special was .2 miles from the summit was the 100 mile mark.
It was quite inspiring to see that we had gone 100 miles, especially since we had no plans of slowing down.
Throughout the day the tempurate slowly began to rise. The majority of the snow had disappeared, leaving a wet slushy trace behind. This slush followed us for several parts of the day. I hate this slushy snow. It is absolutely the worst. Imagine every step you take the ground beneath you shifts an inch and you end up sliding forward or your foot shifts position.
The temp eventually got over 50 degrees and I cannot tell you how incredible it feels to have a slightly warm sun beat down on you after days of cold.
With the conditions being almost perfect today, minus the slush, we were averaging slightly over 2 miles an hour.
By 330 we had 3 miles left to the day, all uphill, and to our surprise, all slush. You see, throughout the day the slush was melting. Warm temps and people walking over them helped speed up the process. However, judging by the way the sun was positioned, our final uphill push ended up being a soaking and mushy mess.
When we arrived at camp we were pleased to be the only ones here. Turn out not many people like sleeping outside of shelters out here. Walker and I are one of the few who prefer to camp in the middle of nowhere.
We hiked from betty creek gap to wine camp and spring which ended up being a 20.5 mile day. Although grueling at times, I am really enjoying the pace we set for ourselves.
Tomorrow we plan on going 19 miles and staying in a cabin at the nanthalla outdoor center, or the noc for short.
Looking forward to another bed, a hot shower and more importantly, real food!
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
We woke up to another cold morning. If I had to guess I'd say low 20"s. Not quite as cold as the previous morning but definetly not warm. We got moving by 730 again and by 9 we had gone 3 miles and climbed our first 5000 footer of the day. What made this one particularly special was .2 miles from the summit was the 100 mile mark.
It was quite inspiring to see that we had gone 100 miles, especially since we had no plans of slowing down.
Throughout the day the tempurate slowly began to rise. The majority of the snow had disappeared, leaving a wet slushy trace behind. This slush followed us for several parts of the day. I hate this slushy snow. It is absolutely the worst. Imagine every step you take the ground beneath you shifts an inch and you end up sliding forward or your foot shifts position.
The temp eventually got over 50 degrees and I cannot tell you how incredible it feels to have a slightly warm sun beat down on you after days of cold.
With the conditions being almost perfect today, minus the slush, we were averaging slightly over 2 miles an hour.
By 330 we had 3 miles left to the day, all uphill, and to our surprise, all slush. You see, throughout the day the slush was melting. Warm temps and people walking over them helped speed up the process. However, judging by the way the sun was positioned, our final uphill push ended up being a soaking and mushy mess.
When we arrived at camp we were pleased to be the only ones here. Turn out not many people like sleeping outside of shelters out here. Walker and I are one of the few who prefer to camp in the middle of nowhere.
We hiked from betty creek gap to wine camp and spring which ended up being a 20.5 mile day. Although grueling at times, I am really enjoying the pace we set for ourselves.
Tomorrow we plan on going 19 miles and staying in a cabin at the nanthalla outdoor center, or the noc for short.
Looking forward to another bed, a hot shower and more importantly, real food!
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
I don't blame u for wanting to sleep away from everyone, I'd be the same way!
ReplyDeleteCan't believe you're already over 100 miles into your journey.
Glad you slept so well, makes a huge difference in endurance for sure.
Mom
Impressive that you boys have already nailed a 20 mile hike after only 1 week on the trail and the conditions facing you. Persevering through the slush and temps is tough. Being able to camp remotely with no one around must be an amazing feeling. No noise, no light pollution, just nature and solitude!
ReplyDelete