Day 165 (CT 3)

Day 165 (CT 3): 24 miles

I slept for 12 hours and got up at 9 again but only cause I was roasting inside my tent. The morning was beautiful ridge walking on the Highline Trail. I was just frequently muttering “sensational” to myself cause it was stunning all around.

I wasn’t paying attention and missed the last water source before a dry stretch. I chugged about 2 liters early in the day but then didn’t have any water again for about 20 miles. I was getting a little thirsty but it wasn’t too hot so it wasn’t bad. It was nothing compared to dehydration in the Oregon desert. When I finally found some water late in the day, it was a tiny trickle but I filled up as much as I could and chugged, debris and all. There was a strong creek a half mile later but I needed a little appetizer.

As dusk was approaching, I decided to go up and over Blackhawk Pass rather than camp before it. I flew over that thing. If I could sustain the energy that I have at dusk for the entire day, I’d be doing 45 miles every day no problem. I just love it at dusk. The air becomes clearer. The sky lights up. It cools down. And something in me awakes and starts hauling ass.

I wasted about a half hour at the end of the day looking for a decent campsite around this creek that was supposed to have some. After I set up my tent on an extreme slope, I saw a headlamp about 100 yards away so I’m sure there was good camping just a little farther. But on the bright side, my feet are on the high end of the slope so maybe their inflammation and swelling will go down a bit.

I was awoken in the middle of the night by some large animal outside my tent. As soon as I made a noise it ran away. I’m guessing it was an elk, sounded heavy.

Song of the day: feel the volume-juaz