Day 168 (CT 6)

Day 168 (CT 6): 24 miles

It could be recency bias but I think today was one of the best days of my life. It started off with a steep climb out of Elk creek valley, but once I got above 12,500 feet, it opened up and stayed that way all day. I might need to do some recalculating in my mental rankings but this was one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen and most beautiful days of hiking I’ve ever had. It’s giving the Sierra a run for its money.

After the initial climb I bounced up and down from 12,000 feet to 13,000 feet but never dipped below 12. It was constant jaw-dropping panoramic views all day. It was about 7,000 feet of climbing today, but the real reason I moved slow was because I was constantly looking around, tripping while doing so, and stopping every 10 minutes to take pictures.

I crossed paths with a herd of 30 of the majestic light-coated elk a few times. They’d run off and the circle back to the trail. They are incredible animals. I’ve also never seen as many marmots as I did today. It had to be hundreds. I love watching the cute groundhogs play around and laughed when 2 of them got in a fight.

It was still pretty early in the day when I was hiking along and “If I Can Dream” came on my headphones. I watched the Elvis movie just before starting this trail and learned about this song, and it’s the most powerful song I’ve discovered in a while. With it playing, and some of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen surrounding me in all directions, I started to tear up for the first time all year. I cried twice last year on the CYTC, and it doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes, life is too overwhelmingly beautiful and gut-wrenchingly euphoric.

And of course, like any other day, I would think. I thought about how amazing today was. I thought about wonderful the last 2 years have been. I thought about how great my life has been even before thru hiking. I thought about how blessed I am to be able to live such a fulfilling life. I thought about how thankful I am for every day.

I thought about how much I fucking love this life.