Day 131 (PNT 36)

Day 131 (PNT 36): 20 miles

Sometimes you’re just having a shit day until you’re not. My back still felt really tight when I started the day with the steep descent down from Whatcom Pass. But after a while, I hopped off the official PNT and started the Copper Ridge alternate. Originally I was planning on just doing the PNT route cause it’s shorter and much easier, but another thru hiker from this area told me that Copper Ridge is “life changing” so I thought I might as well check it out.

It was kinda brutal to get up there. It was over 3,000 feet of climbing before it leveled out, and there were a lot of downed trees in the beginning part. I was also crossing a river on a narrow log while being bitten ferociously by mosquitoes. It took my utmost concentration to ignore them and just stay focused on my feet. I was focused, however, my shoelace came untied on the log and was trapped under the other shoes while I was stepping. It almost caused me to fall in the river, but back in the day I was a pro at Wii Fit balance games so I’d kinda been training for this for years.

It rained off and on all day, and it was gray, cloudy, and dreary all day. It wasn’t the best situation to enjoy the beauty of copper ridge, but it was alright. I was a little down on the day overall until I came across 2 marmots that really didn’t mind close human company. They were just having a grand old time and one was really modeling for pictures. While I was taking pictures, I then noticed that there was a rainbow behind me that had just formed. That 3 minute time span flipped the day real quick.

Song of the day: 2009-mac Miller