Wednesday, July 17, 2013

July 12, 2013

Rocky Ridge TH to meadow near Little American Creek
~26 miles

It was a sad day today, for today the music died. That is to say I seem to have left my earbuds at the campsite this morning. Doh! Not the end of the world I realize, but music is a nice distraction during the road walks and at other times. 

The hiking today was pretty straightforward for the first 13 miles or so, and then all of a sudden POOF! it was back to the subtle version of the CDT again. The one where you look through the woods, squint a little, and then maybe you can just make out what looks to be a deer trail with trees blazed sporadically every now and again. Ahh, the CDT. For the most part the subtle trail is not the end of the world, I was never worried about getting lost even if I had but a compass and map, however, I must say that GPS technology is wonderful and it reduces the amount of time spent searching for the trail and straying from course. 

One of the other many thoughts that swam through my head today was regarding the amazing ability of the human body to adapt to stressors such as hiking 25-30 miles a day for days on end. My body feels stronger each day and the 26 miles today flew by with relative ease. Part of the ease has to do with the long hours of daylight, yet I never felt like I was red-lining it on the climbs and still seemed to cover ground quickly. I forgot how good it feels to be in this kind of shape! I think next section from Chief Joseph Pass my aim will be to hike around 30/day to see how that feels. 

It looks like there are mountains tomorrow! And possibly some lakes too! I'm planning to take fewer breaks during the day in order to get to camp at a lake early enough to go for a swim. Here's hoping things work out as planned!

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