August 8, 2013

August 8, 2013
Island Lake to Sheep Creek
~29 miles

Walking along alpine lakes and ascending rocky passes which give rise to views of more peaks on the other side, this was my morning. And it was glorious. My legs were definitely a little slower and more tired than they have felt in a while, but I did my best to not let them slow me down, at least not by much. Also, I may have gone a little light on food for this section by accident. This is why the last 10-12 miles today were a bit of a struggle despite the fact that they were relatively flat in comparison to the mornings miles, where at one point the trail hit 11,500' at the top of Lester Pass. I suppose I did spend most of the past two days at 10,000'+ so that may have something to do with the sluggishness as well. Either way, tomorrow is the Cirque of the Towers and I am stoked! Sluggishness be gone, I say! (Hopefully the weather is cooperative as well. It's rather cloudy tonight and even sprinkled a bit this evening.)

Aside from a few groups of people that I saw scattered throughout the day, it was relatively quiet today, as wilderness ought to be. I forgot to charge my iPod in town last time so I have been sans-music for this section. As such I find myself singing out loud as I hike to add some sound to my day, as well as alert any bears in the area to my presence. Of course it can be a little awkward if I do happen upon other hikers, but so far that has only happened once.

Also, I saw another NOBO today named Beef Stew. We exchanged notes on respective upcoming trail sections before each going our own ways.




Alex