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Day 50: mile 1165,8-1172.3

Night one on the snow wasn’t bad at all, I was plenty warm. I woke up excited for my first full day hiking in the snow! Ring Master and I are both pretty independent hikers, so we figured today we’d just set a meeting point and go from there. It sounded like a good idea at the time. 

Off he went, I left 10-15 minutes behind him, following his footsteps for a bit until I reached the river. Not knowing how much water I’d see for the day I decided to fill up. 

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous! I followed the river for a bit and then decided to head up for a bigger view. We opted to go a bit off trail, so it was kind of a create your own adventure kinda route to our meeting spot. 

All was going well until I started postholing pretty bad. The first time my shoe almost came off trying to free my leg, the second my leg was up to my knee in the snow and I couldn’t free it. My snowshoe seemed to bury itself deeper as I tried to pull it out. To make matters worse I was over a snow bridge of a pretty big stream. Off came my snowshoe, trail runner, and my gaiter. Dang, this thing was deep. I began digging with my bare hands, but I wasn’t making much progress. It felt like quicksand, not snow. I finally freed everything. My hands were numb, but feeling relieved and wanting to get off the bridge, I kept moving. I decided to follow Ring Master’s steps in case something bad did happen, at least he could trace his steps back to find me. 

The day didn’t get any easier from here, but at least the sun made an appearance. After following the river again, I headed directly uphill miles. At points I wondered where he was taking me, but still I followed. My body was exhausted, the snow is a different beast. At one point I felt like I was taking short breaks every 20 yards or so, wanting to just stop for the day right there. This was not the nice flat walk in the snow I had yesterday. Of course this was never a real thought or option for me, I was determined and nothing would stop me. My goal, our meeting point, kept me motivated! I’m not sure how many time I told myself aloud, “you’re almost there”, “just keep moving”, “you got this” …along with some other choice words I won’t share. 

I made it to the meeting place where I was happy to see Ring Master waiting for me. Both exhausted from the day, we decided this was camp for the night. We traded stories from the day, both with our own wild adventure to share. 

After today, we decided it’s back to following the trail from here on out. Today was definitely the most physically exhausting day of my life. Beyond ready for bed. Hoping tomorrow will be a little easier on me.

Goodnight! 

XOXO Becks