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Day 56: mile 1219.7-1229.9

Today I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, and I wanted to quit. …only one of those happened. I yelled out victoriously as I reached the top of the mountain and camp for the night. Today was the only day on trail I felt scared.

The sky was almost cloudless for the first time in days, glorious! That put me in a good mood to start the day, which I needed after the way yesterday ended. I started around 9:20, feeling confident I’d given myself plenty of time to complete the 10 miles for the day. I hiked uphill out of camp soaking in the sunshine, smiling at the fact I was sweating profusely. 

After getting my sweat on for a few miles uphill, I was rewarded with a super fun ride downhill. The GPS showed switchbacks, but one of the good things about snow is you can slide right down them. I took turns treating my snowshoes like skis and sitting on my butt for the long ride to the bottom. What a blast! No photos to show, I don’t trust myself enough to hold a camera and slide downhill! 

Next I happened upon some dirt (woohoo!) and made my way down to the river where I took a short break and finally washed that filthy shirt of mine. The sun was out so I figured I’d have time for it to dry. 

Wow, sounds like a great day right? It was …until the last few miles. Luckily I ran into Dipity who joined me right before things got scary. 

I’m not sure I can quite express how difficult and exhausting (physically and emotionally) this next section was. During this time I fell and slid down the mountain about 50 feet, thankful to have trees to catch me. Too many more falls to count followed. During one, I lost two water bottles and my butt pad. The falls were hard, jarring my neck and back. It seemed at every turn a new nightmare presented itself. Impossibly steep downhills were nonstop. There was no good way around these miles. Our bodies were so exhausted. I wanted to give up, to scream with frustration, to burst into tears, but I knew none of that would help me get to camp. We had no choice but to push on. 

During the uphill I jammed my snowshoes and trekking poles into the steep incline, clinging to the mountain with every muscle in my body, and on the downhill I balanced ever so cautiously, knowing with a single misstep I might slip and begin to slid down, unable to stop. What had I gotten myself into? 

I’m not sure how, pure adrenaline I suppose, but I found the strength to make it up the last ascent for the day. When I reached the top I yelled victoriously and cursed at the mountain telling it I had won! …it then began to rain as I set up my tent, so I suppose it had the last word for the day. 

The trail took it out of all of us today. Feeling pretty uncertain of what my next move is when I reach town in a few days, but at this moment I’m feeling pretty done with this snow. Happy to be safe in my tent tonight, and happy to have the company of my crew. 

Goodnight! 

XOXO Becks