Saturday April 9, 2022
Start: campsite under power lines 4mi shy of Acton KOA
End: cowboy campsite for one, after Mt Gleason
Elevation gain/loss: 5873/3219
Mileage: 21.2
I woke up at 5am after drowsing since 4am, after falling asleep at 9pm. I had a solid night of sleep, with a light breeze keeping me from being too warm. I hoofed it to the KOA, arriving by 6:15am. I charged my phone, downloaded podcasts, and hung out until the office opened up at 8am and then I started up my laundry and took a shower. Today will be perhaps 5 degrees cooler than yesterday, and tomorrow will be 5 degrees cooler than today, so I’m looking forward to that.
I hitched into and out of town with Long John and Rocket to resupply at the grocery store. It took 45 minutes each way just to get a ride, and the sun was hot. I started hiking out from the trailhead at 1:30pm, after a cold trail magic soda; it was all uphill climbing for the rest of the day. I met Jedi (Germany) and Build a Bear (Belgium) at the next water source maintained by a park ranger/caretaker.
It was still wicked hot today. But around 9pm, a wind advisory started, which has drastically reduced the temperature and made for an interesting camping situation where everything has to be weighed down to keep it in one place.
I pushed all the way up to Mt Gleason, but found my anticipated campsite was very windy and exposed. I kept descending, looking for anywhere to camp, since Guthook didn’t have any waypoints for the next 3 miles. I had to stop to switch out my headlamp batteries since they were dying; right before I finally stopped to switch them out, I gave myself a big scare thinking I’d almost stepped on a snake because of the dim light, shadows, and rattling dry grass. It took me 2.5mi to find a small flat 3×6 area just big enough for my cowboy camping setup.
Transcending Mountains 