Sunday April 10, 2022
Start: cowboy campsite for one, after Mt Gleason
End: Buckhorn Campground
Elevation gain/loss: 6768/5732
Mileage: 35.0
I woke up at 5:30am, after falling asleep at 9:30pm. I had a solid night of sleep, despite waking up cold a few times, with a wind advisory in place. I was hiking by 6am and didn’t need a headlamp to light my way.
I met Raccoon at one of my morning water sources and we chatted for a few minutes. Later on, I met Chef, Chefin, and Waterfall at the nicest water source I’d seen since the start of this hike. I also crossed paths with Lucky Feather in the afternoon, along with dozens of other thru-hikers over the course of the day.
I had daylight so I pushed to Cooper Canyon campground, and still had daylight and enough energy to push on the 3 miles to Buckhorn Campground. It’s a car campground, but still closed from the Bobcat fire last year. No one else is here, and I found the one open bathroom in the entire campground. I decided to camp on the concrete slab outside, since the bathroom provides a bit of a wind break though it’s gentle tonight.
I finally started being surrounded by evergreen trees as I’ve continued to climb into the mountains. It’s been a relief to have more shade and natural company after the miles in the desert. I also had a number of quality water sources, the first ones I’ve seen since I started.
I looked over my remaining miles, and I should be able to finish in 2 days. I’m quite excited about that, but we’ll see how Baden-Powell goes tomorrow.
Transcending Mountains 