July 28, 2024
30.5 miles
5472′ gain/3455′ loss
I was up at 5:30am, and hiking by 6:05am.
I was super tired and dizzy today, with an elevated heart rate when exerting myself on the uphill. And I had a lot of trouble on uphill travel once I hit ~9500′. My legs felt heavy and I felt so tired, despite a relatively smooth grade. I passed by rocks used to spell out ’10K’ the first time the trail hits that elevation. My day topped out at 11,000′ and I was feeling it.
Many of today’s miles seemed to drag. One section of trail had me hiking slightly uphill in a hot, sunny open valley for 5+ miles; it felt like a treadmill, nothing changing despite huffing and puffing.
I met House, a CT thruhiker from Ohio. This was his day 3; he hiked the AT in 2023. We chatted for a few minutes before I pushed on. Towards the end of the day, I hiked past a large group of equestrians camped for the night. It was cool to see the picketed horses and all of the heavier gear they could carry.
I ended up sleeping at 9800′, after getting to camp at 8pm. I was asleep by 9pm, after putting in a reservation for a motel in Frisco in two days.
Transcending Mountains 