July 30, 2024
To town: 3.3 miles, 308′ gain/656′ loss; Slackpack: 15.5 miles, 3356′ gain/3970′ loss
I was up at 4:45am. It was a bit chilly until I warmed up. I was moving by a bit after 5am, passed the CT 100-mile mark, and got to the bus stop around 6:10am. I half heartedly tried to hitch on the highway and then just waited for the 6:49am bus in the cozy bus stop.
I dropped off my overnight gear at the motel, ate their continental breakfast (with the motel’s permission, of course), and then caught the bus up to Copper Mtn to slackpack back to the bus stop, for 600′ less gain.
I met Bill and Zach (two older white men who met as AT thruhikers) who were also slackpacking. I made decent time on the climb given the altitude (12,600′) and the grade (15-35%). There were wildflowers everywhere, and I kept stopping to take pictures. The ridgeline was beyond beautiful – my first epic alpine adventure for this trip! I even saw a huge raven windsurfing on the air currents. There was still snow in a few places, but it was all avoidable. While there was frost in the shade around 9am, it got quite hot by the afternoon when I was traveling through a burn area and I was ready to be in town. I wrapped up my hike at 2pm and caught the 2:21pm bus back to Frisco.
The afternoon and evening town chores took longer than I had anticipated and I struggled heartily with anxiety, nearly melting down from all of the choices I needed to make in Walmart. Town felt exciting before I got there, and then I just felt completely overwhelmed when I arrived. After talking it through with Toby on the phone, I decided to stay in my room until motel check-out tomorrow and try to relax and recuperate.
Transcending Mountains 