Saturday, Aug 30, 2025
28.52 miles, 7523’/7762′ gain/loss
I was up at 6am, and hiking by 6:30am. I was in an unhappy mood for the entire day and the weather did not help. The elevation was killing me and I wasn’t making as good a pace as I usually can back home. I started the day at 10,100′ and didn’t go much below that. And for the most part, I was above treeline, out in the open, exposed to the elements. Blue passed me around 9am. I ended up seeing Jordan from the CDTA again as he was ridge running a section of trail around noon. Neither gave me more than a nod and a ‘hi’.
The big climb of the day was Parkview/Rabbit Ears. It was extremely steep, with no actual trail visible for many miles leading up to it, so I was wayfinding on an open ridgeline. There were many uneven spots hidden by a layer of golden dry grass, and I twisted my ankles a few times. As I hiked towards it, I couldn’t believe the trail was going to lead me up there – it was so steep and rocky and exposed.
I had questioning whether I should climb the mountain or go around it. A thunderstorm hit one side of the mountain as I was hiking towards it. But it appeared fairly clear when I started my climb – straight up the damn thing. It topped out at 12,300′ but I was breathing very hard the entire way – my heart rate topped out at 182. I kept getting dizzy and having to rest on my trekking poles.
Before I even hit the summit, I knew it would be an extremely spicy descent. Two thunderstorms were bearing down on me and crashed together right on top of me. At the summit, I eyeballed the emergency shelter but it was really bad – even I couldn’t stand up straight or lie down inside and I watched mice actively running around inside. I also knew I’d get stuck for hours if I stayed. So instead, I threw on my rain shell and my rain shell mittens and threw myself downhill as quick as I could go. The first mile was a lot of loose scree and I was grateful for all of my time in the northeast on similar terrain. Partway down, I was hit by the storm with a lot of rain, lightening, thunder, and pencil eraser-sized hail. It was very cold and scary so I just kept pushing forward, hoping that I was on a trail and that the trail was the CDT.
Eventually, I got out from underneath the storm and was able to ascertain that I was still on trail. That experience exhausted me, and felt so very risky but I also had looked for a way around the mountain and hadn’t seen one. I felt like I had no choice. I continued forward, putting one foot in front of the other. I wondered why I wasn’t more acclimated already.
Despite some threatening clouds, there was no more rain directly on me, even if it seemed like it would rain. It was an eternal ‘will it rain or won’t it?’ My legs were wicked tired. In the afternoon, I took 10 minutes to try and dry out my tent when the sun came out for a moment, which helped a little but the tent was still very wet when I set it up later.
In the afternoon, I encountered ~8-10 dirt bikers before a very steep, wet climb to get off the dirt bike trail. The dirt bikers were all respectful of me as a hiker and I also quickly got out of their way. As I miserably hiked into dusk, I saw a tent a few miles shy of my evening’s goal, within 30 minutes of sundown, and recognized the pack cover as Super Noodz. I stopped to chat and after talking for a bit, he invited me to stop and camp with him and his 3 tramily members for the night. I was so exhausted and demoralized and lonely, I said yes. I found a fine enough spot and settled in for the night. No more rain fell, which was much appreciated, though there was a lot of condensation in my tent the next morning.
Transcending Mountains 