Tuesday, September 2, 2025
27.7 miles, 8196/6841
I was up at 6am, and out by 6:30am. As I prepared to break camp, I saw Jugular and Secret Agent Sally hiking by. I soon followed after them, passing directly next to a very large male moose, having breakfast. He was uninterested in moving, but was also calm and preoccupied with eating.
Today was so much damn climbing, all above 10,000′. My breathing was labored and my muscles felt like useless noodles. Jugular and Sally and I leap frogged a few times, back and forth, until I finally passed them on a long descent. They provided me with motivation to keep up. We shared a chat and a break at a water source for 15 minutes, and it was nice to have company with no pressure. I was above treeline for almost the entirety of the day. There were some clouds and obvious rain and thunderstorms on mountains one ridge over, but it didn’t rain directly on me. I was still pursued by my anxiety. I climbed over two 13rs, and they were very rough. I still hadn’t fully acclimated and we were only going higher. I did get to see more pikas and marmots though, so that helped a lot.
After dropped down to a mountain pass road, I hiked back up into the mountains. As I climbed and pushed forward for too long, I did get to see a sow moose and her calf right before sundown, lumbering across the alpine fields. I continued forward in the fading light too long; I should have gotten out my headlamp and made a plan. Instead, I panicked and ended up camping at 12,400′ above treeline with no cover. I was exhausted and asleep by 9.
Transcending Mountains 