It was cold, darn cold, and there was noise. A construction company parked all it’s big equipment nearby and it was Monday, time to fire those babies up! Somewhere in the upper 30s. Got up and did all the normal things. Getting water was a bit chilly.
Not far from where I camped the trail starts Segment 8 and enters Copperhead resort property. It was cooling walking among the lifts and snow machines. Seeing what the place looked like without all the snow.
The trail was up again. Up, and up, and up. Around 10 I started feeling very tired, cranky, questioning why I’m doing this. It was bad, by 11:30 I could barely move. Saw a good camp spot and just sat down, rested, and had some lunch. Problem solved! Must not have been listening to my body, bad case of get there itis.
Starting again, feeling much better. Going slower, more breaks, and eating more did the trick. Ended with 14.5 miles and 3600ft of climb, pretty good. Nice campsite above a stream.
Lots of streams, wildflowers, and views. Also, much less smoke.