Day 84 – 14 Jun 19. Navigation Challenge Day

Today 26.6 km (16.5 mi), Total Distance 1675.5 km (1041.1 mi) 10 hours 5 minutes (0710-1715)

I was awake a little earlier than normal and lay there for a while before getting up to go and get my Bear Bag. I had decided to have my last cooked breakfast today and started packing a few things away while it cooked. I ate it and then finished packing up. The temperature gauge said it was around 5 degrees C but it felt cooler. I started the day with a jacket on and tingling fingers.

The first part of the trail was continuing down the valley for two miles. This seemed to go quickly. It was mainly snow covered ground and weaving between the trees but there were a few brief appearances of dirt. There was one stream crossing of note and I used a little log across the river to get over.

Near the turn off the dirt became more prevalent and after turning away from the river the trail started climbing and it was nearly all dirt. It was a nice climb up the side of a steep hill. I could see the steep rocky mountains across the valley and there were large rock outcrops on my side too.

I climbed up to the first zig zag and then after the stream crossing it was back to snow again. The climb continued and then it was maintaining height going along the side of a hill before dropping slightly into a shallow valley.

Here I made my first misdirection. I had read the contours as a big hill and I was to follow along the side of it but they were actually a big drop. I was only slightly off course when I figured this out but it meant a little bit more climbing to get up to the next saddle.

From the saddle the trail dropped down to another saddle and once again I dropped too low and had to climb back up.

From the saddle it was up another hill, then around a bigger hill. Going around was a steep traverse and then another climb up before dropping down along the side of a hill.

Here there were occasional sections of track but once I turned up the next valley it was back to all snow.

The trail went to the head of the small valley then turned sharply and climbed up a big hill. This was the biggest climb of the day.

All day I had been feeling a lack of energy in my legs and a lack of motivation from me. I think I am struggling with the fact that I did not have a break at the end of the last section and still have 5 days before I can have a break. I am starting to loose my enthusiasm and it is turning into work. This is also probably because the terrain is ok but not spectacular and I am in the trees so much I am not seeing a lot of variety. There are also not the big checkpoints like the passes so I am not getting the sense of satisfaction.

At the top of the Hill was a neat mound of rocks. Now it was slightly down and across a meadow then up to some rocks. I sat at the rocks and had lunch in the sun.

After lunch I stood on a higher rock to see the way ahead. Straight across a huge bowl was a hill clear of snow and I was going over a saddle on that hill. To get there I had to traverse on the side of the hill all the way around the bowl. Thankfully the traverses were not as steep as I was expecting but it still took a long time.

At the bare hill there was actually a decent section of dirt trail, nearly 500 meters. Along this section there were a couple of different types of flowers and lots of new green plants. There was a lovely smell as well. I really enjoyed this short stretch of spring.

Just short of the saddle it was back to snow. From the saddle the trail dropped slightly then followed the side of a hill before climbing up and over a saddle.

From that saddle it was another drop into a valley and traverse on the side of a hill to get to the next saddle. This traverse was horrible as it was steep in many places. The trail was appearing for a few meters and then disappear, covered by a steep slope of snow which I had to traverse across. I was not enjoying this part.

Finally the slope eased as the climb up to the saddle began. Once again I veered off to the side and then had to recover myself back on trail. Once again there was no view from the saddle as it was covered in trees.

At this time I started to hear thunder and the temperature dropped. When I got to a clear patch I could see the sky was looking very grey and horrible. The thunder was moving around.

I was dropping down to Wolf Stream Pass and then I had a 1000 foot climb. With Casey’s advice about not climbing high in thunderstorms in mind, I decided I would stop early today at Wolf Stream Pass and leave the big climb for tomorrow when hopefully the weather has cleared.

From the pass I went a little further and then found a nice campspot on the snow. As soon as I stopped I cooled down and had to put my hat and jacket on before doing anything else. I had dinner, and snacks and then read until I was ready to sleep.

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