My fusion of the three crests (day 66)

It was a great night in a lovely place. This morning I sat by the river again while eating my Cheerios. According to some other hikers, there was a lot of elevation gain at the start of the day. I wanted to make sure I had energy.

Three Ridges Peak

The first 6 miles of the day were a 3000+ foot climb up Three Ridges Peak. It started out rolling and well level, but soon became a steep, overgrown mess. The bugs surrounded me near the top and I definitely felt relieved once I reached the top.

mistakes were made

I took a short break before continuing, and that’s when everything went wrong. I pulled out of the way to go to the bathroom. When I was done, I returned to the trail and started walking again, IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. One might think that there is no way a person could walk south on a path they just walked north on without realizing it. But I did it.

After a while, I realized that the water source I was expecting was nowhere to be found. Only then did I check FarOut and realize I had hiked a mile up Three Ridges Mountain. I literally couldn’t believe my mistake, but I turned around and started frantically walking back. Not only did I give myself two extra miles for the day, but also almost 1,000 extra feet of elevation gain (which I had already done once).

melting in the mountains

To say I felt a bit of a meltdown over the situation might be an understatement. Luckily, my husband and mom heard me rant about it over the phone. While I was never technically “lost,” I just accidentally walked south, I felt very baffled by my mistake.

Rock Point Lookout

I didn’t get the tent spot at Rock Point until after 7 pm Today it took me ten hours to walk less than 15 miles. That might be a new record for my slowest pace. But it was a beautiful evening. You could clearly see the sunset from the rocky overlook, and I sat there while I ate dinner.

I’m lying in my tent at night, reflecting on the day. In the future, maybe even tomorrow, it will be a fun story to remember. But as I write this, thinking about the whole debacle still makes me want to cry. In short, forward and upward.

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