Absolutely delusional and casually hallucinating

This morning I had planned to be awake and move early. I was in the store very close to the road and knew it would be visible in daylight. And yet, once again, I fell in love with my alarms and woke up closer to 7 am. I realized the sound of cars that decrease the speed along the path that people were seeing me. So I got up quickly and began to pack. Once I left my tent, a car slowly spent and stopped, and it was Sprinter! Then we came and we had coffee and breakfast together.

Thanks to that man, I could start my day with a cinnamon roll, a cup of coffee and a mint chocolate ice cream sandwich. What a way to start the day. I felt quite well this morning, especially after sleeping. And after going out with Sprinter for a while, I set out to start what should be a very long day. My hope is to get to Monarch Pass for tomorrow night. So I want to try to do about 40 miles today.

I continued along a paved road for less than one mile and then lit a dirt road that would take me back to the path. I remember this section of the last time I was here and I knew that I had to vote a river to continue again. In fact, I ended up taking away the socks and shoes to keep them dry because the water was very cold. I was so happy to have done that because even once I put my dry socks again and shoes, my feet burned so badly! Honestly, that is one of the most painful sensations in the entire world. That horrible burning you get from ice water on your skin.

Climbing above the tree line.

After crossing the river, I didn’t have to go very far until I returned to the CDT. Then, almost immediately I started the steep up to the Hope pass. The climb would continue for approximately 4 miles and was a kicker. I remember it absolutely miserable the last time I was here. I was here with syrup and we really just walk for 2 or 3 miles before stopping for our first break. This time I still felt the power of climbing, but it was much easier than I remembered.

It is crazy how fast I got into the city of Twin Lakes.

I ended up running to hikers of someday as I approached the top. And for some reason, seeing people always motivate me to press more and not stop. So I got up to the top of the climb. He wind there up there, but a beautiful and clear day. Then I began to descend to the Valley below, surrounded by the most incredible poplars. When you walk through these yellow clusters of the trees, it is almost like being wrapped in the sun. I could blind you with how brilliant and beautiful it is. Those following miles were lovely.

It seemed that it was close to the top of the past. But it still moves along this.

I remembered having made a very brief alternative through this section. You can walk through an ancient ghost city and then reconnect on the path for Lake Ann and Lake Ann Pass. That will be my next climb of the day. So I decided to do that again because I remembered it was great. I love going for old historical buildings and things like that.

On the top of Hope Pass!

There were so many people out of today. Finally I returned to the beginning of the path and connected to the CDT again. Then almost immediately I began to climb once again. In my memory, the climbing by Lake Ann Pass was easier than Hope Pass. But in reality, I think it was so difficult if not more difficult. Maybe it was for the accumulated elevation gain he had already done during the day. But that was a fairly hard climb. Although it was absolutely beautiful and I got to the top without problems.

Impressive mountain views with yellow splashes.

When I had 18 miles for the day I had already made more than 6000 feet of elevation gain. I knew I was going to make a lot of climb today, but I didn’t realize that I was going to be so extreme! And looking at the map, I knew I still had a lot ahead, especially if I planned to go to 40 miles for the day. After reaching the top of Lake Ann Pass, I would drop me for a few miles. Then, finally, go up to another crest, where I would stay for a while.

When I dropped out of the way, the foliage really lit.

That crest was really the only point of discussion for my day. That last big climb would begin a little more than 30 miles in the day. Then he would be rising between 11,000 and 12,700 feet in the predictable future. There were only a couple of comments marked on the places of Apeccion Camp. But there really is no tree cover when you give yourself so much. So I was a little worried about my potential to establish a camp later tonight. And also considering the fact that I could end up having to do a much longer day than expected to return to the tree line.

I love being in the forest in autumn. There is nothing like that incredible sound of leaves that open under your feet.

But when I was descending from Lake Ann Pass, I really began to feel exhausted. I have felt exhausted for a while, so it’s nothing new. I have had many days in which I have to sleep to compensate for the lack of rest. And they have basically been averaging 37 miles per day for more than 40 days. That has certainly begun to affect me. I think that in particular this last week, I got a bit fast and loose with my sleep schedule. Maybe a little exaggerated in the amount of sleep that I really need. After 47 miles the other day where I hardly slept, I had problems backing down.

Entering the Collegiate Peaks desert.

In the afternoon of today, I felt delusional and all the weight of everything finally hit me. It was shocking and emotional, as I could imagine that an eight -month pregnant woman would be. I can’t even count the number of times today that I cried absolutely anything. I guess you could blame the 7000 miles that I have walked this year. But more than anything it is probably the immense amount of mileage that I have put in recent months. And the lack of sleep that is required to achieve that mileage.

Heading towards Lake Ann Pass.

I took some caffeine and tried to keep rolling. At one point I was standing completely still and did not even move. And somehow, even from a standing position, I lost my balance and literally almost fell down a pine -covered hill. That was a call for attention to me and made me realize how exhausted it was.

Uploading my second big mountain pass of the day.

During the last month, I have experienced some very slight effects due to lack of sleep. I have had a few days when I experienced mild auditory and visual hallucinations. Usually, I’m just thinking that I see something in my peripheral vision, and quickly turning to realize that there was nothing there. This happens to me when I made the 48 -hour challenge last year at the CDT too. And I experienced much more significant hallucinations at that time than recently. I also think that I listen to something in the forest, which is not there. Recently, I think I listen to people and take out my headphones to realize that there is definitely no one near.

Incredible views of the lake below. In fact, I camped just there next to the lake last year. Then, a syrup and climb the mountain pass for dawn.

Today, my ears and my eyes were playing many tricks and I was quite disorient. I kept moving with the hope that caffeine will cure me. Because my desire to be on exit tomorrow night is incredibly tall. That will prepare me very well for the next replenishment. Although as the day progressed, it seemed increasingly impossible to achieve a 40 -mile day. Finally it started to get dark and threw my lighthouse. In fact, I found a couple of hikers who told me they had seen CDT hikers earlier in the day. Actually, I ended up spending a couple of tents, which were probably through hikers. However, of course, I can never talk to the other hikers. I only see their tents set when I spend them in the dark.

Above Lake Ann Pass.

That took me a little because I’ve definitely been longing for the socialization of seeing other hikers recently. It would be very nice to camp with another person and talk to some people who do the CDT. It is difficult to imagine that I am more than a month on this path and that I have only seen hikers. And we are only talking about the 20 north hikers I saw before Yellowstone. And then I met a couple of friends after that. Although none of those interactions was natural, I coordinated to meet all those people.

Lake Ann Pass! The last time I was here, I had just snowed in the last 48 hours. Now, this time, it snowed about four days ago. It is crazy how similar they can be two years apart.

I feel that I have been lucky and I have been able to feed my soul a lot to see friends here and there. Some similar trip hikers do not get anything from that socialization and their experiences are much more lonely. But it is not a competition in solitude. The few of us who have been walking here since January have been in our own unique version of this similar trip.

Heading through the mountain pass.

It darkened quite fast and put on the lighthouse. At that time I was about 2 miles away from Cottonwood Pass. Which is a path and a parking area where the CDT crosses the road. But there are no facilities of any kind there. He also marked the section of my day where to camping would become very limited going beyond. Around this time, cumulative exhaustion hit me like a wall. Honestly, I felt I couldn’t go further. This is the first time throughout the year I started to contemplate return my schedule and not get to the city at the time I intended. I never do that!

Then you could only imagine how tired I should have been. I ended up simply throwing the towel and making the decision to establish the camp to spend the night. I only get 30 miles for the day, which is absolutely crazy considering that I started around 7:30 am then it was a standard and complete day for me. But I made about 8000 feet of elevation gain and I only achieved a level of exhaustion that I have not yet experienced in the 271 days that I have been on the way this year.

I felt quite disappointed in myself while preparing the camp. But at the same time, I felt very relieved to go to bed and go to sleep. When I was in my store, it was only after 8 pm. Which made him one of the first nights I’ve had in a long time. Today I had no business that was as difficult as it was. Of course, there was a lot of elevation gain. But I have done much more than 8000 feet of profit in one day this year. And yes, I spent a lot of the day above 12,000 feet, but my body usually works quite well at high height. And I have done a lot of hiking this year when I felt exhausted and burned. But when you all together, it was a vicious recipe.

When I ended today, I was 45 miles from Monarch Pass. Which means there is a good possibility that it does not reach the city tomorrow night. He would have to do 34 miles along the path and then 10 miles along Road to go out to Monarch Pass tomorrow. Based on the way the land slowed to me today, that does not sound likely. However, it doesn’t matter. The dream was undoubtedly the priority tonight.

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