Let me start by saying that today is the anniversary of my sobriety. Today I have 9 years clean. I was homeless when I decided to get sober, and was cowboy camping in a park. I'd say I've come full circle, albeit a rung up, wouldn't you. HA!
Now, back to the beginning...
I could not stop shivering all night even though my sleeping bag was warm. I don't know what's up with that but it sucked! We woke and broke camp kind of late hit the trail around 7. We planned to hike to Diaz Creek and dry out our wet gear while we got water. There was a lot of condensation last night and everything was soaked.
We rested for about 45 minutes before rolling back out on the trail. It was a slow climb toward 11k feet. On our way up we ran into the German couple Walter and Rosel whom we met near Chimney Creek a few days ago. It was nice to see them again! They're still at it, doing the PCT right!
The whole day we headed toward 11k and I was huffing and puffing all the way. The worst thing was that everything is so dry: my nose, my throat, my mouth. All I can think is that it's a side effect of this supplement I've been taking called Aclimate. It's a brew of ginko and other herbs to help you adapt easier to high elevations. I think it's working as I don't feel nausea like I usually do but man is it hard to hike when your throat is stuck together. I did my best but it was hard.
The trail went through a series of meadows and passes each one more beautiful than the last and we saw our first marmot! We approached our camp for the day at Chicken Spring Lake and my mind was blown. Never have I seen such a beautiful place. Josh and I put our feet in the frigid water and then set about making camp and dinner while trying to figure out what we were going to do as far as food VS. mileage.
The struggle today on such an easy gain made me feel self conscious. Honestly, I feel like I don't belong here, like I'm not strong enough for the Sierra. I am afraid to do Forester Pass, afraid for people to see how hard I struggle. I am afraid Josh is going to push himself to injury like Happy Nomad did. Josh is having pains in his stomach like when he had a hernia. He wants to push on and stick with the plan to come out Kersarge Pass but what if he doesn't make it? We don't have a SPOT. What if I get elevation sickness or HAPE? I am already hacking up a lung at 11k. I am full of worry tonight. I don't know what to do. It is hard to decipher what is actual fear and what is the call of town. I AM really hungry and tired.
Right now it's 8:45 and I'm listening to bull frogs croaking in the lake. It's going to be cold tonight and I imagine we'll have epic condensation having camped in the lake basin. If we aren't going to go out horseshoe meadow tomorrow we need to put in some bigger miles or were going to run out of food. I will sleep on it I guess.
Until tomorrow, goodnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment