July 18th

1:52 am
Currently lying in bed, wide awake at 1:52 am. I’m sure I’ll pay for this later, but I aint’nt tired. My Lyft will be here at 4am, though to be honest I’m convinced they won’t show. I have a back up plan case that happens, but it will be a massive PITA.

Why so early? Because it’s going to be stupid hot today. 38 degrees to be exact, and the start of the trail is pretty exposed so the plan is to have that first 6 to 8 miles done before it gets stupid hot. After that I’ll have some tree cover, and hopefully it will be a little cooler.

Im also awake because I’m a little anxious. The big unknown with this trail is how I will deal with the altitude, or if I even can.

4:00 am
So it looked like my ride wasn’t going to show, with a few drivers accepting the ride then mysteriously not being available. But then a car finally showed up and I got a ride all the way to start of the trail. For quite cheap too, as it was a fair drive. The driver was great and I left a $20 tip, still got there for real cheap.

It was dark when I started at 5am and it was cool to watch the sun slowly rise as I made my way through Wateron canyon. The first 6 miles of the trail is on a gravel road as it follows the river up into the canyon. Pretty cruisey, but also pretty.

When the road ends there was a sign warning about bear activity. This was super comforting as I was heading to Bear creek…

The sun was out in full force by the time I started climbing. I had shade from the trees, but 38 degrees, is 38 degrees. It was a hot, sweaty slog up to bear creek. Unfortunately the creek was a mere trickle. I had planned on stopping here for the day, but the heat and the crappy water prompted a bad decision. I decided to push on a few miles to the next water source, which was supposed to be better.

The heat got worse and that couple miles of climbing was torturous. I was drinking water, but it wasn’t enough. Heat exhaustion kicked super quick in and I was soon throwing up everything.

There was some cloud cover when I finally made it to the water. Jennifer and Liam, from Arkansas, where already set up for a siesta. I thought this was a grand idea, so I made some space and had a nap (after smashing the water). Jennifer and Liam are good people and we had a great chat about things and stuff.

It rained briefly, and I even got cold. I had to put my rain jacket lest I make the jump from hyperthermia to hypothermia

Then it was time to push on. The sun was out again which meant more climbing in the heat. There were a couple of a great camping spots 11 and 12 miles in, but I did not have enough water to camp. The only thing I could do was push on to the river, and it was slow going. Eventually the uphill turned to downhill, but I was struggling with the , my water was low and I started vomiting again. Joy!

The heat was pretty bad, but I’m sure lack of sleep played a role as well.

When I finally made it to the river I stumbled in without taking anything off and sat down in the blessedly freezing water. It was pure bliss. I stayed in there for awhile, long enough to start shivering.

In the fading light set my tent up, very badly, and crawled in to go to sleep. I was absolutely exhausted but sleep was hard to come by due to the hot, muggy night.

What a brutal first day!