Day 4 – Early Morning Start

I woke up this morning around 430 thanks to my bladder. Once I got up, I knew I wouldn’t be going back to bed, so I started getting changed (keeping my base layers on that I slept in), and decided to tackle blood mountain by moonlight.

Since my hiking group and I had decided last night to go up blood mountain on our own time and meet down the road either at mountain crossings outfitters or at the next agreed upon campsite, I had no qualms about heading out early.

I got my bear bag down, put a snack pack of nuts in my jacket pocket, filled up my water, and was packed and on the trail at 530.

The moon was bright enough I actually didn’t even use my headlamp for about half of the hike.

Eventually the sun started rising. In my early morning optimism, I thought I would get to see the sunrise from the top of blood mountain, but it was still a beautiful sight through the trees as I walked on. The wind was howling nearly the whole way, and I was bundled up tight to try and keep warm, but the sunrise gave me an extra boost of energy to keep going.

Getting up blood mountain did take longer than I expected, and since I skipped breakfast in my quest to start as early as possible, I was fully spent by the top.

It was a beautiful hike up, and I would have taken more pictures if I hadn’t been freezing and hungry. I kept myself pushing up the inclines with the thought of a nice breakfast with a beautiful view at the top.

Just before the viewpoint at the top, I passed the shelter where some hikers had stayed the night. They were just starting to get up by the looks of it, and when I asked them how the night was they said “COLD and WINDY”. No kidding !!

I sat down to make breakfast, thinking it would be wonderful to watch the views with my first meal. Instead, I froze my butt off while trying to boil water which took FOREVER since I was using my near-freezing water I had carried up through literally freezing winds. I drank down a hot golden milk turmeric tea and decided to get going down the hill with my pot of quickly-cooling breakfast in hand, eating one spoonful at a time as I trekked down the mountain as slowly as I could manage on my already-jelly legs.

It took me another 1.5 hours to get down to mountain crossings, pot in hand the whole way, slowly becoming slightly delirious as I approached my 7th mile before having finished a full meal.

I dreamed of a hot breakfast sandwich from trail magic at the bottom of the hill, but no such luck. I did find a cookie and a donut at the hiker box at the outfitter, and I got some new fuel to keep up with my mail drop of 10 dehydrated meals and way too many snacks. My mail drop box should last me at least 3 days, weighed 7lbs, and cost $30 including shipping and pick up fee from Mountain Crossings. So far it’s been nice to have the hot meals, but I’m strangely enticed by the Knorr meals my hiking companions are subsisting on…. Might have to bounce my next box and indulge in some of the junkier foods after all.

After unexpectedly meeting up with a familiar hiker who also couldn’t sleep with the freezing winds last night, we carried on for about a mile before I completely hit a wall. The early morning and cold, long, hard hike had my IT bands burning with every step, and my knees weren’t loving the cold hill climbs I had already put them through.

At the first sunny clearing, I unfolded my z pad, laid face down, and got a quick nap in while my hiking buddy continued on. 30min later I was up and snacking, and caught up, my legs feeling renewed for at least a few more miles.

Eventually we hit another viewpoint just before our agreed upon stopping point, so we spent some more time resting in the sun. It felt like it was too early to set up camp but we were both spent from our poor sleep and long hikes in the cold. The wind is STILL blowing and it’s still freezing cold when not in direct sunlight despite the temperature supposedly being in the 50s.

I found myself a little spot down the hill that is mostly wind blocked to hang my hammock and make dinner. Small comfort, and hoping to get warm tonight after feeling cold literally all day.

It’s 7:20pm now, most of the other hikers I camped with last night are here at mile 35.5 with me. I’m listening to them struggling with their bear hangs from my hammock, just about ready to lay down and try for some early sleep that I’ve been craving since noon.

Tomorrow’s a new day! Hoping my legs feel mostly recovered in the morning, but also planning to take it slow, take time for breakfast, stretching, and maybe even second breakfast before meandering to the next campsite.