Mountain Lion Kill, Change in Plans, & Aspens

August 4, 2024

Mile 39.6-60.6 (21 miles)

I got too high off my edible last night and was afraid I wouldn't be able to fall asleep. Henry was deep breathing beside me so I thought he had already dozed off but then he reached up and massaged my back, kneading out all of my knots and I was asleep before I knew it. I forgot to set an alarm (we've been trying to get up early to beat the heat) but I woke up at 6:15 with the creeping daylight.

We cuddled for awhile, I felt like absolute trash with a pounding headache and was so sore I could barely get out of the tent. Another 2 Aleve popped (God help my liver if this continues) and then we packed up and set off. We had a big seven mile climb right off the bat to get up to 10,000 feet. Thankfully the trail was protected in a forest and honestly for once I think Henry struggled more than I did. Saw a dead fawn in the middle of the trail near a water source, half eaten by a mountain lion. We met a few more hikers, including an older couple who told us they had seen the mountain lion yesterday evening- when they described the spot to us, we realized it was right where we had camped!

My feet hurt terribly today so I soaked them as often as I could in the painfully cold creeks. Entered Lost Creek Wilderness, once we were up at 10,000 feet we walked alongside a beautiful meadow but it was hard for me to appreciate all of the beauty with the sheer amount of pain I was in.

Henry and I decided we should go into the town of Fairplay tomorrow because we've been having to ration food since the trail has been way harder than we thought. Our original plans were to push to Breckenridge but the best thing about hiking is being flexible. I am always down to go to town earlier than planned.

We sat down for a break in the dust, I pulled off my shoes and kneaded my aching feet. It felt like we'd gone 30 miles... we checked Guthook and we had gone 12.8. How demoralizing. But a few miles later as we hiked through a beautiful forest of Aspen trees, my foot pain dulled from a throb to an ache.

Early evening we made it to our camp goal and decided to push a mile and a half farther to get closer to town. As I set the tent up while it was sprinkling I realized I left the bag of tent stakes at camp this morning... UGH. I have literally had those stakes since my first AT hike. Used rocks to hold down the tent. Ate our ramen cuddled up in the tent out of the rain. After using the Big Agnes tent on the NFCT our Duplex feels so small and cramped and I forgot how much it leaked...