Well, we started hiking 15 minutes earlier than usual - not as early as I wanted, but early enough I suppose.   I had crazy dreams last night and spent some time contemplating them before I was willing to get up and start the day.  Once up, I had a difficult time convincing myself to put my beloved quilt away - she was keeping me so warm!  (Note: Theresa thinks I should name her, so I’m calling her Ocean - she’s the color of the ocean and every time I take her out of my pack I smile because she makes me think of Maui).

There was a lot of going up and over ridges again today, which wasn’t easy but it was worth the effort every time.  I cannot get enough of the views!

Since I don’t have an external battery, I’m forgoing listening to music/podcasts /audiobooks to stretch my phone battery.  So far it’s been fine not listening to anything, particularly since the marmots have been providing plenty of entertainment.  They are everywhere, they are playful, and they are finding mates.  My favorite moment was when two marmots were running up the trail towards me - it was funny to see them skid to a stop, pause, and then scatter when they noticed me.

Nick’s toe is really causing him pain, so he was behind me most of the day.  We did meet for lunch, though, which is always nice.  

Besides Nick and some day hikers, I didn’t see anyone else at all - maybe other thru-hikers are taking alternate routes because of the snow?  There hasn’t been too much of the white stuff so far, but I think tomorrow is going to be rough.  Anyway, I’m so happy we stayed on the redline because it is simply breathtaking.  

The best part of the day was shortly after lunch, when I went over a ridge and saw so many mountains on the other side that my jaw dropped.  The video I attempted to take doesn’t do it justice at all, so I’m not going to include it.  The pictures I took don’t do it justice, either, but I’m going to include them anyway.

There was also a wonderful floral smell up there, carried my The Wind - I couldn’t quite place the scent but I breathed it in with delight as I enjoyed the view.  The view was with me for a long time because we walked just below the ridge line for quite a while.  Going up and over Wander Ridge was amazing, too.  It was all amazing.  For real, I’m desperately in love with the mountains.

Nick and I met again at Cottonwood Pass.  As I said, he’s been struggling with his toe all day, so I had the pleasure of getting there first. I was able to see him at the top of the ridge and I watched him hike down for a while (there were some sketchy patches of snow covered trail and I wanted to make sure he got down ok)

While I was waiting for Nick, I was approached by a GERMAN couple (Alex and Kristin) who have been touring the US on bikes for the last few months (Dammit, why can’t I be fluent in German already?) They figured I was hiking the CDT and wanted to know all about it; similarly, I wanted to know all about what they are doing.  We had a great time chatting.  My friend Wendy would be proud - I attempted to speak a little German to them, although I’m terribly out of practice.  They were lovely. (Note to self: I need to get over my reluctance to ask people if I can take their picture, I’m missing out on recording the memories of people we meet.]

Once Nick got there and had a snack, we decided to only hike 4 more miles.  Even though those last 4 miles of the day were down in a valley and not up on a mountain, they were also beautiful. I suppose we can’t always be high up in the mountains….

We finished the day at 6pm, which seemed early but we both needed to stop.  The lack of ‘real food’ at Monarch Lodge has given us both a terrible case of hiker hunger.  Usually we can at least attempt to make up some of the calories we are losing out here when we get to town, but that didn’t happen at Monarch Lodge.  We had been out for a rather long time - 6 days - and really needed to eat more than we were able to.  I’ve been hungry since we left the lodge - I ate as much as I could today without eating into my food for the next two days and it barely made a dent in my hunger pains.  #hikerproblems

Tomorrow we will ford Texas Creek, which we are camped next to.  Hopefully it will be a little less swollen than it is now when we cross in the morning.  Also, I hope the snow isn’t too terrible up ahead (the reports we’ve been getting aren’t great, but we’ll see).  

Along the trail:

Camp: