Climb!

Today starts with a 4,000-foot climb in just 5.5 miles!  It takes us six hours to get to the top.

Just over the top, the conifer diversity explodes. Without even stepping off the trail or searching hard, I identify a dozen different species, including pines, firs, hemlock, spruce, and cedar.

The trail down is overgrown and slow going. It is not clear how many miles we will make today, but the plan was to reach Portuguese Camp at mile 126 so that we are lined up for a major climb in the early morning tomorrow. We might not make it that far, but we want to push hard to line up that climb as best we can. We are in the first of a four day series of stiff climbs, usually with hot southern exposures, so we really want to keep to the plan to avoid hot afternoon climbs. But we can only make whatever miles the trail allows us to make.  As the sun sets, we halt at Stewart Creek, about 1.5 miles short of the target.

13 miles to Stewart Creek, to mile 128