Day 9: Maximum Brutality

Location: Section 13 Camp (116.2)

Distance: 16.0 miles

Achievements: Mount Trudee, The Drainpipe, The Lime Squeezer, Sawmill Dome

Reading this blog, you may notice two things.  First, I intentionally keep it raw.  I'm typing on my phone's little keyboard at the end of the day.  I'm exhausted.  Second, it is filled with numbers.  The reason for the numbers is pretty simple.  I use math to keep myself safe.

When I woke up this morning, I had one and a half day's worth of food.  The next two campsites at roughly 10.0 and 16.0 miles are both dry.  If I decide to camp ten miles from now, the closest water source requires me to carry water for two days, six miles.  Or, I can hike 16.0 miles with a water source one mile before it.  I need one liter of water per five miles.  I need three liters of water if I'm camping for the night.  I'm much better off aiming for a sixteen mile day where I'm carrying just two liters of water for most of the day.  If I stop at ten miles, I will need to carry four liters of water for six of those ten miles.

The hike today was nothing short of brutal.  The hike started late due to an unexpected thunderstorm.  Then the temperature increased to over 80° with 80% humidity.  The whole hike was one climb after another, including two mountains, Trudee and Sawmill.

The cherry on top was the last mile.  It included 600 feet of climb, plus some bouldering.  I was so tired and thirsty that I decided to carry four liters up to camp.  It sucked, but I knew I was really dehydrated.

Throughout the day, I was struggling with some severe chaffing.  Between the rain and the high humidity, I was wet all day.  Eventually, every step was painful, but I pushed through, but it was slowing me down.  I found myself about four miles out with just a half of a liter of water.  I stopped, rested, and prepared for a big push.  I reached the water source a mile before camp at 7:00 p.m.

Seriously dehydrated, I filtered four liters and powered through the final climb.  One mile, 600 feet, at the top, bouldering to the campsite.  It was getting dark.  There was my new friend Andy.  We talked for a bit as I cooked and ate.  Andy chooses to go stove-less.  It certainly saves you from long water carries.

After eating, I tried to stand up.  My clothing was sticking to my body and peeling it off my body was quite painful.  I put up my tent and started to prepare to sleep.  As I was getting ready, I discovered that the chaffing was now blisters.  The path in front was clear.  I was going to be going into town the next day and spending some time to recover.