Day 130, August 25: Trout Lake/Mile 2230 to 2251

• Start: Trout Lake - Mile 2229.9

• End: Lava Spring - Mile 2250.5

• Miles: 20.6

• Ascent: 3307 | Descent: 2713

I didn’t sleep well and groggily got my stuff together to catch the 7:30am shuttle back to the trail. I made it to the trailhead and started on my way, but the hike out felt terrible. I was trudging and the climb was tough. I started spiraling on negative thoughts and thoughts of quitting the trail. I called my mom and she gave me the encouragement I needed.

Still, I was feeling meh so I decided to set up the bug net part of my tent for a quick nap in the middle of the day. Normally I would have just laid down on the ground, but this section had the most awful biting flies along with the normal mosquitos. I was fed up with them, and able to happily relax while eating my lunch and grabbing 15 minutes of shut eye.

My friends, who had taken the later 9:30am shuttle since they’re faster hikers, caught up to me and informed me they were looking at a closer campsite than we originally planned. Awesome, I told them, I didn’t think I’d be able to make the farther one before 9pm.

We kept hiking on around the base of Mount Adams and I felt much better after my nap. Soon we came to a raging river fed by glacial snowmelt off the mountain. The waters were moving far too swiftly to try to wade across, but there were a few strategically placed logs, and we one by one got across. I had to crawl across the log I took, and it was pretty scary. But I was okay!

For the rest of the day’s hiking, I was focused on making it to camp in a timely manner. My feet were hurting and I developed an incredibly painful sore on my lower back from my pack sitting against my sweaty skin, exacerbated by the humidity. When I finally made it to camp around 7pm, it turns out not only did everyone in our group of four have identical pack sores, but all the other random hikers nearby did too. Oof. I guess it’s good I’m not suffering alone?

Frankie, Gus, Kevin and I ate dinner and retired early. We have a big day tomorrow.