Day 136, August 31: Mile 2341 to 2365

• Start: Mile 2340.5

• End: Mile 2364.5

• Miles: 24.0

• Ascent: 2946 | Descent: 4990

Today was another really hard day. There was lots of climbing, I felt exhausted from the many days in a row of waking up at 4am and hiking more than 20 miles every day, and it was hot.

Some things that made the day better included:

• Watching the sunrise through the surprisingly gorgeous burn area

• Getting trail magic from a friendly section hiker named YOM, meaning “Young Old Man,” in the form of cold Rainier beers while we looked at a view of Mount Rainier, cold Gatorades, breakfast pastries, candy and electrolyte powders.

• Picking tons of huckleberries along the trail. I don’t think I’d ever had them before! They taste similar to blueberries but have a smoother texture. I ate them until my fingers and mouth were stained purple. Yum.

• Hitting a mark signifying 300 miles left until Canada! A bittersweet number, though.

Though I struggled through today and thought about quitting and cried a lot, there were still some magical moments, which I will try to remember. My mantra today was “I am strong. I can do this.”