April 25, 2026. Sunny and mid-40s going up to mid-50s.
Up at 6:00. Slept really well. Surprisingly so for the first night on the trail.
On the trail at 7:00. We had a tough climb out of Hauser Creek first thing. I struggled and had to make frequent stops. Still feeling that 11lb water carry in my hips.
We reached Lake Maurena campground at 9:25. Brad beat me here by 15 minutes. I wasn’t as slow as I thought!
There was a big trail magic event at the campground! We stayed for an hour. I had coffee and bagels and chatted with folks. Everyone from camp last night plus many others were here.
Hiked out of Lake Maurena with a crew of six. We all met at CLEEF on Thursday evening.
Stopped at 12:00 and 8.7 miles for a break. Found a nice shade tree. First shade in 3.5 miles. We are making good time as a group. Next stop is a campground in 2.3 miles for water and a decision as to how far to go today.
Brad and I took a break at 1:00 in the shade. We let the younger folks plow ahead. We are not in a hurry and they are on a mission.
We reached Boulder Oaks Campground at 1:15 and 11.1 miles. Lots of hikers here including the folks we were hiking with earlier. Toilets and water too.
I reached our planned campsite at 13.8 miles at 3:15. Brad missed it and kept going. Took a break and pressed on trail to follow. Ugh.
Met up with Brad 1 mile down the trail. I was struggling badly at this point. We pressed onward hoping to find a pair of tenting spots not on the map. I found two spots while Brad took a side trail DOWN into Kitchen Creek for water. No way I could handle the climb back out of there. I’ll survive with the 2 liters I have with me tonight. Set up camp at 4:40.
The forecast for the night is bad. Rain, very cold, high winds. Worried about keeping my tent from collapsing in this high wind and sandy soil.
Got camp set up slowly. Almost fell asleep getting my air mattress and other gear settled into the tent. Dozed for 90 minutes and then forced myself to eat dinner. Rain and wind started around 6:00.
Wind pulled out 2 tent stakes and the tent collapsed at 6:30. Big winds have not even arrived yet. Trying the little rock, big rock trick instead of using tent stakes. Hopefully, that will hold through the night.
Ugh. I am almost broken. 15.6 miles today. The plan was 12, but we ran into issues and had to go further. 31.7 miles in 2 days. That was not the plan. I need to slow up. Water is proving very problematic and dictating where we need to stop. I’m okay, just need to slow up before I injure myself.
Trying to go to sleep at 8:30.
Technical Notes:
- Pop Tarts 340
- Bagel 300
- Coffee x 2
- Fatty Beef Stick 300
- Propel x 2
- Potato chips 350
- Curry Noodles 450
- Dehydrated Chicken 170
- Water liters: 3
- Miles: 15.55
- Time: 9:50
- Up: 3166
- Down: 1621
- Calories consumed: 1910
- Calories burned: 4199
- iPhone battery used: 50%
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