Slept about as usual when backpack camping. I couldn't get the inflatable pillow to stay inflated, and that was a minor annoyance. Woke up before midnight, feeling pretty cold and having to pee. I got my gloves out and tied my hoodie, was already wearing a headband. That helped, and I ended up sleeping off and on until a little before 6:00. Did my morning constitutional and then broke down my campsite, was done but not packed by 6:45. I made a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, it really hit the spot. Talked to Lisa during breakfast and, later, Ray. We then went to the place with running water and filtered water for the day. Christina actually went swimming in the lake, so I knew we weren't going to get an early start. We ended up leaving around 9:00, made really good time for much of this hike. I talked some with Charlie, more with Lisa, but was more to myself the latter half of the hike, other than at breaks. This hike was, according to my Strava, nearly two miles longer than AllTrails predicted. Yikes! It was mostly gently rolling terrain until the last two miles. We took a break just before this section, which involved about 1.5 miles of climbing with 800' of elevation gain. It was one false summit after another. Before we started up, my shoulders were aching, particularly my right shoulder. Couldn't get comfortable in my walking posture. It was a little better on the climb but not much. I was very happy when we got to the summit at about 8400'. Was worried about the descent of 0.5 miles, but it was much more gradual, with switchbacks and steps to help negotiate the terrain. We got down to Aloha Lake earlier than I thought, a little before 3:30. Scoped out a meadow near the lake, and that's where most of us set up our campsites.
Avg pace = 26:00/mi
Total distance = 10.18 mi
Elapsed moving time = 4:24:46
Total elevation gain = 1340'
I was tired from the hike and sore in my shoulders, and it took me an inordinately long time to stake out my tent. Was breezy but that wasn't the real reason, I was just tired and not thinking straight. The rest of the setup went faster. I walked down to the lake and filtered some water. Blake went into the 3ater,as did Charlie (just in the shallows) and Jambo. The latter went out for a longer swim, which was impressive to see. There were whitecaps on the lake, and he was powering through them. Both he and Blake had a tough time warming up after they got out of the water, which made me glad I didn't go in. I washed my hair instead, felt a little cleaner after that. After a bit, we all walked up to where Blake and Christina had set up their camp and ate dinner together. My curry rice was cooked well but could have use some salt and pepper. Need to include those for the next trip, along with little plastic bottles of booze. Good dinner conversation, it turns out that Jambo is a real music aficionado, and we talked about that for a while. Around 7:30 we split up. I did my evening constitutional and put items in the bear canister before settling into my tent for the night. Overall good day other than the shoulder discomfort. I might try to change the load balance in my backpack to make it more bottom-heavy.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.