Following up

The hard floor of the granite slab and a cool and clear night made for another nights of great sleep. Looking out through the mesh of my tent I witnessed  the early morning alpine-glow, hitting the mountain face on the other side of the lake. What a place! After breaking up camp at the wonderful campsite along Aloha Lake, I walked over to check on Jukebox and Pops. They just got out of their tents, affirming me that they too had slept very well. Must be the place.
I hiked out solo and soon was enjoying the stellar views around the pristine lake. As it would turn out, the morning hours would be the most enjoyable hiking of the day, by far. But I didn’t know that at the time…
After the quiet and serene lake-view surroundings, began a 5 mile climb up to Dicks Pass. Upon reaching the summit, I doubt there were any jokes left to be made concerning the pass’ unfortunate name. We took a short break but didn’t want to linger too long before heading down; in 3 miles we’d reach another lake, and it was a hot day. A lunch-time swim seemed like the ideal go-to.
When we reached the lake I hiked over to the other side, climbed on top of a gigantic boulder that towered over the lake and got comfortable in the sun. Great views, and easy access down the other side to the water. It wasn’t as cold as the icy melt-water lakes earlier on in the Sierras, so it made for a great and refreshing swim. Pops and Jukebox had settled for a spot on the other side, enjoying a refreshing dive as well.
Around 1400 I was last to hike out. Thus began one of the most grueling long and boring stretches up until now. There were approximately 14 miles left to camp. This would put us at a total of 23 and something miles. The trail would wind up a couple of minor climbs it was mostly descending, all the way through an endless pine-forest. There were no views, and everything looked the same. Those 14 miles seemed endless. What didn’t aid to my mental fortitude was the fact that today my feet started hurting real bad. Normally it’s worse in the mornings and there’s some discomfort at the end of the day. But today the pain started long before dusk. I told myself I would pick-up the forsaken routine of massaging my feet, calves and Achilles-heels again tonight. Because the stretch was quite taxing, boring and I just wanted to get it done, I didn’t take any pictures of the pine-forest. Ah well... Around 1930 I caught up with Pops and Jukebox who stopped at a busy campsite, where some other hikers were already set up. It got a little bit too crowded for my taste, so I decided to push on. What’s another 1.2 miles at the end of a rough day right? There’d be another campsite a little further along the trail. Fortunately, before getting there, I found a nice little one-person site which was not registered on our interactive maps. After having dinner, I stuck with my guns and and gave my feet some TLC. Following up on the today’s projected mileage, I got the intended 25 miles in the bag. Let’s see if my feet hold out tomorrow and If I can pursue 25-mile days.

Why don’t you
Let…go…of my hand?
Is…it…time to go?
I’m not ready to turn
My back on you yet
I’m not going to let you down

But we are strong
We’ll get through this

The earth will open up
And try to pull us in (and try to pull us in)
But we’ll get through thiGh this

Belated – New Found Glory