To Leadore Day 2: the big hill

I’m starting the day at mile 622.6. Ending at 644.5. 22 miles. 

Everyone started at the same time as me which was around 6:30am. 

It did not take long for me to not see anyone else all day. First I missed a junction and went at least a mile round trip the wrong way. Then the hills became very steep and my pace slowed way down. First there was a drop down to 5700 feet. It was very warm down there. Then the big climb to 9100 feet began in earnest. There was a loss of altitude to cross a stream early on. 

I labored slowly for the afternoon then chose to get water for camping at about 5:30 and be on the lookout for some flat spots mentioned in the comments. I did not find them so I found my own small flat spot. At 6pm my tarp was set up and my dinner was cooking. 

Twenty-two miles isn’t bad. There are a couple more miles to a sort of top. I’ll do them tomorrow. After that the day should be milder hiking, kind of level for a while then some ups and downs taking me to 9100 feet. 

I’m grateful to have my big tarp. As long as there’s a flat spot big enough for me, the rest of the area covered by my tarp can be rocky, have bushes or logs and it doesn’t matter. I’m also grateful the high winds never came.