CDT - Day 100 - Knapsack Col
After the sun went down last night, we quickly realized it was going to be a cold night at Titcomb Lakes. Sure enough, when I woke up this morning, it was freezing. This was actually the first time since Colorado that I spent the first hour of the day hiking in my fleece and gloves. Today's hike took us over Knapsack Col, one of the sketchier sections I've encountered on the CDT. The climb up was extremely steep and involved plenty of rock scrambling. It took us hours to make our way over the pass, and the descent on the other side was just as slow and technical. The next challenge was Cube Rock Pass. Based on the comments in FarOut, I was expecting it to be awful, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. Overall, the Knapsack Col Alternate was absolutely spectacular. Even with the steep, sketchy climbing, I would highly recommend this route. The scenery alone made the extra effort worthwhile. Once we rejoined the Red Line, it was all downhill and fast hiking to camp. We finished the day with about 19 miles and even managed to set up camp a little earlier than usual.