CDT - Day 118 - Cottonwood Meadows
The days are getting shorter and shorter, and each morning it's becoming more difficult to wake up early. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., but it was still completely dark outside. I didn't hear anyone else getting up, so I gave myself another 15 minutes of sleep. Eventually, I grabbed my headlamp, retrieved my food bag from the tree, and started my usual morning routine of coffee and Pop-Tarts.
It had rained quite a bit the day before, so everything was still wet. I dried my tent as best I could before packing it up, but it was definitely still damp. My shoes were wet too, and hiking through the soaked grass certainly didn't help.
Today's hiking was exhausting, with what felt like endless steep climbs. At least the weather cooperated, with cloud cover keeping us cool for most of the day.
After lunch at Deadman Lake, we decided to take an unofficial alternate to the next lake. A FarOut user named Golden had posted detailed instructions for a shortcut that would shave several miles off the Red Line and give our legs a much-needed break. The alternate worked out perfectly, cutting about six miles while still providing spectacular scenery.
By the end of the day, we had hiked 23.69 miles with 4,918 feet of elevation gain. We set up camp near Cottonwood Meadows, where there were oodles of flat campsites alongside a nicely flowing creek.
Only 40 miles left in this section!