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Writer's pictureAttilio Lospinoso

Glacier & Bozeman

Updated: Sep 4, 2023

Table of Contents:

Day 1: Arrival

Day 2: Glacier (Avalanche Lake and Piegan Pass)

Day 3: Glacier (Highline Trail)

Day 4: Browning and Bozeman Running

Day 5: Baldy Peak Trail Running

(Sunrise outside of Glacier)

Day 1: There is not much to say about day 1, except that there was a ton of travel, so much so, that we left home at 4 a.m Eastern Time, and we did not make it into our hotel in Montana until 6 p.m Mountain Time, or 8 p.m Eastern Time, which amounts to a total of 16 hours of travel, but not only that, we also traversed through five states. We started in New York, then we had a layover in Georgia, next we landed in Washington, drove a few miles to Idaho, and then we finished our journey by arriving in Montana. We went through the tiniest sliver at the top of Idaho, and we had Panda Express there. While on the four-hour drive, there was no lack of mountains, and initially, driving into the mountains was like driving into rolling waves of pine trees.


Then the waves slowly thinned out as low tide rolled in, and what were once lush forests, were now giant hills with tan, yellow grass painting the hill side. Close to arriving to White Fish, there were a couple of lakes that were beautiful, the bright blue of the lake was offset by the yellow of the grass and the mountains in the background making for some incredible vistas. Once we arrived, I went for a run on a nicely paved path that went for miles, and it had a good view of the mountains in the distance, that slowly became closer with each step. Then I turned around and ran to the brewery, where I was meeting my dad for dinner. It was a strong start for breweries. Bonsai had great beers and food. 247 Candles was a barrel aged porter with notes of birthday cake, coconut, and vanilla, and it was oh so smooth!


Day 2: The real adventure begins! We got our recovery sleep, ate our well balanced hotel breakfast, and then we headed out, and it was a beautiful start to the day. As we loaded up the car, the sun was peaking its head up right over the tips of the mountains in the distance, and as we drove, we went straight into the light. Once in the park, we drove to the Avalanche Lake trail head. This was a moderate six-mile hike through some hills to get to the lake.


The hike starts out on a nice boardwalk that goes over Avalanche Creek and into the woods. It was a crisp 45 degrees, and we were one of the few who decided that it was a good idea to wear shorts despite the cool weather, but I did not regret my decision. There were trees everywhere, and now that we were closer to the giant peaks, the sun had receded below them again, which helped create a darker forest vibe on the way to the lake. Right at the end of the boardwalk there was a small but beautiful waterfall. It was tucked in-between some rocks to make a small canyon, and the water was a dark ocean like blue. The first of many stops along the way. The next stop of note was about halfway there. There was a slight clearing in the trees, and it created a window in which the mountains beyond could be viewed nicely. It was hard not to just stand there and stare at the mountains forever, but little did I know, something more incredible laid in wait.


(Half Way to Avalanche Lake)

The last part of the hike was by far the best, we had arrived at the lake, and the sun was again just starting to crest the peak on the other side of the lake. The bright sun mixed with the small amount of smoke created a foggy look to the mountains. We continued around the lake staying close to the edge of the water, and we would stop and take pictures periodically, but something magical was happening. With each step we took, the water got bluer and bluer. By the time we reached the far side of the lake, the water was the most incredible vibrant bright blue. The pictures do the color justice, but when looking at just a picture, it is hard to believe that it is real. There is something more tangible to actually being there and seeing it. It is unlike any water that I have ever seen before, and I have seen some incredible bodies of blue water, like Cresent Lake in Olympic National Park, which is now my second favorite body of water behind this one. Also on the far side of the lake, the mountains reflected off the water perfectly creating an incredible view and pictures. After taking in the views, we packed back up and chugged back to the trail head at a good pace.


(Avalanche Lake)

Once back, we plopped down on a picnic table, ate our bountiful lunch of PB&J, carrots, and chips, which hit the spot, and then we looked at the physical map that they gave us at the welcome center, and we picked our next hike. The physical map was needed because the second we entered the park; we lost all cell service. So it was a nice strategic lunch, and then we headed to Logan Pass, and the road to Logan Pass was steep and winding. Our car climbed the mountain with just a small, short rock barrier separating us from a precipitous drop, and sometimes there was not even the short rock barrier, it was just one small accidental jerk of the wheel away from a thousand feet drop. So being the passenger and closest to the cliff, I had quite the view! I just had to not look down.


Like all good plans, this one did not come to fruition. We arrived at Logan Pass, and the parking lot was packed with many other cars stuck in purgatory praying to god to give them a parking spot in heaven with very little success. After a one lap, we decided it was futile and we would take our faith elsewhere and find a different heaven, and we did at Siyeh Bend. Our knowledge of this place was limited, but these hikes were considered more treacherous than how we started our day, so we set out with a limited plan. Honestly, I thought we would do like two miles and turn around, but after 2.8 miles of climbing, we got to the junction, and it was either turn around, or go another 2 miles to get to the Piegan Pass.


(On the way to Piegan Pass)

When we were just starting the trail, there was a lady that was finishing up, and we talked to her briefly, and she said that if you get to Piegan Pass, the view is amazing, and you can see the whole valley. So at our cross roads my dad said we should go for it, and go for it we did. About half a mile past the sign, the trail opens up, and there is a rocky slope on one side, and the other side is a rocky drop off, and out in the distance, the Piegan Pass point is visible. At this point, we already had a great view of the valley that we had climbed out of and the surrounding peaks, but we pushed on, so we could see the other valley, and it felt like it took an eternity to go through that last mile and half. The end point was clear and visible, but it was like with each step we stayed in the same spot. It did help that there were many glaciers visible and being surrounded by mountains on all side was a great perspective builder as we climbed, we slowly gained more and more eye contact with various points of the mountains as we went up higher.


(View from the pass, look at the lake in the shadows)

Finally, we made it to the top, and the new view of the other valley was pretty incredible. In my words, it looked like Yosemite and Patagonia had a baby. There were craggy peaks that looked like Godzilla’s back, and at the base of that, there was a tiny blue lake, that we were not expecting to see, so that was quite the pleasant surprise. Also on the mountain wall was a waterfall that was being fed by a melting glacier. The whole park reminds me of Pandora from Avatar, where there are floating waterfalls all over. The same thing is happening here, so many of the mountains have these massive waterfalls flowing down their face as the snow on top slowly melts. Just amazing sights all around. Then we flew back in 40 less minutes than it took to get there. Of course, going downhill helped, but there was also more conversation and less picture taking, so we just cruised along. When we got to the bottom the vast majority of the cars were gone, and the last two miles we saw no people, which was odd after seeing people regularly throughout the day, but no complaints. We ended up with over 15.5 miles and over 2,500 feet of elevation gain for the day, which has to be close to our hiking record. That resulted in seven hours of on feet time, which must be good ultra training right? My only regret is that when we were up close to a glacier that I did not take the two extra minutes to walk over and touch it, because if you visit Glacier National Park, you must touch a glacier, or you did not really visit the park. Hopefully I can achieve this goal tomorrow.


(View of the "Glacier")

Day 3: I did not touch a glacier today. Today we went into the park, and we headed straight for Logan Pass, and despite getting there around 9, it was already full, so we drove around and around until I got out to go ask a ranger a question about a trail, and when I started to look for my dad still circling, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he had finally found a spot. So we packed out bags, made lunch, and bundled up, because it was windy and chilly up at the top, and we set off on our days long journey.


Today, we were going to do the Highline Trail, which is 7.6 miles one way, and our intent was to go out, go to the Grennell Glacier overlook, and then to hike back, which was very ambitious considering what we did yesterday, but this is considered one of the best hikes in the U.S, and these hikes are not come across every day. So we crossed the threshold, and we were immediately implanted into a world of adventure. Less than a quarter of a mile into the hike, we were on a small ledge overlooking the valley, and it was such a drop-off that they had a wire attached to the wall to hang on to in case of emergency. Thankfully there was no emergency.


(Start of Highline Trail)

Although the wire attached to the side disappeared quickly into the hike, the views and the cliff did not go anywhere. We crossed over waterfalls, and we were constantly going up and down, rarely was it in a large magnitude, but by the time we got to the end of the trail going one way, we had over 1,000 feet of gain and decent.


Despite the trail being quite the long one, it was filled with people going in both directions which resulted in hundreds of greetings and many times squeezing up against the wall so that others could pass. A couple of miles in, we got behind a trail guide. This guide was a tank, he was also furry, hungry, and he had horns. It was a ram. This dude just grazed along the trail, taking off every once in a while, to get some space, but mostly, he was just grazing. He became our ram, and eventually the trail really opened up, so we were finally able to safely pace, but I took this time to delayer and grab a snack, and switch out my camera lens quickly, so I could zoom in closer on the Ram, and of course right when we decided to head out, the ram jumped right in front of us and started to lead us again.


(Local tour guide in Glacier)

This was one of the steepest parts of the hike. It was a double switch back to make it up to another pass. Initially, the ram started out in front of us, but there was a person directly in the ram’s path, so the ram headed up the side of the mountain deciding that switch backs were for squares. So my dad and I trudged up the switchbacks, and we lost sight of the ram, and right when we were summitting, who was waiting for us? The ram! This time though we went our sperate ways, the ram went left to a different mountain, and we went right to continue along our Highline.


(View on Highline)

One of the best parts of the trail besides its amazing views was the diversity on it. The trail started on rocky cliffs, but then it passed through a forest growing on the side of the mountain. There were a large amount of pine trees growing up sheltering the path. There were also places of smaller foliage. There were bushes and flowers, and squirrels meandering around. They looked cute, but they were just on a mission to get fed by the humans. There was also my personal favorite, a marmot hanging out in the brush. We were moving along the trail, and then a marmot just hopped out on the trail to hang out, he let me take a picture of him, and then he continued along the way. We also saw a deer snacking in the middle of the trail too. She was a beautiful dark tan color, and she really wanted to keep munching when we passed her.


After hours of traversing the trail along the mountains and watching numerous peaks pass us in the distance, we made it to the bottom of the Grennell Glacier overlook. It was .8 miles to the top, and it was 900 feet of gain. At this point, we had 1,100 feet of gain in a little under 7 miles, so in less than a mile, it close to doubles the elevation gain. When we got to the bottom, we sat down and ate a snack, and listened to people talk about how hard it is to get to the top all while fighting off hungry chipmunks.


We started off up the hill, and it was immediately steep and rocky, and my dad decided, smartly that he was going to sit this one out, so I trudged up the hill solo, and I was hauling. It was not an easy haul 900 feet with my book bag and at this point, every time I dug in going up hill the back of my heel was rubbing against the back of my boot, and a ruptured blister occurred, so it was a painful climb, but I kept my eyes up and focused and tried to make eye contact with others so that we were both able to pass. Smiles were exchanged, and one guy towards the top of the trail told me that he really liked my outfit, which was uplifting. It is always the small random comments that mean the most. The last part of the climb was not as steep, but it was still right on a cliff, and it was slippery and wet, so it was the most terrifying part of the day. Thankfully the slips were minimal, and I summitted.


(View of Grennell Glacier)

The view was gorgeous. Down below, there was a bright blue lake that still had ice floating in it, and then there was the remnants of a glacier up beyond the lake, and a small chunk was still clinging on up to the top of the mountain. In Glacier Park, there is basically no cell service anywhere, but a few random times on our hike, my dad and I would randomly start to get notifications on our watches from random points of service. This was one of those times, and it was my dad texting me from the bottom, and he said that was going to hike the .8 to the Granite Park Chalet, and that he would meet me there. So I finished taking my pictures and taking in the view, and then I bombed down the hill, at least after I passed the wet slippery scary part. Then when I got to the bottom, I kept running the .8 to the Chalet, and I was flying past people, in my hiking boots and bookbag, and it was awesome! Once down the hill, there were some rollers, but nothing too intense, so it was perfect to run.


The Granite Park Chalet is a cool place to stop. For those who do not know what a Chalet is, it is like a hotel that you hike to in the mountains. They typically have food, but the quality of the food depends on where you are. This was a beautiful place to rest for half an hour. We decided that the best course of action was not to hike back the 7 miles to our start, but to take a 4-mile 2,000-foot descent to the Loop Shuttle Station, and then we like many others would take the shuttle back to the car at the top of the pass.


(View of the Granite Park Chalet)

So after enjoying my packed PB&J, which was glorious, we headed down the mountain, and although my heel really hurt going up hill, going down four miles was still not painfree on the body as a whole. I do not know how much my backpack weights, but with camera gear, a tripod, 2.5 liters of water, some clothes, and whatever else, my pack had to weigh close to 20 pounds, and it just pulled down on my shoulders all day long, so that was painful, and hiking boots are not as comfortable as running shoes, plus down hill jams the toes into the front of the boot. All of this added up to a long painful 4 miles. About halfway through, I started to remember some of my mindfulness training from the class I took over the summer for my masters, and some of the ideas that were mentioned in the running book I am currently reading, so I mentally took note of the pain, and I tried to move on to think of something else. Also it was downhill, so breathing was not that big of a deal, so I started to do some breathing exercises, and that really helped. It is like the mindfulness people know what they are talking about.


While walking down, the mountains in the distance had the sun shining on them just right, so the water that was made from the melting of glaciers was glistening upon the face of the mountain. It was like a flood of tears going down. So the way I took it was that the mountain was crying about global warming, and how hot it was. I highly suggest going to Glacier as soon as possible, if it is on your list, because scientists are saying that the Glaciers will all be gone soon. Obviously, it will snow again, and ice will form at the tops of these mountains, but the glaciers that are being referred to have been there for a long time, and they last through the summer, but soon they will not. Then it will become the known as the Park Formally Known as Glacier.


After another 6 hour plus day of hiking, and 13 miles traveled, we had made it to the end. We covered almost 30 miles in Glacier in two days, and I felt accomplished, and I am sure my dad did too, but we were also both very tired. The shuttles were full as the day was coming to an end, and everyone needed to make it back to their respective parking areas, so my dad and I had to get on separate shuttles, but we got lucky enough that the shuttle I got on was only a couple minutes behind my dad’s. I got to sit in the front seat, and it was an interesting experience. All the shuttles have a radio, so that they can communicate with each other, and each shuttle has a number, so they were all in communication with one another talking about how many people were at each stop, how many people they were able to pick up, and what direction they were going. I was also on the side of the cliff, and the shuttle was high up, so I was able to stick my head out of the window a little bit, and I was staring down a massive cliff. Quite the experience.


(View along the road)

We got to the car, and headed to a different hotel, and this one was attached to a casino, and it said it had a restaurant inside of it, so we cleaned up and then headed down to eat. The restaurant that awaited was not what we were expecting. It was more like a concession stand to help the patrons refuel before going back to pulling down the slot machine levers. It was not the most adequate meal considering the number of miles that we had hiked that day, but we also had a Gatorade, so that helped with the refueling, and we were hungry, so we ate it all anyways.


Day 4: It had been two days since I had gone on a run, but we had been putting in the miles as I said, so it was not a big deal. A lot of time on feet, which will be helpful for both Pikes Peak and JFK. Today though, I did get up and hit the road. I got out there like minutes before sunrise in the small town of Browning. There was a splendid glow shining upon the land. It was painting the mountains purple, and then I turned around and saw the bright red ball rising above the horizon. It was a great sight. What was not great was the wind. It felt like every way I turned I was getting blasted with a headwind, and it was in the low 50s, so the heavy wind gave quite the chill on my ears.


(Sunrise by the Casino, no pack of dogs pictured)

I started out on a path that was specifically made for exercise, or so I thought, it was actually a path to the local school, but it worked well for running and not being on the road, but it only lasted for about a mile. So then I turned and went the other way past the hotel to “downtown” Browning, which consisted of many rundown storefronts, some restaurants, gas stations, and a grocery store. More importantly though, there were dogs just wandering around. At first, I just saw two, but the longer I ran the more dogs I saw. There was one pack of three, there were some loners, and maybe another pack of three, but it did not matter which road I turned down there was a dog. Thankfully they were all docile, but it was like nothing I have ever seen. The town of Browning did make me a little sad from the run-down store fronts, the dogs wandering around, and the main thing in the area being the casino. It is nice that the casino draws in people to the town to spend money, but it is in a great location less than an hour away from Glacier. I feel like it should be able to thrive just off that, but I guess not. Maybe if it had a bigger college, it could turn into a smaller Bozeman.


After leaving Browning we drove four hours to Bozeman, and let me tell you, Montana is filled with grassy fields and hills that are just rolling, and you can go for miles upon miles and see no signs of life. No houses or towns, just fields and maybe some cows. Beautiful and isolating.


We arrived in Bozman and checked into our hotel, and we set out to do laundry in the hotel. While that was going on, I laced back up the running shoes and went to explore. Bozeman is a beautiful place, and just like the other places we have been so far, the perimeter of the city is mountains, and there are many trails on the outskirts of the town. Sadly, on my run, I made it just to the trail, right when I had to turn around and head back. Besides the incredible modern cabin like houses one thing of note was the Blue Taco Bus, which is exactly what it sounds like, an old school bus that now serves Mexican food, and it smelled amazing! Also Bozeman does one of my favorite things, they decorate their electric boxes with art work. It is a small thing, but it helps add to the beauty of a city. They also did it with various animals, my favorite of which was the one decorated with dogs.


(Bozeman)

After the run, my dad and I went to a brewery, Last Best Place, and had a couple of beers. When entering the brewery, they had a variety of magazines related to Bozeman, so we grabbed one of the home magazines, and like I said, the homes are immaculate, but the prices are off the charts. We went to three different breweries while we were there, and at each one my dad asked the bar tender what the best and worst part about living in Bozeman was, and they all basically gave the same answer. The best part is all the nature and being able to go out and explore. The worst part was the cost of living and the constantly rising prices, and as one of them put it, “I will never be able to own a house here.” This is a double-edged sword. Of course, it is good that the city is growing and bringing in a ton of business, but it also prices out many workers, who have called this place home for a long time. Gentrification is typically associated with big cities like New York and Miami, but since Covid, it is also affecting mountain towns, and as we would later find out, Bozeman has a whole tent town of homeless people just a couple of streets over from where we were staying.


Day 5: My day started with a run again, and this time I was committed to finding the mountain trails, and I went the opposite direction from the second run yesterday. I thought that the mountains are not as far as they looked, and I was right, but I still failed to find the trails I was looking for. I got distracted by a short trail. I was headed in the right direction, but then I saw a trail, and I turned, and it took me into the woods, but it was brief, and next thing I knew, I was in a fancy neighborhood that was right on a golf course. The trail was cool though, it had “fairy houses,” which are basically small houses made from everyday objects then placed in the woods, and they did look cool, but it was not what I was looking for. I did end up on a road called Rolling Hills, and anytime you end up on a road called Rolling Hills it is a good thing. It took me around the base of the mountains, and the road was filled with gorgeous mansions, and it never led to an actual trail, but I still got some solid hills in on the run for 10.5 miles.


Then I came back and had breakfast at the hotel, and my dad told me that he was going to take a rest day to make sure he was ready to go for Yellowstone, which is definitely a place you want to be prepared for some hiking. So he told me I could go wherever. I had been looking at AllTrails the previous night, and I found a trail called Baldey Peak, which was less than ten minutes away, and it was close to ten miles with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Say no more!


I had my dad drop me off, so that if he needed the car, he could go wherever he wanted, because this run would be no walk in the park, and it would take some time. On the first mountain, there is a massive M on the side of the mountain, which I think is for Montana State, so the run starts out running up to the M, and this was so painful. The last hike at Glacier rubbed the back of my right heel raw, and it is only a problem going up hill, specifically steep hills, and this run was filled with those. I made it up to the M, took a quick selfie, and then I continued on my way, many hills were calling.


(M on the mountain)

In the first mile, I had already climbed 1,400 feet, which may be the hardest mile numbers wise that I have ever done, but I was determined to let everyone know I was having a good time, and I was, so I smiled and gave a jolly hello to everyone to try and show that I was not dying, but one person called me a jogger. They told their friend, “Hey a jogger is coming.” How dare they! I can call myself a jogger, but others must call me a runner! So offensive. I literally thought about it for a mile, and when a mile is like 1,000 feet of gain, that is like 20 minutes of dwelling. It is funny, because in reality, I was moving slowly, like a little over three miles per hour, but compared to the people walking, I was flying by them. By mile 1.35, I had already gotten 2,000 feet. (I also really do not care if I get called a jogger)


Eventually it leveled out some. It was still always hilly, it just was not straight up like it had been, and once I reached a summit, it was a little more up and down. The further I went past the M, the less people there were on the trail, but every once and a while, someone would come past that was coming back down the mountain, and it was the strangest thing. The majority of people were running and super friendly. They had water packs on just like me, and they were wearing running clothes and enjoying their time on the mountain, just like me. It was weird. I am not used to feeling normal in these situations. There was no one out there telling me I was crazy or saying that they did not know how I was doing it. They were running too. It was magical and unsettling at the same time. My favorite was a girl that ran past as I was finishing a steep hill, and she said, “Happy running!” What a great thing. I hope she had a happy run too.


After the first mile, I thought that I had gone through the worst of it, but as I got closer and closer to my destination, I realized that I would have another massive climb, and it was visible off in the distance. At this point I was getting close to 8,000 feet of altitude, so the trees had thinned out, and there was a summit climb visible in the distance, and when I got there, it was tough. This part of the trail was fine gravel, and it was straight up with limited zig zag, and once you got up one part, you then realize that there is a second part waiting that is even steeper. It was so steep, that it felt like bear crawling would have been easier, and if I slipped a little, it was easy to catch myself, because I was bent so far over, but the summit was worth the work. There was a big pole sticking out of the middle, but other than that, it was totally flat, so there was a glorious panoramic view. I thought ahh I made it… but then I checked AllTrails, and it told me I had to keep going.


(View from Baldy?)

So I did, and there was another bald peak just a quick down and up on the ridgeline, so I thought that is probably it, so I bombed down the hill because it was the one place on the trail that had great footing and not a terribly steep grade, and I made it to another peak, and checked AllTrails. I still was not there. I kept going, and this next peak was tougher to get to. There was some rock scrambling, and then I was barely moving because I was on a seriously slanted rock face hoping not to trip and plummet to the bottom of the mountain, and when I got to the top, it said I was still not at the top. The app did say it was 9.83 miles roundtrip, and I had not quite gotten to the halfway point distance wise according to my watch either, so I kept going. Another rocky summit, and another not quite from my phone. Finally, after multiple false summits, I made it to the spot, and there was not even a way to get up to the peak, at least not a safe way, and at this point I was over 5 miles, so I was well over halfway, so I turned around and went back.


Like all treacherous runs, I brought a snack, but at the halfway point, it was not the best stopping point, so I headed back waiting for a better place to stop. I did try to eat some carrots along a ridgeline, but it was not easy to eat and run at almost 9,000 feet, and I inhaled too hard and choked on my carrot and accidently coughed it out, so I waited to snack.


(Something that was not runnable and a little scary)

When I got to the summit that was completely clear, I was going to have my snack and text my dad and tell him I was on my way down, but there was a lady there that I had passed earlier, so instead I started to talk to her, and I asked her if she would take my picture. We talked about how it was amazing how many people that were out here running on the mountain, and she said she felt like a loser because she was just hiking. Then she asked how far I went, and I said, “I think I went to Baldey.” Then she told me that we were on Baldey, which means AllTrails had led me wrong by like three mountain tops. I had in fact made it to either Bridger or Saddle Peak. I tried to do some research later, but I could not figure it out.


(Representing Miles and Macros on the other side of the country)

After the conversation I ate a handful of trail mix and headed down the mountain. I was a little frustrated up till the conversation from not being able to find the right spot, but after the conversation I was feeling better. The descents were steep and treacherous. I would have been better off with skis at times. I was going down one of the steeper hills, and this guy was standing off to the side, and he told me that he liked my shirt, so I said thank you and encouraged him on going up the hill. He, like me, was wearing a yellow hat, he had a mustache, and he was climbing a hard mountain for fun, so I felt like we were kindred spirits. Then a little bit further on there was a girl running toward me, and so I stepped off to the side, because she was going up, and right when I stepped off, it felt like something bit me. When she passed, I hopped back on the trail and looked down at my leg, and as it turns out, when I hopped off the trail, I stepped right in a prickle bush. So I had little burs all over my sock, and some on my leg, but somehow my leg hair had blocked it from getting to my skin. Thankfully none of the burs really got into me, so I picked most of them off and kept going.


The weird part about coming back was the small up hills. I had just gone up over 4,000 feet and felt fine, but for some reason, when I did one of the smaller up hills, I started to feel a little lightheaded, which just does not make sense to me. Also as I kept going, my stomach started to not feel great. A little nauseous but not too bad. I did run out of water with about a mile and a half to go, which does not sound too bad, but my legs were trashed from all the downhill, and it is dry out there, and when you get used to having water, and then it is no longer there, it is a tragedy.


(View of the climb the first summit)

To add insult to injury, I was about 1.3 away from being done, but this is still 2,000 feet left to descend, and I took a wrong turn. I started to feel like I went the wrong way, but I had never done the trail before, so I thought maybe it was just because I was unfamiliar with the trail, but then it started to feel really different, so I stopped and looked at AllTrails, and I had gone the wrong way. The single-track trail I was on did not even exist on the app, but it was leading me back in the general right direction, and I had gone too far to turn back so I kept going, and it was awful. There were a ton of steep switchbacks, and sometimes that trail just kind of dropped, and it was just loose dirt on a steep hill, so there were three times where I took a step, and it immediately turned into a butt slide, and I used my hands to help steer me, which normally might have been a little fun, but at this point I was not having it. I just wanted to be done. After some more butt sliding, I made it back to the M and down the small remainder of the trail, where my dad was waiting.


I felt awful when I finished. Completely run down. I was barely moving, and I was so glad to be done. I slumped into the chair, and I immediately started to eat the rest of my snacks. I am guessing a part of the problem was a lack of food/electrolytes and the other part was the 4,000 plus feet of decent. With the run from the morning, I had run over 20 miles for the day and had 5,000 feet of elevation gain. I felt like I had run a marathon. There is a very specific body feel I get after running a marathon, and it is not good. I can barely eat, and I get so drowsy.


We went back to the hotel, and I got into the shower with all my clothes on because I was so gross, and a big cloud of dirt appeared on the shower floor, then one by one I took each piece of clothing off and rung it out, and more dirt would flow down through the drain. Eventually I got out, I really was not interested in standing for a long period of time. Then we went to lunch, and on the way, I ate the rest of my trail mix, and I started to feel a little bit better, and we sat down, and had a nice Mediterranean platter to get started, which was delicious, and then I got a Baba Ganoush pizza. Part of the way through the pizza I started to feel mediocre again, and I got super tired and out of it. So when we got back to the hotel, I basically laid there the rest of the day, and I ate the little bit of leftover pizza I had for dinner, and that was my very tiring day.


(Avalanche Lake)

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