Day 104

(Originally written on Sunday, August 16)

I began the day at Buckhorn Spring just a few minutes walk away from the goatherders. The whole situation the night before had a creepy feeling to it so I was very happy to get up!

If today's hike were a book or movie, it would be entitled, "The Eternal Descent." I immediately began losing elevation, which I knew would happen, from literally the first step I took. All told, I lost more than 5000' of net elevation since Seiad Valley is under 1400'. My knees are happy this is behind me!

But I can't get too excited because tomorrow I get to reap what I sowed today. In the first 8 miles of the day, I gain about 4500' of elevation back. I'm happy about getting back to elevation because it is quite hot down here, but the climb is a bit ridiculous. After tomorrow's climb, my next serious climb will be as I'm leaving the Columbia River in Washington. To handle the crazy climb tomorrow morning, I'm planning to leave super early. Hopefully I'll be hiking by 5. Considering it is already after 10 pm, we'll see how that goes.

Oregon the day after tomorrow!