Today totally kicked my ass. The elevation change was pretty aggressive and the ground underfoot was pretty rocky a lot of the time. Got some amazing pictures but after several days of significant elevation change in a row my legs are starting to feel it, particularly on the steeper sections.

Resupply successful! 18 miles round trip, only making 3 miles of progress on the pct. Was really nice to see my dad who drove all the way out here. It’ll be 250 miles before I see someone for a resupply again, and I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with him. To resupply…

Went up and over the highest point on the pct today! Forester pass, 13,200 feet. I felt pretty crappy to start the day, despite a good night of sleep. I think it’s the after effects of my disjointed sleep the day before. But I had two whole cookies for breakfast to rally my morale and…

Made it to the top of Mt. Whitney for sunrise! I was hoping to have company on the trek, but there weren’t many of us. I set my alarm for 12:30 am and got rolling out of camp at 1. It was a little over seven and a half miles to the peak, gaining almost…

Today sadly wasn’t as easy as I hoped. Terrain-wise, it was, but I’m still feeling the elevation. Turns out even if my breathing isn’t labored, I still need breaks – who’da thunk! Only instead of my legs protesting, which is my usual signal, today it was my whole body feeling off. It typically takes 8ish…

Cruised through 20 miles today. Feels like I’m adjusting to the altitude much better now. I still feel a little odd when I start back up after taking a break, kind of a body tingle where I’m clearly hearing a little protest at being made to work so hard so high up. Once I get…

Back at it! Elevation really take it out of ya though. I’m camped around 9000 feet tonight, going to be up above 11,000 feet tomorrow night. I’m aiming to get to a lake and go for my first swim of the trail! Gonna be a long 20 miles at high altitude but since I did…

8.5 miles to KMS, flew through them. It was a cool little store, most memorable though was the price at their one little gas pump – $7.49 My parents picked me up and took me to Ridgecrest, which despite its name was about 6-7000 feet lower elevation. Maddy came to see me too which was…

You know that feeling where you get to the end of a day and you’re just fully wiped out? Physically and mentally, that’s where I’m at – it was a full day. 20.5 miles, and only 8.5 more to go tomorrow until Kennedy meadows and I get a day of rest before beginning what is…

21.5 miles today but man I had to work for it. Did about 5500 feet of elevation gain and 4000 of elevation loss on the day. I hadn’t checked that stat before but the grades today were noticeably steeper than the typical pct grade, consistently 500 feet per mile rather than 300. It made for…