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 going through, I feel pretty normal! Out of breath quicker than normal but my lungs have been working hard for almost two months now and they can handle it.
I’m camped at 11,000 feet tonight at chicken spring lake, which is pretty cute! It’s not a big lake, and surrounded by these high granite walls it seems so hemmed in. The water was decently warm – if I had booked it, coulda made it here early enough to swim. But this morning at 6am the trade off of getting out of my warm sleeping bag for the possibility of swimming in a snowmelt lake didn’t seem suuuuper appealing.
I’ve got a cakewalk of a day tmw, only 15 miles and much of it downhill. That’ll at me up at the side trail to take up Mt. Whitney! I’m considering doing a night hike up there to arrive in time for sunrise – it’s only 8ish miles up there, so definitely doable. I think if there is a group of folks planning doing it when I’m there tomorrow I’m likely to join. If I’m already out here, why not do the thing full tilt boogie, ya know?
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