Day 37: Condrey/Black/White Mountain Ridgeline

It was a very cold morning and I was very cozy except for the pain in my lower back. And since I didn’t have to hike all that far, I slept in. I got up to go out on the porch of the cabin and pee, and the cold wind blowing across the meadow cut right through me. I ran back to my sleeping bag. The wind sneaked through the cracks in the walls and under windows and doors so it was nearly as cold inside. Eventually, though, I had to get up, put on a coat, and start getting ready. I didn’t hike out until about 9.

The whole morning and into the early afternoon was overcast and frequently foggy. I could watch the clouds falling out of the sky which loomed oppressively like a low ceiling and dissipate as they approached the ground. The sun peaked through around the edges in places, but most of the views I could see from the many openings along the ridgeline were half clouds.

It generally stayed so cool and shady all day that I didn’t want to stop on account of how quickly my temperature would drop to “annoyingly cold”. It’s such a contrast to go from hiking in New Mexico where I wanted to stop and lie in the shade for hours on end while constantly wishing for the clouds to come over and the wind to blow harder to hiking in a place where I am actively seeking out direct sunlight and rarely need to drink to stay hydrated. As a result, I only made five stops of any length all day.

The first was at a spring where I collected 2 liters of water and ate snacks while waiting on it to filter. There was no sun to be found and I didn’t want to make the effort to get out my jacket only to have to put it up before leaving again, so I just sat there and froze.

The second was lunch on a rock on an exposed ridgeline. I managed to get some sunlight here only lightly filtered by clouds. It was not so cold and windy as it had been in the morning, although it was cold enough that I wanted to get hiking and lunch didn’t last long. The section after this was the shadiest and coolest of the day with frequent snow patches crossing the trail.

The third was an afternoon snack break where I made a hydration drink. I hadn’t been drinking much since I finished my breakfast. I was surrounded by water from the sky all day and hadn’t been sweating at all. I forced myself to make the drink and drink it just because it seemed like it was time. It also gave me an excuse to take my pack off for a few minutes. But not more than ten. I was eager to get hiking.

The fourth was just to go investigate a spring that was just off trail. I didn’t really need the water, but I was curious what it looked like and how well it was flowing. This wasn’t really a break since I didn’t sit down, but it gave me a chance to stretch my back muscles which were starting to get too used to my slightly bent forward posture.

The last was dinner, taken at 6. It was getting cool again because the sun was low and hidden behind a peak (since the ridge ran east/west. So I ate before my rice was fully cooked just to put the warmth in me, then wandered up to the top of the ridgeline to drink my dessert just to find one of the handful of small patches of remaining sunlight to stand in. It didn’t help much.

I met a man hiking the other way after dinner who didn’t seem to think much of my hat but also thought I was crazy enough to hike another at least 15 miles down into the valley that night. We discussed the availability of campsites on the sections behind us and parted ways.

I went another 2 miles or so, passing into a section of hillside that had somewhat recently burned. I came to a saddle filled with bumpy ridges, fallen and burned tree corpses. I cleared a bunch of debris out of the one relatively level spot I found that was big enough to fit my tent and set up. The sun sets much later at this longitude (relative to its time zone) than where I had been in New Mexico, so it was still easy to see at 9 by the time I was getting my boots off and crawling into my tent. But the moment the sun set, the temperature started rapidly dropping. It got cold enough that I was getting chills even in my sleeping bag with my coat on just a half hour later. The birds all went dead silent at sunset, probably snuggled together in nests themselves. Thankfully, there was no wind. Altogether, it was a perfectly silent night.

Trail miles: 16.9

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