Day 38

18 miles
The guys last night eventually shut up and turned off their headlamps. And the mouse that was trying to run around the tent eventually went away too. Maybe it found the guys’ tents instead. Although most of the day was spent climbing back up all of the elevation we lost two days ago, it was gradual and mostly smooth sailing. We ate lunch next to Bridge Creek with Strider and her tramily. They were headed to the same camp spot that we were so we planned to push on to the next campsite if the first spot was full. Luckily, there was plenty of room. Along the way, we crossed paths with a family of 3 and the daughter is dating Cactus, one of the hikers that we met in ’21. Small world. We are doing 18-mile days this last section since we don’t need to hurry to the end. The elevation change per day is also less than the previous 2 sections, so easier & shorter days for us. Today, we got to camp around 5pm, which is one of the earliest we’ve had on this trip. Tomorrow we finish the climb up Cutthroat Pass, which I am excited about. It was one of my favorite trail days last time.