Bigelow

We got back to the trail early and started out with a couple of miles of fairly level ground. I soon came upon the 2,000 mile marker, which I’d completely forgotten was happening today! I sat down to wait for other people to show up. Stretch came next and didn’t believe me at first when I started cheering for her that she’d hiked 2,000 miles. We cleaned up the marker a little bit and then stayed there as a welcoming party to cheer for everyone else arriving there.

Today’s mountains were the Bigelows, our last big climbs for a while, and now in my top three favorite sections of the whole trail. The views were just incredible the whole time, the trail itself had a lot of variety, and it was challenging but not frustrating. I would definitely come back here to hike again, but I would probably split it into two days to have more time. I did still take my time today, despite the long mileage scheduled, because the views were just too pretty to blow by.

We went over The Horn, Bigelow Mountain’s West Peak and Avery Peak, and Little Bigelow Mountain. I was pretty jazzed all day from hitting the 2,000 mile mark, and from the gorgeous hike, but I started to realize how tired I was on the long descent to the road. I did the last couple of miles in darkness. By the time I’d made it to the parking lot, I was too tired to even cook dinner. I grabbed some water and chatted with Papa Bear for a little bit, then set up my tent and climbed in to pass out. 16.7 miles today.

10 days and 171.5 miles to go! We were rocking out to “The Final Countdown” by Europe on repeat today.