Day 5: The March Up Blood Mountain!

Starting Point: Lance Creek (23.9)

Ending Point: Neel's Gap (31.3)

Total Miles: 7.4 miles

Steps: 23,565

Achievements: Marched Up Blood Mountain

The night was cold and wet.  Although it was supposed to be sunny, it was still raining.  Anything I couldn't afford to freeze slept with me.

The milage was short, just 7.4 miles, but it was almost all incline.  3,000' in just five miles.  I spent the night before carbing up.  By 7:30, Jason (now Dunkeroo), and a young marine with the trail name Big Tuna were off.

Blood Mountain was a brutal climb.  The sun was blinding, but made no heat.  The wind blew, pulling you off course.  The wind-chill must have been about 10 degrees.  

The good news is that the pain in my quads was gone.  Two shorter days in a row helped.  I reached the peak just before noon.  Dunkeroo and Big Tuna yelled "Young Buck"!  They only beat me by 10 minutes, so I'm doing pretty well.  But, there was another surprise guest -- Jolly.

How did he pass me?

He didn't.  He stopped off at a hostel, and they recommended slackpacking (hiking without a backpack for speed) down Blood Mountain.  Yeah, that is the easy way to do it.  You don't get an epic story doing that.

We made it to the Mountain Crossings Oufitter.  They have a bunk house for $35 a night and $8 for laundry.

I was thinking of taking a zero just to heal, but after the successful climb, we'll just spend the night and be on the road.  I ate a whole pizza and two liters of Mr. Pibb.  A thru-hiker diet is awesome!

We have four days of food to go 38 miles to our next stop.  It's going to be cold but sunny.