[Day 59] James Peak

I had a 8:30am start from Falls River up a PCT-esque climb from the bottom of the forested valley to the top of James Peak. The 3,000 foot ascent up James was not terribly graded. Though slow and snowy, I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some grudge about such a long ascent. I was reminded as some of the climbs on the PCT, namely the climb northbound out of Belden and Seiad Valley which were about 5,000 feet a piece over 10 to 15 miles.

James Peak marks the last 13,000 foot elevation position of the trail. The climbing will continue, but at least oxygen will be more accessible. A slow descent through snow down James Peak turned into exposed, melted out ridge walking. The ridge walking over rock scree and tussock grass bounced along in elevation around 12,000 feet for some 12 miles.

The ridge walking continued through Indian Peaks Wilderness as I walked the border of the wilderness boundary, until dipping low in elevation into the forest. Slushy snow and steep terrain took me through some serious blowdown country. Luckily, the trail had been well worked by a trail crew, and I only had to do gymnastics for about a mile to get back to trail.

Below the 10,000 foot line, the wet meadows and marshes merged with the trail and along came the mosquitoes. It was a warm — it felt close to 75°F. Soon enough though, I climbed back above 10,000 feet, and the mosquitoes subsided considerably.

I cruised through marshy forests and meadows to camp. Miraculously, I pushed about 26 miles despite only managing a measly six miles by noon.

I posted camp about 20 miles from Grand Lake, and I intend to make town quickly tomorrow. It looks like track race terrain tomorrow.

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)