July 4, 2017

I can’t say technology and I are getting along, so text only for right now.

Merry independence day to all! It got very cold last night, but i do not see any frost as I sit here enjoying my new sleeping bag. Here’s a quick product plug.
REI has a slew of sleeping bags with very competitive and comparable stats. Their best bag is also the more expensive bag by quite a bit. Seeing as I am still recovering from being unemployed and trying to save up for a down payment on a house, I wanted to make sure I purchased a very appropriate yet cost effective sleeping bag. Many details are lost to me as I lay here, but it is rated for 25 degrees F, meaning us it comfortable at 35. I wore no thermals to bed, but I did add layers around 4am. It is chilly now, so I dare not leave this warm mummy bag!

Since the sun is now up, it is time to get moving up this mountain!

The trail is very worn and unmaintained. Early sections of the have 4 rutted trails with multiple others already sinking, but then when the trails start to really climb, it ceases to exist. We had a strenuous few times where either boulder fields or extensive swamps kept us from keeping anywhere near what we thought the trail was. To make matters worse for me, I couldn’t stop coughing or keep my nose dry. Even with those problems, we kept on. We hit the summit late, around 3 pm. Where I was please to see I had cell service. So I posted a few things, called my mother and passed my phone to Ryan so he could call home too. The long scramble down was slow and our energy at an end, we hit camp at dark and went straight to bed.