Day 18: 177.3 to 190.4 Fuller Ridge

This was the hardest day for me yet. I didn’t sleep at all the night before, so when the alarm rang at 5.30am, I had to stay in bed and slept till 8. Kate left and I stayed behind to make freshly brewed coffee and breakfast.

Then I walked the original trail instead of the alternative, that was given in FarOut, which I soon regretted: there was no tail and lots of down trees. I never saw Kate again that day. I was on the ridge of the mountain at 2700m and it started snowing. It was quite beautiful and cold. I was in the clouds most of the day, in snow or hail, by myself and didn’t see more than 3 people. Refilling water from the ice cold mountain streams was a challenge because my hands would freeze. But the water was delicious. I couldn’t stop thinking how heavy my backpack was and that I couldn’t take another step and when I would finally make the campsite. There was alot of older snow on the latter half of the trail, covering the trail, it was icy and slushy so it was horrible to walk and see the trail and there were lots of fallen trees so it was really tough. Since it was the second night in a row I hadn’t slept, I felt really weak. I was close to giving up a few times and making camp but I wanted to reach Fuller Ridge and meet Kate. I made it eventually but I was absolutely exhausted.