September 8th, 2018
Middle Fork Feather River mm 1250 to mm 1216
Distance: 34 miles
0615-1900
Twist and I got a jump on all the guys by getting started early, as usual. We had to climb a lot today. In fact, I think I set a personal best in total elevation gained in one day: 9500′! That is a massive amount and I still did 34 miles before dark.
In the morning, I caught up to 3 more SOBOs: Later Gator, Oh Well, and Bella. We played hopscotch the rest of the day. The trail wound around a lot of peaks and there were many good views. The sky has been so clear, with amazing cirrus cloud displays for days on end. I even caught a few last glimpses of Mt Lassen. I love looking back over the distances I have traveled.
I pushed long to get to a spot that had both a pond and spring. The pond was mostly dry but the spring was trickling. I found a nice place to pitch and had dinner in the dark. I do not like the short days. It got really cold early on and I settled in for what looked like an uncomfortable night.