Miles: 14 Steps: 27,959 Vertical gain: 3,657 feet Liquid consumed: 155 oz Wildlife: grouse, squirrel, pika, marmot, deer Nice and chilly waking up at 11,500 feet! Brrrrr! Oh well. I climbed back above treeline (which wasn't far) and climbed a beautiful 13,000 foot mountain. Up and up, nicely switchbacked trail. I spent some time at the summit and continued on. There was a harder ridgewalk alternate route, but I passed since there were already some clouds in the sky. The trail went down to 10,300 feet, the lowest I've been in a couple days which is kind of crazy to think about! That's high! At the low point, the trail crossed a river and a fairly humorous scene presented itself: two huge pieces of construction equipment and a truck that slowly and verynoisiky were going up the road I needed to go up as well. I was walking at about the same pace of them too, so we hiked together for about a half mile. So loud! Haha, I found it all kind of amusing for some reason. Being pretty much alone all morning then directly in the middle of a super noisy construction site was humorous. After 15 minutes or so the trail split off and so did I. Next I reached treeline again after a steep climb and had a decision to make: climb another 13,000 foot mountain and try to hitch into town late in the evening or take a short day and hitch in early the next morning. There were some clouds and I was at a beautiful place to camp so I figured why push it. Kind of taking an easy week this week and it feels great! I stretched and relaxed and enjoyed the view. Sometimes I can sit and stare for hours at natures beauty! Love it! When I get bored I'll read or write or look at my maps, but honestly I don't get bored too much. Always hiking or resting or exploring neat small towns. Ahhh, this is the life!!!