Despite sleeping at a 30 degree angle, I slept remarkably well. Of course, sleep for me is never really a problem as I can sleep nearly anywhere.

The night prior we had struggled to find a trail to Cliff Lake in the rain. A mile into the hike it began to rain simultaneously as the trail petered out into nothing. Slipping up a 40 degree slope in darkness and wet, we pitched the tent precariously in the only spot available. By morning, several inches of snow covered the forest. We hadn't eaten dinner the night before and wanted to get going in the morning so we skipped breakfast as well. Instead, we ate a couple of Skratch energy bars and packed up.

There was absolutely no semblance of a trail and we slipped upwards. I used my Garmin Earthmate app to check my location and the supposed location of the trail. Every once in a while, we would see a faint line. Then nothing again. Trees were down everywhere and forced us to wind around or crawl up and over. It was slow going. After a couple of hours of uncertain struggle, we reached Cliff Lake and then the trail head.

It was cold, but the sun was out. We had hoped to be further but the trail-disappearing act set us back considerably. We veered off to a OHV trail and made good time despite the mud underneath the snow turning to peanut butter. Eventually, we got to a road and starting hiking toward Newcastle. After a mile, we came across a sign that read: Newcastle 26 miles. Our hearts sank. We had already been hiking for four hours.

A while later we stopped in a sunny and dry spot, melted some snow and had a hot brunch. It was a relaxing refuel and the first warm meal that we had eaten in 36 hours.

As we, hiked on into the evening Ben's blisters forced him to hobble Igor-like down the trail. In Antarctica one year, I had similar blisters from overly stiff boots and I could more than understand his pain. He persevered admirably.

John (film crew) met us around 8:30 pm to get some walking interviews. After he left is was just us again and we walked in silence for another three hours. I was so tired that my body was having a hard time staying warm so I put on my big Allied Feather and Down Helly Hansen jacket while I hiked. Normally, this would be way too warm but in my fatigued state, I needed the extra insulation.

Around 12:30 am, we got to town, found a dead end street and camped in a low ditch between the train tracks and I-70. All told we had hiked 31 miles.

Image: snowy morning.