3/6/23
Day 108

You failed. That’s what it felt like as I stood at the snow drifts that were almost taller than me where Burnbrae Trail reentered the woods off of Durand Rd. “I can’t climb up that, I’m going to sink up to my waist and then what?” Furious and defeated, I stomped towards the next trailhead off Durand, EZ Way, hoping that it would be broken enough that I could reenter there. Equally as high drifts of snow with no tracks to be seen. “I give up.” I took off my snowshoes, strapped them onto my pack, and started the long road walk back to my car feeling angry and really bad about myself.

This has been the first hike that I’ve really felt like a failure at since starting this journey back in June. With only half the trails completed for the day I didn’t clear a day of hiking off the calendar, which means I am in the same place as I was when I started the day, even if I hiked some of the trails. It felt horrible. And after choosing to bail on the traverse that I just did with Danielle because I didn’t feel safe crossing the ridge to meet up with Osseo, the day ended on a very sour note. But, I wanted to turn the day around. I wanted to find a way to make it a positive instead of a negative. Since starting this attempt, I’ve wanted to hike Landing Camp as my final trail (I’ve previously hiked it 2 other times) but traditionally everyone hikes a different trail to finish and Steve Smith finished on Landing Camp. I’ve wondered what trail speaks to me, what trail means a lot, a place that I can finish that is unique and represents my personality as a hiker. Despite not finishing the trails today, I found that trail.

Daily Miles: 3.88

Daily Vert: 412’

Overall Miles: 1,113.60

Overall Vert: 323,498’

Trace: 47.8% -> 48.1%

Trails:

Diagonal

Pasture Trail

EZ Way

Burnbrae Trail

Bluffway

Glenside