11/14/22
Day Sixty-Eight 

Today was another rough day, in keeping with the theme, apparently. I’ve hiked Gordon Pond Trail one time before, however it was back when I was still in cancer treatment and my memory was a bit foggier than I realized about how many water crossings there were. The temperatures plummeted overnight, as I knew they would, and with wind chills below zero, I wanted to remain a bit lower in elevation today. A nice out and back on Gordon Pond seemed like the perfect plan. Dressed warm, I started up the trail. While this isn’t my first time hiking in winter temperatures, I always feel stifled and have a more difficult time making forward progress when I’m bundled in what feels like hundreds of layers. I shuffled up the trail until I reached the major water crossing about 1.5 miles into the hike and quickly realized that I would have no real choice but to get my feet wet in crossing. I really didn’t want wet feet in the below freezing temps, but cold feet have never been something I struggle with, (quite the opposite actually) so I continued up the trail with wet feet. By the time I got to Gordon Falls, my toes were getting cold. Colder than I wanted them to be. I stripped off my socks and did some backcountry MacGyver work - putting hand warmers on my feet and wrapping them in my emergency blanket (which I cut into pieces) . They were snug and warm for the remainder of the day. The trail was covered in a fresh dusting of snow, not even an inch of accumulation, and by the time I reached the junction with Kinsman Ridge, I was ready to go back down. Not the most fun hike, especially with cold, wet feet, but I got it done. 

Daily Miles: 8.84

Daily Vert: 1973’

Overall Mileage: 759.78

Overall Vert: 226,624’

Trace: 33% -> 33.3%

Trails:

Gordon Pond Trail