12/12/22
Day Seventy-Eight 

Today was really hard and quite honestly a bit scary. The trail ascending Moat Mountain and the trail descending it were both covered in thick ice. Too thick for microspikes to do anything and I was regretting leaving my legit crampons at home. But by the time I hit the really bad ice it was safer to keep going up than it would’ve been to go down. The descent down Red Ridge, while still icy, was less icy than Moat Mountain Trail. By the time I had reached the trees and could remove my spikes I was spent. I didn’t like hiking very much today. The theme for winter seems to be such. However, I am really trying to learn to like it. 

Daily Miles: 9.94

Daily Vert: 3029’

Overall Mileage: 861.77

Overall Vert: 253,724’

Trace: 37.6% -> 38.2% 

Trails:

Moat Mountain Trail

Red Ridge Trail