Mile 376.9
Elevation: 8596 feet

The day got off to a rocky start. With the cold and the wind, I didn’t sleep much, and I couldn’t force myself to start in the frigid dark, so I hit the snooze about a dozen times. I eventually threw on my clothes over my base layer and scrambled a half mile to a more sheltered place to redress and repack.

On a whim at the very end of the night I checked the elevation profile and realized today would be Mt. Baden-Powell. Oh, shit.

That kind of changed everything, and I didn’t feel physically prepared to tackle that beast.

It was an uncomfortable morning: I was so tired, and cold in the relentless wind, and continuously out of breath. I wondered if I was coming down with something. Hurdy-Gurdy had to head into Wrightwood with a cold of some sort.

After about 4…