september 7
day 121
27 miles
total 3,157
148 remaining
5×26 + 1×18
little by little i walked out of the desert today.
as this thing moves into the final days i am reminded of basketball.
it doesn’t matter how well you play
you have to be able to close.
let me tell you,
closing is hard.
every possible obstacle seems to spring up.
with this thing coming down to the last minute
i can’t afford anything else to go wrong.
well, everything is trying.
every mile comes hard now
and traffic is once again a factor
making it hard to enjoy the scenery.
lodging is scarce and often far from where i finish.
every minute is so precious now that the clock is a source of constant pressure.
the cascades are right in front of me
complete with snowfields and glaciers.
those are some pretty big mountains!
but a little hard to see thru the heavy smoke.
apparently another big fire is going here in oregon.
there was talk of the interstate being closed.
there were scouting reports on 20 over the mountains… no shoulder, small shoulder, steep, curvy, heavy traffic.
i suppose it will have to be approached the same as all the rest.
walk until i hit an obstacle,
then find a way thru.
i reached the bottom of the first big climb at the end of the day.
my task tomorrow is to get over the pass (2,000 mile mark on the pct) and deep into the mountains on the pacific side, and still get my miles.
it never gets easier.
laz
Sent from my magic phone