HEMAG

Post date: Jun 19, 2016 11:34:44 PM

On Friday, I got up early, chugged down some coffee, ate quickly, packed my stuff, and was on the trail by 5:22. I started off alone, but quickly met two guys at 5:30 who were going about my pace, and so I joined them. At first we went pretty slow, but after a while the pace picked up and we weren't talking as much, especially when going uphill. The lead changed almost rhythmically as we proceeded down the trail. Once the leader alerted the two behind about a pile of bear dung on the trail by yelling, "crap up". We then came to a very steep uphill, which we all knew was coming, and we all put the hammer down, mano a mano, trying to be the first to the top. After an epic struggle it was clear who won and we regrouped in a friendly manner at the top before picking up the pace again. Luckily, the last few miles were all downhill so we could just coast our way in to camp. At the end of our 20 mile day we gathered around the campfire to jawbone a little, then went our separate ways to different tents knowing we'd probably meet periodically up the trail for more of the same.

And so HEMAG was born- Hikers Early Morning Anaerobic Group!

At mile 927, camping at Rock Spring Hut.