Start: 212.8
Stop: 232.6
Today’s miles: 19.8
Total PCT miles: 420.4
Whoa buddy, do my feet hurt today. I slept really good.. so good in fact that I woke up with my eyes puffy and swollen from burying my head into the down of my quilt. I think I’m slightly allergic, but not enough to be worrisome.
I was up, packed, and on trail by 6:20.. not bad. The mosquitoes were already awake, too, so I brushed my teeth while walking to avoid them as much as I could. I was slathered in deet and Picardin and if I could have walked with a flame thrower I would have. Marquis quickly passed me within the first few minutes of walking, but Margot was still packing when we left her.
The day started with a climb, and the sun was already bearing down on me. I was hot and profusely sweating by 7am. Yikes. This is going to be a L O N G day if it’s this hot already. The climb brought us to some gorgeous scenery, the huge rock mountain we slept under last night was now right next to me.. Margot later told me they called it Cathedral Rock.. I don’t know if she was joking or not though, but I’ll claim it to be true.
On the back side of this mountain, I started the 8 miles of descent. On the top 3 switchbacks, I got a little service and called Mom. I like this every couple days thing way better than once every 7-8 days.. but who knows what the future holds in that regard. We chatted for a minute and then I kept walking downhill. It would take me all day to get this almost 20 miles in.. simply because even though right now is downhill, the lower I go raises the chances for blowdowns and more bugs.. and then after that descent, it’s another 8-9 miles uphill to end the day. SOS.
So, I cruised downhill. I caught up to Marquis twice, and at some point got ahead of him when he stopped to eat his first lunch. I pushed on until after 11am when I found a shaded log to sit on at a stream crossing. There were hardly no bugs, a miracle in of itself. I got water and ate my lunch with my socks and shoes off.. and then I just sat there until Marquis got there.. and stayed sitting there til Margot got there. Eventually, an hour and a half later, I slowly started hiking again.
But only for a couple more miles. I came across a bridge with a shallow but wife crystal clear stream flowing under it. I wanted to get in. I wanted to stay all afternoon and camp 5 feet away.. but, I waited until they caught up. I soaked my feet and washed my legs, but didn’t get my clothes wet. Then I laid on the bridge and dried out. Annie and Riley came by and hung out there too. It was a beautiful spot.
When the realization sat in that I still had to climb this 8 miles before I could camp-I got my socks and shoes back on. Margot and Marquis had already left and I knew I was going to be dragging myself up that mountain. I turned on a podcast some friends from work told me about (pretty sure it was Keyara?) ‘Crime Junkie’ and listened to stories about people being abducted and murdered.. and honestly it helped distract me from the difficulty of the climb.
I caught up to Margot and Marquis and then the three of us leap frogged a bit. As we climbed higher, again the views opened up and the scenery looked unbelievable. Sharp jagged peaks and rounded rocky ones, clouds rolling through threatening rain but never releasing it. We were all worn slap out, barely moving, but determined to get to this pond to camp.
We rolled in just minutes before 7pm. The pond is gorgeous, more lake looking than pond.. and we walked around to find spots for our tents. We’re a bit spread out, and as if to welcome us: the mosquitoes reappeared. Our grand plans to eat dinner together on a pretty rock over looking the water was quickly squashed. I was in my rain gear and bug net, cussing, and setting up my tent.
A marmot, a potentially deaf and blind one at that, came through our campsites, completely unconcerned with us. I recorded him, talked to him, all kinds of stuff and he just couldn’t care less. He just continued to chew on whatever he found and ran around the area like we weren’t here. He came up to all of our tents.. which has me a little concerned for tonight. I pray he doesn’t chew through any of our tents.
It’s 9:15, the sun is behind a mountain in the distance, and the sky is slowly fading to darkness. I think both of them are asleep, I haven’t heard a rustle of their sleeping pads in a while. It’s just a little chilly, to where I’m comfortable under my quilt, dinner has been eaten, and I’m thinking it’s time to try to sleep. Tomorrow should be another 19+ mile day, and my feet are not thrilled about it. We’ll have another long downhill, followed by a long uphill and then several ups and downs from there.. but all over 5000 feet, so hopefully once up there we’ll be in the exposed areas with less bugs and blow downs. That’s the prayer anyway.