PCT Day 113

Start: 1810.8

Stop: 1833.2

Today’s miles: 22.4

Total PCT miles: 1685.4

One word for today: brutal. So absolutely brutal. And yet-so breathtakingly gorgeous.. well, and just flat out breath taking, too.

I was cold throughout the night, if I turned a certain way, a draft made its way up my back. Once I retucked my quilt around me, I was snug and warm though. I got up and started packing at 5:30, knowing Strider was probably already awake and waiting to hear signs of life from me.. she’s an early riser, and I really just don’t know how she does it.

It was a very cold start to the morning, and in the darkness of the dusky morning, we saw three deer dancing down the trail above us as we packed up our tents. It was pretty neat to see. Later, after maybe a mile or so of hiking, we saw them again, eating just above the trail. The cold morning wasn’t causing any issues for them!

I took so many breaks on my way up to Muir Pass. We had water crossings early on, and I kept my feet dry some how, but as dry as my feet were, I was feeling everything but successful. I couldn’t catch my breath, like at all. I had to stop, let my heartbeat slow, take deep breaths that felt like they somehow STILL weren’t deep enough to make my lungs happy. At some points I was on the verge of panic, sucking in air like never before, and had to remind myself that I’ve done this before, I know how to be safe in high altitudes, I just had to slow my breathing and take my time and drink my water.

Knowing these things and making the panic subside were wildly different things, though. When I finally made it to the Muir Hut, this gorgeous rock hut at the top of the pass, I was exhausted and so short of breath that I was pretty worried. I had gotten a little lightheaded just before reaching the hut, and it was really freaking me out. I tried to hide it from Strider, who made it there way before me, but waited for me nonetheless. Man, she rocks. I told her I didn’t feel so great, so we snapped some pictures of the hut and then quickly started to head down the other side. The best way to fix issues related to the altitude is to go down.

I was very stressed out about the snow everyone had been talking about going down the backside of the pass, so, feeling panicky over my breathing soon turned into panicky over snow crossings. Several of the snow traverses were steep enough that I put on my microspikes. It was early morning and the snow was ice hard, so the spikes definitely helped give me traction. I don’t think I *had* to have them, but they did make me go through it a little faster, even if any speed gained was then lost by taking them off and putting them on again a quarter mile later. I think all in all, I put them on 3 times, and each time I was happy as hell to have them.

The sun cups were massive and the water cascading down trail from all this snowmelt was pretty massive, too. Water was everywhere: little lakes and ponds, streams and creeks and some that rushed like a full on river. The descent once the snowy parts were passed seemed to just go on and on forever. Thankfully, it was seriously beautiful. And, the highlight, I saw several picas and even got one on camera! They’re so dang cute!

Around 10am I finally got warm enough to take off my gloves and jackets. About 4 and a half seconds after that, it was so damn hot it felt like I was melting! The farther down into the valley we went, the hotter it got.. and the mosquitos and gnats came out in full force. So. Many. Bugs. Thankfully, we ate lunch before getting too far down into the valley, because as we continued that descent, the terrain got boggy and all around nasty. Muddy looking water, bugs galore-absolutely eating me alive-overgrown grasses and fallen trees.

As the trail started its ascent, the bugs didn’t stop. I got to the point that I was sucking them in trying to breathe-and ended up in my headnet, and dousing myself with a probably unhealthy amount of picaridin.. spray and lotion-no shame. Once the climb came above the thick tree line, the bugs stayed, but the absolute hell of it started to subside, the views came back.

That’s when the real fun started.. the Golden Staircase. The climb included very steep trail that wound itself up the cliff sides in what felt like vertical gain. It wasn’t of course, but it probably could have been if the trail maintenance folks hadn’t taken the time to create these massive stone steps up and through the steep cliff side.

It was somewhere on this Golden Staircase that the clouds rolled in and it started to sprinkle. I was actually happy, thinking it would knock down the bugs-but these are California bugs, they don’t follow the rules. They kept buzzing in my face at my headnet, even with the rain. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last but 20-30 minutes at the most.

The temperature started to drop as the sun started to set. I hadn’t seen Strider in a while, she’d stayed ahead for the majority of the day, but I did catch sight of her way up ahead on the switchbacks of the staircase. As the sun disappeared, I prayed that she would have her headlamp on so I could find her in the dark. I knew I would have a hard time figuring out where the camp sites were with my dim headlamp. The anxiety started to creep back in.

In my headlamp, unable to see much of anything for maybe the last mile of my climb, I spotted a light up ahead. It was Strider, she saved me a spot for my tent and had been looking for me to make sure I wouldn’t pass her in the dark! Ah, my hero! I quickly set up my tent next to hers on this gritty sand in between two massive slabs of rock. We still have 4 miles to get to the top of Mather Pass tomorrow morning. After the way this kicked my ass today, I’m worried about how I’m going to do tomorrow. I definitely think I’m not eating enough calories for the work I’m putting in. That’s pretty stressful, along with the whole getting lightheaded and not being able to breathe thing.

We ate dinner together sitting outside on the rocks, and then I finished unpacking. I’m now all snuggled in and ready for some sleep. When I get service, I really need to order a new headlamp. Mine just isn’t bright enough. Too bad I don’t have it now, when I feel like I need it most. I also want new gloves-WARM ones. Or at least 2 matching warm ones lol. Alright, y’all know that 5:30 wake up call comes way too early for me. And I’m absolutely spent. Sweet dreams!