Month: October 2023

Start: 1577.4

Stop: 1594.7

Today’s miles: 17.3

Total PCT miles: 1446.9

I damn sure did not want to wake up this morning, but once I did I realized how hot I was-I was literally sweating so much my shirt and my hair were stuck to me. I guess I got over that chill I had the last couple days. I went to pee and then had to stand outside on the balcony until I started to shiver. That room was a sauna.

I came back in and started packing. Mostly done, all but my tent packed, I went to stand outside again, and Margot said I could just leave the door open for a bit because she was hot, too. Thank GOD. When I had looked at the thermostat, it had read 76 degrees. There has never in my life been a reason to have a room that hot before. I’ve refused to spend the night at friend’s houses over them keeping the temperature on 74. Yikes.

Finally, it started to cool off some and I could breathe again. I finished packing and I ate a burrito bowl thing I still had in the mini fridge.It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. Once we were all set, we checked out of the room and walked to the general store for coffees. I also got a breakfast sandwich there. If I had known they sold them, I probably wouldn’t have eaten that other frozen thing-probably.

We made our way down to the end of the resort road to the main highway road. At that intersection, Margot pulled out her sign and I stuck my thumb out at the first vehicle coming towards us-and-they stopped. Two guys out fishing fit us in the backseat of their pickup and took us to Carson Pass! They were so nice, asking about the trail and all we’ve seen and gone through. They were wonderful!

At Carson Pass, we talked with the same volunteers from Saturday. They are complete angels. The one said, “I don’t want you to think I thought you looked unhappy Saturday, but you two seem so much happier today.” Gosh, they’re nice. We told them about the resort and how it refreshed us. They told us the weather for the next week or so should be fantastic, though cooler at night since the seasons are changing. We said our goodbyes and started down the trail.

There were tons of day hikers and weekend backpackers, lots of folks with cute dogs. Gazelle passed us at one point, and we met Rainbow, a guy in his tramily that wears a rainbow tutu.. super fun and happy guy. The trail was gorgeous, maybe even on the level of Washington for me in the way of views and huge vistas with nothing but more beauty to see as far as the eye could go.

There were tons of lakes in the distance and rocks.. and even some snow to cross.. although it was one patch of maybe 50-75 feet, and at an angle that wouldn’t be dangerous if you slipped.
I was loving the views so much, that I almost didn’t even stop for lunch. Actually I probably wouldn’t have if Margot hadn’t caught up to me and asked. I was glad she asked then, at such a scenic overlook.. because whatever I was or wasn’t doing, food or no food, I didn’t want to leave yet.

After we ate, we continued on. The trail climbed upwards but the views were so magnificent on this ridgeline, that I hardly even noticed. I mean I was of course breathing hard, but I didn’t mind the work to get to the tops of the climbs..I was just staring around in amazement, so happy I didn’t do this section in pouring rain and clouds-obscuring my views.

We got to where we were going to camp and filtered water.. then decided to hike a little over a mile more, since it was only 5:30. The spot we settled on is in the “corner” valley of a climb between two mountains-I was shocked there was spots at all, but we’re both pretty comfortable here. We set up our tents and ate our dinners outside.

It’s beautiful and chilly. I’m glad we’re farther up this climb than we could have been a mile back. That should make tomorrow a little easier in the morning. I’m so far behind my goal as far as getting to certain towns by certain dates, but safety comes first, and being hypothermic for 3 nights while climbing these climbs in rain would have been disastrous. Nothing made that more clear than hiking it today in all its pristine beauty. If this trail does nothing, it humbles you.

Ok, time for me to get some sleep. Well, ok, time to ball up in my quilt and get my hands warm. I can’t wait to see what views I get to see tomorrow! Goodnight y’all!

Start: 1594.7

Stop: 1618.6

Today’s miles: 23.9

Total PCT miles: 1470.8

I accidentally set up camp 1.3 miles short of our actual planned spot.. not 100% sure how I did that, other than just not paying attention to the actual mileage completed and only watching how close I was getting to where I thought we were supposed to camp. To be fair, both spots were listed as: Tentsite (5) & Stream. So, I didn’t think there were two exactly the same so close together. Oh well..

I slept great, and woke up to the sunrise.. and naturally pressed snooze and turned the other way to get just a little bit more of that good sleep I was having. I finally deflated my sleeping pad at 6:30, and Margot did at the same time, so she must have been waiting for me to go first. Haha.

We packed and were on trail by 7am. Today was another gorgeous day. Cooler temperatures, very few bugs, sunny and blue skies. The trail felt mostly exposed and going around these massive mountains, some rocky, some green and lush.. some with very steep drop offs all around. It was eye candy all day long.

I only stopped to eat lunch and to dump rocks out of my shoes a couple times.. otherwise, all day I was walking and just mesmerized by my surroundings. There were only birds and chipmunks around, and very few people. Margot and I ate lunch by a stream and then the two of us leap frogged each other all day.

There was over 5k feet of elevation gain throughout the day, but so much of it I didn’t even notice because of being distracted by the sheer beauty of it all. I’ve already hiked a lot of the PCT’s High Sierra section, since a lot of it is merged with the John Muir Trail and Andrea and I backpacked that trail in 2018-so I know what beauty is coming my way, but I didn’t expect it to already be getting so gorgeous now. I don’t know why?

Tomorrow we get to Kennedy Meadows North, in 18.5 miles instead of 17.2 (whoops!) and Margot will get her bear canister there. From there, we will get into Yosemite National Park within a few days. At a road junction, Margot and I will split again.. she will go into Yosemite Valley-she plans to try to get a Half Dome permit and to zero in one of the most incredible parts of the park. I’ve been to that area several times already, and I want to hike Half Dome with Andrea, so I’m going to keep moving ahead. Hopefully we reunite a few days after that, but I’m not sure if we will. That makes me sad. Even still, we’re several days away from that reality, so I’ll try not to think about it.

I do think I’m ready to roll over and snuggle into my quilt. I hope I sleep as good tonight as I did last night. Fingers crossed! Sweet dreams!

Start: 1618.6

Stop: 1637.1

Today’s miles: 18.5

Total PCT miles: 1489.3

I slept great again. And I also struggled to get up. Why am I always like this? We managed to get on trail a few minutes after 7am. Good enough, it’s cold!

The trail was again, stunning. This part of the trail is seriously something special, with views that are as gorgeous as they were back in the first few days of Washington. I wish I could describe it better, but the words are eluding me. And pictures really just don’t do it justice.

There were some patches of snow around, I like seeing it from afar, I still don’t like crossing it. Within 3 miles of the road to get down to Kennedy Meadows North, we came across a patch that Margot and I felt more comfortable crossing with our microspikes on. Three other SOBOs that we had passed a little earlier caught up to us, and they put theirs on too. For some reason that was validating for me.

It was sketchy, but short. If you slipped there, it would be down a water shoot into rocks.. so, I definitely wouldn’t die, but I’d more than likely break a bone. Thankfully, the 5 of us all crossed it just fine. They seemed really cool, but they weren’t going into town, so who knows if we’ll cross paths again.

Around that next corner, and at the top of the climb, we ran into a group of 8 trail maintenance workers. We chatted with them a bit, before carrying on downhill the rest of the way to the road. It was such a beautiful descent, with rocks all my favorite colors: purples, pinks, teals.. it was insane. I was super excited and stopping every few minutes. I’ve been collecting and sending some rocks to my friend, Kelsie, and I was happy to grab a few of these pretty colored ones for her. Margot is going to mail them for me when she gets into Yosemite Valley.

All of these rock colors has me missing Marquis. He’s ahead in the Sierra, not sure where, but either way, I wish he was here telling me why these rocks are the colors that they are. I get it’s probably “just different minerals” or something simple, but his excitement over explaining it is a joy to watch. I hope he’s doing well. Surely his legs aren’t hurting anymore, or at least not like they were.. so, I’m happy for him all the same.

We made it to the road at Senora Pass and didn’t have service to call the place we’re staying at to ask for a ride. We waited awhile, trying to hitch, but the two cars that passed, well-passed. I messaged mom on my Garmin Inreach and asked her if she’d call the number to Kennedy Meadows and ask them about a ride. We waited. No response. We waited. No cars. I messaged her again, thinking maybe she was already asleep. Still no response. Yikes.

Then, a lady passes us, but then stops, puts her car in reverse, and comes back for us! I quickly message mom and again telling her to abort calling them.. I still didn’t have a response from her, so I assumed she hadn’t seen my messages. Good thing, we have a ride now!

Rhonda is recently widowed, and on her way back from visiting her son in Utah. She was only an hour from home, and squeezed us in her pretty Camery. We talked the whole way down to Kennedy Meadows North, a pack ranch and campground with cabins, yurts, a general store and restaurant, plus rooms with single beds in above the restaurant for hikers to rent.

Rhonda let us out and made sure we were ok before leaving. My goodness she is the kindest soul. We went inside and got beds in the female dorm, I was so happy to learn they weren’t bunk beds. We picked our beds and got connected to WiFi. I talked to mom and found out that she did call, the man was on the way to get us, and her responses weren’t coming through on my inreach. She had tried calling back to say never mind, but the phone just rang and rang. Uh oh.
Margot got her stuff that was shipped to her, and I told the lady helping her about the miscommunication, in case she can radio the guy or something to tell him we aren’t there. She seemed pissed. We all still heard the phone ringing.. so. Anyway. I apologize profusely and tell her I’m more than happy to still pay him when he does return.

We then went across to the restaurant, and then waited for almost 35 minutes before getting a menu. They were overwhelmed with people! But, it wasn’t a big deal, they gave us sodas while we waited.. we were just hungry. During this waiting time, a man appeared at our table, beer on his breath, and he absolutely berated us for pulling him out of his dinner to come get us and then not even be there. I attempted to be calm, apologetic, and polite and explain to him that we didn’t think my mom was getting the garmin messages, since I got no response from her and I always do..

He did not care. He insulted us for being grown adults and needing “Mommy” to get our ride instead of calling ourselves. I again attempted to explain I didn’t have cell service, hence messaging someone responsible to call for us-and thinking the messages either weren’t going through or weren’t being received. Even Margot attempted to explain and help me apologize for the mishap.

He was so flipping rude, even after admitting he picked up another hiker while he was up there, a solo female hiker.. WHO WOULDNT HAVE OTHERWISE GOTTEN A RIDE.. but that didn’t matter.. he was irate. He made some comment, and went to storm off, and I may have yelled after him, “yeah, go have another.” I don’t know what the hell is happening with me and restaurants lately.. but my God it’s been ridiculous. Shit happens. He has to realized that, especially living somewhere with no freaking phone service! I’m still a bit pissed myself.

Anyway. The waitresses were incredibly kind. I’m sure they witnessed it all, but pretended not to. We finally placed our order: soup, salad, NY strip steak with a baked potato and zucchini. It was phenomenal. The steak was cooked just right. And then, to top it off, it came with desert! Peach cobbler, no less. It wasn’t Uncle Keith’s, but it was still pretty delicious.

We finished up and headed out back to the laundry and shower house. After quick showers we went upstairs and got in bed. It was already after 8pm and I was pooped. All this fussing was attempting to ruin the absolute otherwise perfection of the day. Our dorm room had Strider, who we all know we’ve met before, but we aren’t sure where. It isn’t the same strider that also fell down Cutthroat Pass the day I did. And then there was ChickenDinner: the girl ol cranky pants picked up instead of us.. I can’t see how that’s a bad thing, seeing how she got here and they got her money by having her stay..

Anyway, the 4 of us chatted a little and then all went to bed pretty quickly. I’m writing this the day after, because the plugs to charge my phone were no where near my bed, and I didn’t want to keep anyone awake longer than necessary. So, I can say, it took forever to fall asleep, but when I did, it was comfortable. No complaints there! Which may be a first when sharing a room with 3 other women. Ha!