Category: Long Distance Trails

Start: 1959.8

Stop: 1985.3

Today’s miles: 25.5

Total PCT miles: 1837.5

Whew buddy, today threw me for a loop. A horrible, “I hate this and want to quit and go home or to a beach or literally anywhere where rattlesnakes are NOT” loop. But, it didn’t start out that way. Actually, the rattlesnake didn’t happen until the last 2 miles of my hike, but the negativity about the trail in general had been there for a few hours, and the snake was the icing on my frustrated cake.

I woke up late, both Strider and Hobble-it were gone when I finally woke up to pee at 6.. and then as I was peeing I could hear coyotes in the pretty close distance howling to each other-so, I got back in my tent and slept another 30 minutes. Why not? Ha. I didn’t want them coming over while I was packing to investigate the noises I was making.. at least, that’s what I told myself so I didn’t have to pack.

At 6:30, I finally started to pack and I was mad at myself for not just doing it when I was already up earlier. Without the bear can, I’m back to my old routine, which is nice and had me walking out of camp by 6:50. Not too shabby. And the coyotes were still howling and yipping, but they sounded farther away, so I was hoping I wasn’t about to round a corner into their pack-luckily I never spotted them.

The terrain definitely feels like the start of the desert: sand, heat, bushes and shrubby trees.. reptiles instead of marmots and chipmunks. So. Many. Lizards. Maybe I’ll try to count them tomorrow for giggles-because today had to be over a thousand, easy. And there was even a HUGE one that darted across my foot that had me screaming.. naturally.

The start of the day was a 7 mile climb that I actually enjoyed. The trail was easy to follow, it wasn’t overgrown, it was around and across the mountains easing up out of the valley instead of straight up and over. I got hot half way up and took my fleece off, but otherwise I was content the whole time. The other side: sucked. It started to get overgrown in areas, my legs getting scraped no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. There were down trees to climb over, the trail itself got rocky or washed out.

The trail went down to a stream, where I filled up, then I started climbing the next mountain of the day. Around 12:30 I stopped and ate lunch.. bites taken in between moving my headnet, because the gnats were out in full force, massively swarming me constantly from about 11am until I got in this tent around 7pm. They don’t bite, which, thank God, but they do dive bomb your eyes, nose, mouth every single second they can. I think they’re what caused my irritation to begin with, not so much the overgrown trail.. but that definitely didn’t help.

At the top of that second climb, I got service and called my mom. Man, something about chatting with her and hearing about her day really helps my mood. I was starting to lose service when I walked, so, I stood still for about 15 minutes on a hillside getting gnat swarmed so I could chit chat with her. How do moms always make everything better? Even when you lie to them and tell them everything here is fantastic? Simply the best.

Anywho. Coming down that long descent, I encountered my 3rd snake of the day. The first 2 were garder snakes that were small and fast and happy to get away from me. This 3rd monster was HUGE, as in very round and very long.. it was rattling at me while sliding down the hillside above me TOWARDS me on trail below.

When I tell you I started screaming.. I mean I screamed so loud and so long as I ran past that devilish demon that after I got to camp, Strider and Hobble-it told me they heard me. I never saw them, not once all day! Not only did I scream as I ran past it, but as I turned to look back, I saw it turned towards me on trail, almost like it was going to come at me-still rattling-and I screamed and ran even farther down trail. My heart was still beating in my ears over 25 minutes later-after I stopped to fill up my water bottles. Even now typing this my adrenaline is starting to spike again!

I was so scared to turn any corner with the sunlight shining on the hillsides ahead. I was panicked and walking fast as hell, jumping at small branches and limbs laying on the trail, shrieking at the lizards and overall completely over this day. My fear of snakes is a real one, clearly, and I wonder if the more I think about it the bigger that bastard will seem to get. I swear it was massive. I’m definitely going to have nightmares.

It was maybe 30 minutes later when I got to camp and Strider and Hobble-it told me they heard me scream and that they weren’t that far ahead of me, because Strider saw me run, too. This makes me laugh now, because I did so much cussing and talking to myself out loud during that last 2 miles to camp that I’m sure I looked and sounded like a raging lunatic. Too bad they didn’t get it on camera.

I set up my tent and unpacked inside it, because.. bugs. And we all chit chatted for a few minutes before everyone got into bed. Strider started to get a migraine today, so she isn’t feeling all that great. That makes me super sad for her, since tomorrow is her finishing day, and this is her very last night on trail. I hope it passes and she sleeps well, so her hike can end on a good note.

I’m a bit stressed out about tomorrow. It’s 16.6 miles to the road at Walker Pass and then I need to get hitch into town to resupply before getting a hitch to where Marquis is.. and I really don’t know how easy that will be to do. I haven’t heard from him and when I tried to message him today, I lost service before the text went through.. so hopefully he’ll be there tomorrow afternoon and we can get started going south. He’ll be clean and laundered, I’ll be 4 days into my stink, so I need to look into when I’ll get to shower and do laundry next, too.

So stressful. Especially without service. Hopefully I’m able to get more than 1 bar tomorrow so I can get some stuff figured out. I also let Margot know my plan, so hopefully she gets service soon and can check in and maybe she’ll be willing to jump down to meet us too! Ok, I’ve done enough panicking and worrying today. Only so much “planning” I can do from my tent. Goodnight y’all.

Start: 1944.5

Stop: 1959.8

Today’s miles: 15.3

Total PCT miles: 1812

Today was a fun one! The whole waking up bit sucked, of course. It was cold and very windy-but no one else was moving at 6am, or at 6:30.. I finally heard someone packing around 6:40 so I started, too. As I was getting out of my tent, I saw Strider! I went over to talk to her and she was planning to go into Kennedy Meadows South for a little while today too, so I told her I’d meet her there.

I finished packing and was the last to walk out of camp by maybe 5 minutes. The trail was easy going, but cold-even in my new gloves my hands stayed numb for quite a long time. The sun did shine on the valley way sooner than when I was high in the mountains, so I was happy about that.

It was a quick 7.5 miles to the road and then almost a mile to the general store everyone was going to. I got there around 10:30, everyone clapped when I walked up-it’s what you do when any hiker shows up there, like with Reece Witherspoon in “Wild.” It’s the same place. I congratulated the folks I camped with last night, because now their hike is complete, I said hi to Strider and her tramily member, Hobble-it, who reconnected with her in Independence and they’re finishing the trail together in a few days at Walker Pass.

Then, I went inside and got a Mountain Dew and a beer. I had to wait until 11am for the restaurant to open for food-but that was ok. We sat at talked and laughed a lot, then a line formed at 11 to order.. food is very serious hiker business after all. I ordered a double cheeseburger, fries, and jalapeño poppers. When it all came out 30 minutes later I devoured every single bite. My burger was gone before I had even realized I ate it all.. how is that even possible? Like, I went for a napkin and forgot while I was gone that I ate it already, as I was looking for it. Weird.

I ended up sitting awhile longer, enjoying the atmosphere, then got another beer and Mountain Dew and hung out some more. Close to 1pm I got my stuff together and said my byes to hike out. Hobble-it and I hiked together for a few miles before she got ahead of me. It was easy terrain, but the bushes of the desert were scratching at my legs and I was walking slowly through the real overgrown stuff so I wouldn’t rip my skin open. I still have a ton of scratches, but only one opened up. Why is my leg skin so fragile? Maybe I need to get pants again soon if the whole desert is going to be like this.

I made it to our stopping point by 5 something, and at first almost just kept hiking. I need to get to Walker Pass sort of early on Tuesday to help my odds of hitch hiking all the way to where Marquis is. But I’m torn because I’d like to be there when Strider and Hobble-it finish, too. So, I set up camp with them and decided I’ll figure that part out later. They both hike faster than me, so even if I camp with them, they’ll probably be at Walker Pass and get a ride before I’m even there to congratulate them. Ha.

We ate dinner together and now it’s dark before 7:30. I think I’ll try to fall asleep here soon and then get up when they do at 5:30 to start packing.. well, they get up earlier than that, but leave by 6, I can leave by 6 if I wake up at 5:30.. soooo, we’ll see. That’s my plan. And I want to get 25-27 miles tomorrow so I have less to do on Tuesday morning before all the hitching madness. Man, I hope that goes smoothly. Sorry it’s a short one, just lacking the words today, I guess. Goodnight y’all.

Start: 1920.1

Stop: 1944.5

Today’s miles: 24.4

Total PCT miles: 1796.7

If today is any insight to how the rest of the trail will be, a slight taste of the desert, im here for it. For the most part, besides some overgrown bushes in the afternoon, the trail was cruisy and.. dare I say it.. easy?

I woke up around 6am and tried calling Mom again, since I never heard back from anyone last night. She answered and all of my crazy intrusive thoughts were proven wrong.. she just fell asleep early. What an instant relief! After talking with her, I packed up and got moving.

The trail gently climbed when it went uphill and it was smooth and sandy and was easy to follow. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime and I was eating my bagel and cheese sandwiches in the sunshine on top of a climb that didn’t even wind me. Actually, before the climb I took off my fleece assuming I’d start to sweat like crazy going uphill.. just to put it back on at lunch and I kept it on the rest of the day.

The views were pretty, but at a lower elevation, they were no where near as dramatic as the last few weeks have been.. but the ease of it made me so happy, I didn’t mind at all. I listened to an audiobook by Oprah and Dr. Bruce Perry, “What Happened to You,” and found it very interesting. I actually started it yesterday, so when it finished, I immediately started a Lisa Jewel book that I finally had delivered.. and I got so sucked in to that book that when I came across the campsite at 6:15, I almost passed it! The day just sailed by!

Now I get to wait until tomorrow to finish that one up, which is good for me.. spread out the time some.. lol. Anyway, tonight I’m camping with 5 SNOBOs that will be finishing their hike tomorrow at Kennedy Meadows South. I was originally going to go right on by, instead of taking the mile walk in.. for food I don’t need-BUT- their excitement is palpable and I want to share a beer with them for completing their thruhike.

We all sat around and talked while eating dinner and I have to tell you, I’m so jealous that they’re basically finished. It’s 7.5 to KMS, then the 1 mile road walk.. and they’ll be done. I’ll eat and share a beer, then keep walking. I hope tomorrow is as cruisy as today was. I want to try to get at least 20 miles in tomorrow.. so, we’ll see how it goes. Maybe I’ll see Strider there, too! She finishes at Walker Pass, a couple days after KMS, so fingers crossed I get to see her again and maybe even get to be there for her finish! That’s where I’ll be hitching down to Marquis, too.. so exciting!

Ok. I think that’s all for tonight. Sorry it’s a short one, but Im cold and ready to get snuggled in! Goodnight!