The Unpolished Princess

Start: 1462.6

Stop: 1487.1

Today’s miles: 24.5

Total PCT miles: 1339.3

I’m glad the views were pretty today, because everything else about it sucked. Maybe that’s dramatic, but it’s the truth. Today was so physically challenging with the extra weight of the bear canister that it had me questioning my ability to hike this trail at all. The straps were digging into my shoulders, my hips hurt, my knees hurt, my neck hurt, not to mention the mosquitoes made a hellish comeback. I know that’s a lot of bitching, but I thought I’d get it out of the way.

I fell asleep last night around 7ish, to be woken up at 8 by another hiker setting up her tent right next to me. She tried being quiet, but there’s really only so much you can do. Then she had her red light on for what felt like forever as she unpacked.. I was grateful it was the red light and not her bright light, but I couldn’t roll away from it because of my hip bothering me. Shortly after it was turned off, I was asleep again.

I started packing at 6am, ignoring my previous watch vibrations.. it was cold and dark, a combo not conducive to getting up, it appeared Margot agreed, because she was just starting to pack when I was. We left by 6:30 and started the climb we didn’t want to do yesterday. It was pretty, with switchbacks in the pines quickly turning to switchbacks around rocky outcroppings and then open mountaintops with expansive views.

Around 9:30, we passed a cooler filled with cold drinks and fresh cherries! Trail magic! I got a sparkling water and sat on the ground with Margot to drink it and eat some cherries before we carried on. It was wonderful to take my pack off.. so, some good stuff did happen today, I’m not oblivious to that.

Up and down and across open mountains we went, never more than 5 minutes apart from each other. We ate around 11:45, not because I was hungry, but because I wanted my pack to be lighter-and eating food does that. It was much of the same for the rest of the day, with the afternoon including swarms of mosquitoes biting behind my ears and buzzing around my head, frequently making me smack myself harder than necessary.

We made it to camp just before 8pm, with some sunlight left. Immediately we dropped packs and put on our rain gear and I put on my bug net-the pests being too much to deal with, even just to set up my tent. It makes sense though, we did pass some patches of snow and some gorgeous wildflowers still in bloom.. so I think the bugs will be here until it’s too cold for them-which-I need to google what temperature that is so I can start praying for it to come sooner rather than later.

We ate our dinners in our tents, both of our morales down but attempting to pep the other one up. Like we know we’re too stubborn to quit, but my god today was just rough. Everything hurts and I feel like I need to sleep for a week straight to recover, and that’s just not possible if I plan on making it to Mexico before my trip to Egypt.

Bleh. Ok, I’m going to go to sleep and pray I wake up with a better attitude. We’ll see how it goes. Goodnight y’all. Sweet dreams.

Start: 1458.7

Stop: 1462.6

Today’s miles: 3.9

Total PCT miles: 1314.8

It’s only 5:15 and I’m debating putting my food away, rolling over, and going to sleep. The only problem: I know that means I’ll wake up in a few hours wide awake, hungry, and have a hard time going back to sleep.. it might be worth it though!

Andrea, Margot, and I slept in until 7 something. I’m afraid I kept Andrea awake, or woke up her up, quite a bit with my rolling in the night. WHY CANT I JUST STAY ASLEEP?! My legs ache, and then when I roll over and straighten my knees, the pain is so severe sometimes I’m afraid I’m going to yell out.. so I guess it’s good I didn’t do that at least?

I was overwhelmed looking at all my stuff and my bear canister Andrea brought me, so I talked them into going to the general store for burritos instead. Then packing once we were back-especially since Margot and I still had some resupply food to buy anyway. On a whim, I tried on the microspikes Andrea brought.. because we may need them in the Sierra (Dear God please NO!). Mine didn’t fit!? What? How?! The sizing on the box clearly states these should fit me, but they’re so tight once I manage to stretch them enough that my toes inside my shoes were curling. Crap.

Margot’s didn’t fit either. Uh oh. We think it might be because of all the cushion on the soles of our shoes, we have to size up. So, before going to the store, we went to the lobby area, got on the WiFi, and I ordered us both a pair to be shipped to South Lake Tahoe, where we should be 4 days from now. Andrea will return these and get her money back. Whew. Gotta love REI’s return policy.

Anywho-we got to the store and Margot and I resupplied and I ordered the largest burrito I’ve ever had in my life. That thing was like the size of my calf. Massive! I got it to go, and we went back to our motel and sat at the restaurant patio, where apparently they serve breakfast too. The girls got something to eat there, and I had my burrito, and we all talked and laughed and complained (mostly just me) about how slow the WiFi is. Not to mention, there’s no cell service either.

We went back to the room to pack, and both Andrea and Margot were trying to talk me into zeroing. I just didn’t see the point in spending more money, on a motel and food, if I couldn’t even do the one productive thing I want to do: update my dang blog! I only have up to day 78 up-and I’m on day 91 in real life-that’s insane! So, I made the tough call to be a brat and get back on trail. Andrea was even willing to take us to Truckee for the night, with WiFi, but then the hotels there are so much more expensive-plus she’d have to drive us the hour back here-even if we also joked about skipping this 50 miles between Sierra City and Truckee. If only. Haha.

So, Andrea pit stopped at the post office for us, then drove us to the trailhead. We hugged and said our goodbyes.. I always hate it when she leaves. The good news I know I’ll see her at the end of October, when she flies to Atlanta before we go to Egypt November 1st. Damn, that’s getting so close and I still have SO MUCH TRAIL to hike. Cue the panic.

So, we hiked. It was gorgeous trail, uphill but gentle, along a river-the same river our motel was on. It was beautiful and sunny, and we only made it 3.9 miles. Haha. We knew we needed the rest, but I think we both thought we’d go a bit farther than this. However, when we got here, resting felt wonderful. There’s a creek beside us, the trail from here continues uphill for quite a few miles. So, why not? I wish Andrea could have hiked in to here with us and spent the night, then hiked back to her truck in the morning. That I’m sad about, otherwise Im pretty happy and my legs are, too.

But yeah, I think I’m going to go to sleep. Before 6pm. And wake up later to deal with the burrito fullness wearing off. Sounds like a later me problem, huh?? Haha. Goodnight y’all.

Start: 1436.8

Stop: 1458.7

Today’s miles: 21.9

Total PCT miles: 1310.2

Today was STUNNING. The whole day was just so pretty. We started hiking by 6:30 again, and never ran into each other until getting to Andrea.

Every single turn was a view. Nothing felt boring or monotonous. It was sunny and not too hot but not cold. There were lakes off in the distance and then suddenly lakes I’m walking right by. There were a few big climbs, and on one of them I sat on a rock and ate my lunch. Hoping Margot would catch up to me, but she didn’t. I was visited by chipmunk that stole the last bite of my jalapeño and cheddar bagel. Punk.

There were a lot of day hikers out and about, a father and son had their golden retriever with them, and he was a pure delight. I may have gotten him in trouble by calling him to me when they were trying to make him sit for his leash. Whoops. But worth it. I got all the kisses and tail wags.

After the big climb, there was the longest descent to the road Andrea was meeting us at. From the top, you could see exposed switchbacks, around these awesome rocky spikes above where I was standing. It was so beautiful, and thank goodness because the beauty distracted me from the pain of the rocks I had to cross. They were everywhere and my feet ached like crazy.

I messaged Andrea from the garmin at 3pm saying I still had just under 4 miles, but if she got there around 5, I should be there. The rocks were slowing me down. 5 minutes after sending that, the rocks gave way to pine forest and I felt like I was running down the switchbacks the rest of the way to the road. It felt so good to be able to move quickly so suddenly, after painful hours in the sun cautiously stepping.

I made it to the road just before 4:30, so proud. Andrea was already there! No way! She said she knew I’d be faster than I was claiming in my message, lol. I chugged the Gatorade she brought me, greedily and so happy! We talked while waiting for Margot, me splayed out in the middle of the turn around, to stretch out my sore legs. I assumed she’d get there before 5:30 at the latest. She came around the corner just before 5:15, plenty of time to hop in Andrea’s truck and get to the store for a soda before it closes at 5:30! Hell yeah!

We made it to the store, got some drinks and then went to our motel. Well, motel doesn’t seem right. It’s called Sierra Pines and it’s gorgeous. There’s a restaurant and lobby up front, then, the rest are 4-6 rooms in a building all stretched down the hill but above the river below. Our building (Andrea already checked in before coming to get us, the angel) has balconies overlooking the river and our room is right by a waterfall! It’s incredible!

We took turns showering and then went back up the hill to the restaurant for dinner. They let us sit outside by the pond and it was just delightful. This is the only area you can get WiFi, and it was incredibly slow-so-no updating anything from me here today. And honestly, that was ok. I enjoyed getting to talk with my friends and enjoy the moment I was in. We all got some form of pasta and the meal was perfection. Side salad and bread included. Andrea and I shared wine. It was wonderful.

I’m so happy she came up here and we are getting to share these experiences together. I told her about meeting the triple crown awards guy and the info about hiking the Porto Camino. Now we want to plan to do that, hopefully next fall. It would be so awesome. I love hiking even more when wine and beds are included daily. Ha.

Anyway, time for bed. We all seem pretty worn out, I know for a fact I am. I feel like I need a week of sleep to recover. Goodnight