- Daily mileage 21
- Total mileage 676
- Hours hiked from 5:30 am to 5:00 pm
Today I passed the 25% completion mark for the trail.
Last night sucked. It was freezing cold up there at 7,600 feet. I had ice in my water bottles when I woke up. I say "woke" rather loosely as sleep was hard to come by. I knew I had a small leak in my sleeping pad previously, but last night it developed into a large leak. To the point where I had to leave my downy warmth every two hours to blow it up again. I just backtracked to the last stream crossing at tonight's camp and submerged the pad. A leak showed up right away so I have patched it and am waiting for the cure time to test it.
Early morning on a cold mountain
Today was a bit of a roller coaster out here. Straight away, I had a long downhill. Then a short uphill. Then a short downhill. Then a long uphill followed by a long downhill. During the first downhill, I went past the 25% completed mark on the PCT, and tomorrow when I reach Kennedy Meadows, I will celebrate the end of the SoCal desert. Seems to all be happening fast!
Getting more mountainous
Cacti in bloom
More desert scenery
The weather tonight is much warmer than the last couple of nights, but I suspect that is more to do with camping at lower elevation than a change in the weather.
Home for the night
OK, let's talk pooping. Yes, we do it out here just like at home. Reese Witherspoon even did it in "that" movie. It just gets talked about a lot more out here. Everyone seems to want to discuss the grandeur of their morning movements. In fact, there are seven "D's" involved in taking a poop on (or hopefully near) the PCT:
- Decide
- Detour
- Dig
- Drop
- Dump
- Disguise
- Discuss
It is the last "D" that makes me chuckle. The other day at lunch, someone initiated a conversation about the colour of their pee out here. The discussion lasted five minutes tops. But if someone brings up the topic of a poop, well there goes a full hour of hiking time lost. As a sidebar to this sidebar, the hiker formerly known as Bear Can Kan is now tentatively known as Jack Pot because on five, yes five separate occasions, he has dug his cat hole right into a previously used spot. It seems to be a gift only he has.
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