PCT 2019 Day 8 May 11/19

Daily mileage 24 plus 2
Total mileage 155
Hiked from 5:30 am to 7:00 pm

Even thru hikers get the blues.

Despite the fact that I shared a campsite with an extremely loud snorer last night ,(world class actually), I got a pretty good sleep. But tonight to be safe I have a site that there is no way to fit a second tent.

Where was everyone today?  During the day I saw exactly two thru hikers. I also saw one day hiker who was hiking barefoot. To each their own. Then I saw two more thru's after supper.  Very scant.

When I woke up this morning, I had the blahs. Day 8 of re-hiking the desert. Don't get me wrong, there is beauty to the desert. But it is a beauty that could eaily be appreciated within a two day hike. I still have a month of it. And I have already seen it once two years ago.

So what to do for motivation? Well I decided to break my long standing  rule of only using music on hikes as a last resort. The decision to plug into music all day was also aided by the fact that I had "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" on an endless earworm loop yesterday. Luckily it was the Billy May samba version, but still endlessly annoying. Anyway, long story short, it worked. The blahs were held at bay for the day.

I must admit that I can only bring myself to put one earbud in because I want to be able to hear any warning rattles.

The first half of the day was spent on a gradual downhill which was nice. But when I got to the bottom of Nance Canyon (notice how I place that name out there like any of you have the foggiest of where Nance Canyon is) at mile 140 the trail turned uphill. And it will remain uphill until around mile 180 when it gets as high as it is going to go on Mt San Jacinto. That is one long uphill grind.

Early morning light

Yet another very welcome water cache

The upcoming Mt San Jacinto

Hiking on the edge

The highlight of the day was the Paradise Cafe. It is a decent burger joint located within a mile of the trail. Hence the two bonus milea today. I had a rather good burger and beer before tackling the last 4 miles of the day.

The Gus Burger

Home for the night