6/26/2023

Section: Milepost 578.1 to 597.5

Distance:  19.1 Miles  

Moving Time:  hrs

Elevation Gain: 3,123 ft

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I hated today. Today might be my least favorite day so far. I at least put it up there with day 34 and the day going by Silverwood Lake. The thing is, I’m not sure why it was so terrible. The way I have the itinerary set up, no day should be much harder or easier than the last at least from an elevation and mileage perspective. There are intangibles on the trail - things that I can't plan or account for. Trail surface and quality is one and that was terrible today but there was something more - I think today felt like we were just spinning our wheels and not really going anywhere. Could have also been the mileage I did the day before. It was up and down and around and always I looked back or at the map and it seemed like we hadn’t moved. Anyway, here is the tale of terrible day 41.

We woke at around 8 - that might have been one of the main problems, in retrospect. Late start days are always miserable. You feel like everyone has a head start on you and it’s already hot. Nothing like starting in the cool to get your legs under you properly. We made a quick breakfast and were on the road a little faster than usual due to the fact that we had cowboy camped and there was no tent to put away. I liked that part - think we will do that more in the future. We were hiking by a little after 9. I forgot to start my Strava so the mileage above is based on mapping. The PCT wound north in BLM land on an ORV recreation road which was miserable because of the copious amounts of large, loose stones everywhere. The sun was already baking the road. We have been miraculously lucky with cool weather this year, but still - a wide road in direct sun warms quickly. Eventually the road transitioned to trail and at mile 583 we came across one of the few water stops along the way. We filled up on about 4 liters a piece, knowing that we would have to dry camp later that night. This was another factor that probably added to the overall “sourness” of the day. We were kinda of the thinking that, after the viaduct, our water woes would be done - well, we are finding out the hard way the desert is going to be cruel right until it ends in Kennedy Meadows. 

We carried on and up a little ways from the stream was a spring where we found Push Pop chilling in some shade. We said hi and continued on. Above and behind us, the ever present “whomp” of wind turbines could be heard. They literally seemed to be everywhere. From the spring we descended a short way and then began meandering around ridges and up and over small passes for most of the rest of the day, paralleling a service road for the turbines on our right. The day was hot and I was really fighting fatigue but we carried on. 

At mile 594, we crossed a dirt road with a beautiful campground. Amanda and I both looked at each other, knowing we were about 6 miles behind schedule already and knowing we weren’t going to make it up today. “Let’s keep going,” I said. We passed Push-Pop on the back side of the campground. He and Izzy had just had a similar conversation and were carrying on as well.

From the campground, the trail rose to climb the east side of a ridge. The day was cooling and with it, the wind was coming up. We carried on up the hill, hating every vertical step. Towards the top of the climb we met Izzy who told us she had been walking backwards to help with some Achillis pain she was having. I said we were looking for a camping spot near Hamp William’s Pass and she said that her and Push Pop were as well.

We made our way along the east side of the ridge. Someone had done an incredible amount of work clearing what looked like an old war zone of blowdown off the trail. I guess lots of wind and dead trees will do that. As we neared the pass we found a bare patch of ground that was supposed to be the camp spot. Izzy came by and I offered to share but she was committed to getting closer to the pass. “And, if I keep going then so does Markus (Push Pop)” she said with a grin. We waved goodbye and after looking around a little more I found a much nicer spot just up the hill. As we moved up that way, Markus came by and just shook his head when we told him Izzy had kept going. “See you tomorrow,” he said with a wave.

Once all our things were at the new spot we got to work getting things in order. We left the tent in the backpack, committed to the cowboy camping life now and made dinner. Sean had given us 2 “Good-to-go'' freeze dried meals. Made in Maine these were meant to be high-style freeze dried food. Amanda had eaten hers the night before and said it was delicious and so I was excited. I had the Mexican Quinoa Bowl in Adobo sauce and - oh my lawd - it was delicious. Definitely will be ordering more of these for down the trail. Amanda and I had already ordered our 10 meals for Kennedy Meadows and were devastated we had not tried one of these before making that decision. After dinner, despite being super tired, I caught up on 3 days of blogging before passing out - hoping I didn’t wake up sometime in the night with a bear standing over me