You know that feeling where you get to the end of a day and you’re just fully wiped out? Physically and mentally, that’s where I’m at – it was a full day. 20.5 miles, and only 8.5 more to go tomorrow until Kennedy meadows and I get a day of rest before beginning what is generally regarded as the start of the Sierras section of the PCT.
A lot happened today! I treated myself to a special lunch – dehydrated mango sticky rice. I was a little worried since there are allegedly bothersome bears in the area where I stopped, but none came close to visit during my lunch break. The mango sticky rice was pretty tasty (especially after several days on the trail) and fueled me up for the next several miles uphill.
Boy is it a good feeling to fly up a hill. My pack is getting pretty light as I approach a resupply and my legs felt amazing as I stormed up. I was making excellent progress when I tripped over a rock right as I passed a moderately pretty flower, which made me pause and notice it. Then, not two minutes later, I slowed down for some bees at a different set of pretty flowers. I knew it was the right call to stop and get a picture when I saw another of the first flowers that caught my attention not 10 feet further down the trail. Shortly after that I noticed some more bees that hung around long enough for me to try and get a decent picture, but y’all can be the judge of that lol. It was nice to get that little tap on the shoulder that even though I felt great making such quick miles, I need to remember to take time to look around and appreciate what surrounds.
And boy did that hit home a couple miles later. I crested the hill and got my first view of some Sierra mountains and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was just so pretty and really special to think that I would get to walk all over and through those mountains over the next couple of weeks. THAT was the feeling I was hoping to get out here, and it was just as wonderful as I imagined.
Last fun item for today – when I got to camp, there wasn’t any water where the trail crossed the creek! I had brought some extra so I wasn’t totally freaked out. Turns out I had to go further DOWNstream about 100 feet to find a place where the stream resurfaced. Then about 9pm I heard the stream fill up again a little further back upstream. I’m gonna have to start planning for this, having better water in the morning and late late evening than the afternoon.
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