A hard day of hiking. The PCT for this stretch has largely been wiped out, so there wasn’t really a trail, per se, for most of today’s hiking. The trail followed a creek though, so I pretty much just followed that.
The terrain was brutal – I had to choose between walking on ankle twisting rocks or loose sand for the most part, picking out my route 20 feet at a time. The creek also branched a few times into different canyons, so I was pleased when I only went down the wrong canyon once, and not for too long. Instead of fully backtracking, I used my finely honed walking-on-an-eroding-hill skills I gained during my childhood and cross country days to beeline over the ridge to the correct canyon. I left more of a trace than I wanted to, but I was at least following a trail a few other hikers had already begun to pave, having made my same mistake.
While it was supposed to be a high of 99 today, it really didn’t feel like it most of the time. Sure it was hot, and sure the “trail” was in direct sun most of the time, but there were some key mitigating factors. One – I was literally walking in and next to a stream! That cooled me off plenty, especially my feet. Two, I gained lots of altitude today; started at 3500 feet, ended at 8000. So if memory serves and it’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler every 1000 feet up, I cooled down over 20 degrees!
While my legs are generally achey, they feel pretty good all things considered. The toe sock liners are working wonders with my blisters, even today with the tough terrain and wet feet. I only went 16.5 trail miles today, but they were TOUGH miles and I feel really good about how my body is holding up. Going to go for almost 20 tomorrow and set up an easy trip into big bear the next day. Might even go for the pickup at mile 275 instead of 266 if I get an early enough start, clear those nine miles with a lighter pack!
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