Trail Day 71: Tensite near Carson River (mile 1024.6) to tentsite (mile 1046.3)

21.7 PCT miles

I had a hard time getting up again this morning. I was cold, my knees and feet ached, and I had cold, wet boots to pull on again. Eventually I willed myself to get up and slowly broke down camp.

The day started out with a climb out of the canyon I had camped in. I have been having pains in my right foot and knee lately, and they were really hurting right out of the gate today.

Originally,  I wanted to test the waters of how many miles I could do in this section, given that I was out of the worst of the snow and the fords. That changed,  however,  to how many miles I could do while walking at the pace of a stroll. I think these pains were mainly brought about by trying to keep up with the group these past couple weeks. I had been moving faster than I would have liked and I was stepping down hard on my leg/foot at times.

I very slowly climbed out of the canyon and into the sun. The majority of the rest of the day was kind of a rolling up and down of the trail. The scenery was very pretty,  but didn't change much during the day. It consisted of blue skies, green hills, wildflowers, and snow patches.
Climbing up.
The PCT. 
View from the trail. 
Another view from the trail.
Well, I guess I will walk through these flowers.


The snow patches were not as scary as the ones I had while coming down in elevation yesterday. There were no steep traverses. Even the sloping patches that could have been steep had flat places to cross. The snow patches were more annoying than anything.

Just annoying.
A small meadow with yellow wildflowers. 
More wildflowers. 
View from the trail.
Water source.


Later in the day I hit the saddle above Noble Lake. Notes in the Guthook app claimed that Verizon had 4G there. I checked and, sure enough, I had network. The poor guy that was waiting for his friends at that spot had AT&T and did not have signal.

View from the trail near the saddle.
View into the next valley from the saddle.


After checking in with a couple people, I headed down into the next valley. Thankfully, this time the PCT followed the green side of the valley and not the snow chute. The PCT didn't go all the way down to the valley,  it snaked around, crossing a waterfall/stream and going back up. As is tradition, I had to wade through a stream about a mile before my eventual campsite, soaking my boots.

Heading down into the valley.

I found an awesome spot just big enough for my tent next to a stream. Because I was directly next to a water source, I was able to get water to rehydrate my dinner, mix an electrolyte drink, and make some hot chocolate courtesy of trail angels Erik and Will.
My home for the night.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FT2018 Day 44: Campsite near the Aucilla River (mile 734.2) to Ring Dike Campsite (mile 760.8)

Image
26.6 FT miles I had meant to get up really early this morning. There were only two places in the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge where you could camp, and there was one that was supposedly one of the best, if not the best, campsite on the trail. However, it was over 26 miles away. Some of those miles were going to be road walks, so those parts would go quickly. On the other hand, if we encountered swampy areas, it might be a very long day. A little before dawn I yelled over at Sugar Rush to see if she was awake, which she was. We packed up in the dark and, just like last night, went crashing through the brush trying to stay on trail. There were some parts that were clear and other parts that were not so clear. When the sun came up, things didn't necessarily get better. We started to realize why we were having so much trouble last night. Even with daylight we couldn't always track the path on the ground and had to search as a team for hidden blazes. The river made...
Read more

AZT 2019 Day 44: Campsite near Umbrella Tank (mile 768.4) to Utah-Arizona border (mile 788.7)

Image
20.3 miles Just like the past few mornings, it was difficult to get up again. Unlike the past few mornings, I could actually see snow on top of my tent. It was supposed to rain or snow on and off the majority of the day again. That was not a motivating thought to get me out of my sleeping bag. I had also finally used the hand warmers that I had purchased back in Flagstaff, and they were still warm inside my bag. Somehow, I emerged from that bag and packed everything up one last time. I was only about 20 miles from the Utah border and on schedule to finish the trail today. Most of the items I had on me were damp or wet. It didn’t bother me packing them up as I knew I would be warm and dry tonight. What did bother me was having to put on my wet, cold, dirty shoes. After I did that, I had wet, cold, dirty socks as well. In Flagstaff I had also picked up toe warmers, so I stuck those inside my shoes and hoped that they would help. The view looking out of my tent. My camps...
Read more

AZT 2019 Day 19: Campsite on saddle (mile 332.5) to Vineyard Trailhead (mile 348.3)

Image
14.8 miles I woke up early again today. I figured if the trails today were anything like the trails I ended the day with yesterday, I would need more time. The plan for today was to get to Roosevelt Lake by noon, then wait out the afternoon heat and do a few more miles near sunset or just after dark. Sunrise. Roosevelt Lake had a store that accepted resupply packages. I had a general resupply sent there and my mom sent a box of treats as well. The store also had a bar/restaurant attached. To top things off, people had reported their wifi to be amazing. I figured it would be a good place to spend my time and money. They apparently didn't want hikers hanging around to charge their electronics or wiping themselves down in the bathrooms, and also sent hikers to the ranger station to refill water, but I figured I could work around that. The hills themselves weren't too bad as I started my day. I rolled up and down the grassy hills with views of the lake. Overall, t...
Read more