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.

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