To PCT mile 882.4 (stats here).
The night was well slept, thanks again for the relatively soft ground. I lingered inside my sleeping bag a while and got up 4:45m. I was able to get moving 5:30am. 45 minutes seems to be a standard time for me to disassemble camp.
There was a lot of climbing to be done in the morning but I managed well and had a good pace. I had formulated a plan to try to get to Mammoth Lakes the next day and that would mean making 25 miles for the both days.
I was making good progress until my first break. I made the error of taking my break next to a lake, where there was a swarm of mosquitos. I ended up eating whole of my oatmeal soak, even as I have a strategy to eat half at the first break, and the other half after further 2 hours. The mosquitos distracted me.
There was still a decent amount of climbing to be done and I was too full to keep a decent pace. Otherwise the Selden Pass was maybe the easist pass so far. At the top I met FireBurnt, a red headed American girl that I would see many times during the breaks today.
When coming down, I tried to be fast but ended up going relatively slow. Once in the valley, it was all about crossing creeks and avoiding mosquitos. The latter really is not possible and I start to be quite bitten. I met Vlad from Checz Rebulic who was even more irritated about our flying friends than me.
After a while I came to Bear Crossing. It is titled maybe as the hardest river crossing of the entire PCT. Now it was not hard at all, and the water only reached about my knee level. The cold water felt good against the mosquite bitten legs.
Some timer after the crossing there was a steep climb in the middle of the valley, which took most of my strength. The views were boring and the ascend was only followed by equally steep descent. I was put down by the knowledge that after that there would be even a steeper climb towards the next pass.
As I had the plan to do 25 miles, I used music to power myself and help me with the climb. Enigma happened to be next on the playlist and it really helped me to do the most of the way up towards Silver Pass. Majority of the way consisted of stone stairs and the going really felt like a sporting event.
Exhausted, I set my bugnet next to a creek around 7:30pm. I have avoided setting my camp near the flowing water because of the extra noise, but now it did not bother at all.
The night was well slept, thanks again for the relatively soft ground. I lingered inside my sleeping bag a while and got up 4:45m. I was able to get moving 5:30am. 45 minutes seems to be a standard time for me to disassemble camp.
There was a lot of climbing to be done in the morning but I managed well and had a good pace. I had formulated a plan to try to get to Mammoth Lakes the next day and that would mean making 25 miles for the both days.
 |
| Do not take breaks on a places like this. |
I was making good progress until my first break. I made the error of taking my break next to a lake, where there was a swarm of mosquitos. I ended up eating whole of my oatmeal soak, even as I have a strategy to eat half at the first break, and the other half after further 2 hours. The mosquitos distracted me.
There was still a decent amount of climbing to be done and I was too full to keep a decent pace. Otherwise the Selden Pass was maybe the easist pass so far. At the top I met FireBurnt, a red headed American girl that I would see many times during the breaks today.
 |
| At the passes you get the nicest views. Or are these getting to be boring? |
When coming down, I tried to be fast but ended up going relatively slow. Once in the valley, it was all about crossing creeks and avoiding mosquitos. The latter really is not possible and I start to be quite bitten. I met Vlad from Checz Rebulic who was even more irritated about our flying friends than me.
After a while I came to Bear Crossing. It is titled maybe as the hardest river crossing of the entire PCT. Now it was not hard at all, and the water only reached about my knee level. The cold water felt good against the mosquite bitten legs.
Some timer after the crossing there was a steep climb in the middle of the valley, which took most of my strength. The views were boring and the ascend was only followed by equally steep descent. I was put down by the knowledge that after that there would be even a steeper climb towards the next pass.
As I had the plan to do 25 miles, I used music to power myself and help me with the climb. Enigma happened to be next on the playlist and it really helped me to do the most of the way up towards Silver Pass. Majority of the way consisted of stone stairs and the going really felt like a sporting event.
 |
| Music and waterfalls, what else a stair climbing sporting man needs? |
Exhausted, I set my bugnet next to a creek around 7:30pm. I have avoided setting my camp near the flowing water because of the extra noise, but now it did not bother at all.
Breathtaking views!
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