To PCT mile 979.9 (stats here).
I slept well. That has been happening a lot lately, and obviously makes me happy. Maybe I do not need an inflatable mattress after all. I just need to be careful not to camp on too hard or uneven surface. Because of yesterdays late finish, I got up 6:30am and was ready to hike at 7am. For the first time my sleeping bag was properly wet from the surface.
I listened music a lot today. With the new working headphones, it was actually a delight. I even listened my 15 year old compositions, which made me nostalgic and made me want to start playing and composing the silly tunes again. Lets see if that happens after the hike.
The flat meadows in the beginning made the hiking fast. It was a nice change for the up and downhills. There were two passes for the day. The first was relatively easy but the second was hard, maybe due to lack of energy and because it was the last thing to do for the day. Aston, the young marathon runner that I met in the first weeks of this trail, was able to finally catch up with me. He had taken something like a week of the trail because of work, thus only now going past me.
Finishing the second pass of the day was rewarding. On the top you had gorgeous alpine ponds, and the surrounding views were astonishing. I am constantly amazed how some people are so fast. Aston did not seem to have any problems maintaining speed going uphill, and some Swiss young hiker practically ran downhill past me with a speed that I use when I actually run. The terrain was full of turns and rocks and roots.
In the beginning of the day I had a vague intention to try to do 30 miles. Later in the day I realised that it is not gonna happen. At the end of the day, when going up the second pass, I settled for a spesific tent site for the day. That would have made the day a 26 miler. When approaching the tent site, I saw it almost full, but decided to stay anyway. Then the fast runner who was camping there said that it was not the creek that I thought it was. Checking Guthooks revealed that it was 0.2 miles further. Or so I thought. I checked incorrectly and that made me walk 2.5 miles further, late into the darkness. While listening Muse this was actually fun, but a bit dangerous as going fast downhill on a cliff next to a creek. I arrived to an opening where hikers staying up late adviced me for a decent spot to camp. I totaled 28.5 miles. Going over 30 seems to be hard for me.
I slept well. That has been happening a lot lately, and obviously makes me happy. Maybe I do not need an inflatable mattress after all. I just need to be careful not to camp on too hard or uneven surface. Because of yesterdays late finish, I got up 6:30am and was ready to hike at 7am. For the first time my sleeping bag was properly wet from the surface.
I listened music a lot today. With the new working headphones, it was actually a delight. I even listened my 15 year old compositions, which made me nostalgic and made me want to start playing and composing the silly tunes again. Lets see if that happens after the hike.
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| Flatness for a change. |
The flat meadows in the beginning made the hiking fast. It was a nice change for the up and downhills. There were two passes for the day. The first was relatively easy but the second was hard, maybe due to lack of energy and because it was the last thing to do for the day. Aston, the young marathon runner that I met in the first weeks of this trail, was able to finally catch up with me. He had taken something like a week of the trail because of work, thus only now going past me.
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| It has been a treat with all the ponds and lakes here. |
Finishing the second pass of the day was rewarding. On the top you had gorgeous alpine ponds, and the surrounding views were astonishing. I am constantly amazed how some people are so fast. Aston did not seem to have any problems maintaining speed going uphill, and some Swiss young hiker practically ran downhill past me with a speed that I use when I actually run. The terrain was full of turns and rocks and roots.
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| There are some gorgeos trees around here. Too bad that I am bad at recognizing all this stuff. |
In the beginning of the day I had a vague intention to try to do 30 miles. Later in the day I realised that it is not gonna happen. At the end of the day, when going up the second pass, I settled for a spesific tent site for the day. That would have made the day a 26 miler. When approaching the tent site, I saw it almost full, but decided to stay anyway. Then the fast runner who was camping there said that it was not the creek that I thought it was. Checking Guthooks revealed that it was 0.2 miles further. Or so I thought. I checked incorrectly and that made me walk 2.5 miles further, late into the darkness. While listening Muse this was actually fun, but a bit dangerous as going fast downhill on a cliff next to a creek. I arrived to an opening where hikers staying up late adviced me for a decent spot to camp. I totaled 28.5 miles. Going over 30 seems to be hard for me.
Close ups from the trees, i can tell you what they are! Pines! Douglas pines, or maple trees or....
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, more music composing! Instill have your swell Christmas record!
ReplyDelete