To PCT mile 1232.1 (stats here).
I got up 4:45am and 5:30am I was on the move. Getting ahead of Bandit seems to be a good motivation. The day would start with a hard climb and he is so much faster when going up.
I slept surprisingly well on the hard surface. The wind died at night and there were no bugs to bother you. I did not try to push the climb, as that would just ruin the entire day. The climb was hard alright, but not that hard as advertised. When almost at the top, I noticed Bandit trailing me in the distance. I started to wait when he would fly past me.
To my surprise, that did not happen when I was having a break at the peak. When going down on the other side, a slim and athletic young dude came running towards me. What a physical condition. He was going fast. I cannot fathom how some can be in such a good aerobic shape.
When I ascended to the bottom of the valley, I spotted some campers by the lake. I kind of stroke conversation with them with the hidden agenda of getting spontaneous trail magic. No luck, but while doing this, Bandit appeared. There was still some 3 miles to go downhill so I got a good pacer out of him. When we reached an uphill part, it took 2 minutes before I lost the sight of him.
I did not try to push it uphill. I figured that I could try to catch up with Bandit in the evening. There would be a long downhill. The middle of the day was full of mindless forest walking, ups and downs. It was quite tedious, and at one point I even thought that I am caught in a loop or deja vu. I suspected that I kept seeing the same exact spot and a branch of bush all over again.
During the day, I kept hunting for a mobile reception. We are now on an area where you might get service with Verizon but not with AT&T. When I stumbled to a group of hikers with their phones on their hands, I tried my luck and bingo. I messaged Susanna if he could send a resupply box with a busy schedule and then a trail angel in Belden if I could get a place to stay for a night. Both agreed.
Later during the day, before the final climb, there was a long 5 mile downhill. I charged myself with a cocoa/coffee - mix and practically ran down the whole thing. This felt quite nice, boosted with up tempo music. I made the risky move of passing all the reliable water sources, and went with a minimal amount of water towards the evening. This almost backfired as the last unreliable stream was dry. I was able to find a small puddle where I scooped some 1.5L.
I eventually got to the same campsite as Bandit. 33.7 was our mileage. So first time over 50 kilometers. Bandit made camp only 30 minutes earlier as he also kept a long midday break that he usually does not.
I got up 4:45am and 5:30am I was on the move. Getting ahead of Bandit seems to be a good motivation. The day would start with a hard climb and he is so much faster when going up.
I slept surprisingly well on the hard surface. The wind died at night and there were no bugs to bother you. I did not try to push the climb, as that would just ruin the entire day. The climb was hard alright, but not that hard as advertised. When almost at the top, I noticed Bandit trailing me in the distance. I started to wait when he would fly past me.
 |
| The most agile climber of the mountains is not me. Maybe this fella? |
To my surprise, that did not happen when I was having a break at the peak. When going down on the other side, a slim and athletic young dude came running towards me. What a physical condition. He was going fast. I cannot fathom how some can be in such a good aerobic shape.
When I ascended to the bottom of the valley, I spotted some campers by the lake. I kind of stroke conversation with them with the hidden agenda of getting spontaneous trail magic. No luck, but while doing this, Bandit appeared. There was still some 3 miles to go downhill so I got a good pacer out of him. When we reached an uphill part, it took 2 minutes before I lost the sight of him.
 |
| The lakes found from the other side of the climb. |
I did not try to push it uphill. I figured that I could try to catch up with Bandit in the evening. There would be a long downhill. The middle of the day was full of mindless forest walking, ups and downs. It was quite tedious, and at one point I even thought that I am caught in a loop or deja vu. I suspected that I kept seeing the same exact spot and a branch of bush all over again.
During the day, I kept hunting for a mobile reception. We are now on an area where you might get service with Verizon but not with AT&T. When I stumbled to a group of hikers with their phones on their hands, I tried my luck and bingo. I messaged Susanna if he could send a resupply box with a busy schedule and then a trail angel in Belden if I could get a place to stay for a night. Both agreed.
 |
| ... and climbing back again from the valley. |
Later during the day, before the final climb, there was a long 5 mile downhill. I charged myself with a cocoa/coffee - mix and practically ran down the whole thing. This felt quite nice, boosted with up tempo music. I made the risky move of passing all the reliable water sources, and went with a minimal amount of water towards the evening. This almost backfired as the last unreliable stream was dry. I was able to find a small puddle where I scooped some 1.5L.
I eventually got to the same campsite as Bandit. 33.7 was our mileage. So first time over 50 kilometers. Bandit made camp only 30 minutes earlier as he also kept a long midday break that he usually does not.
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