To PCT mile 1483.2 (stats here).
I slept the night well, allthough it cointained too few hours. I got up 5:30am and got going 6:20am. The beginning of the day was just going down and I felt more motivated than the previous day. Seems that the day when I leave from town is the hardest mentally, and when you get to sleep in the woods, it gets better.
I kept my first break already after 1.5h, as there was a water source and the next one would not be in a while. My habit has been to do first the full 2h, and then look for a break spot. Bad Boy and another hiker joined me. Seems that everybody that are still hiking at this stage of the trail do a pretty good mileage.
Soon after I continued hiking, nature called. While doing the business, I noticed that the trail curved in a way that you could actually see me if you looked a bit back. Even in the woods, you want to do your dirty thing in privacy.
During the day, I encountered some forest service workers doing maintanence for the trail. They were trimming some tree branches hanging over the trail. It was weird seeing them doing this, as you still expect the trail to be a wild place. But actually it is well maintained and obvioujsly that requires a constant effort. Seeing this took a bit of the magic away. Glad of the work, though. I would not be rugged enough to traverse the actual wild.
It is really hot now, but luckily the canopies are providing shade. I had my choco-coffe mix during the 2nd break, and this gave me super powers. Hopefully I do not abuse the drug, as then the effect will eventually weaken. When I arrived to the break spot, there was a huge rattlesnake on top of a pile of wood. I was surprised. Somehow I thought that they would not be here, but were creatures of the desert. Need to start keeping my eyes open. I got really close to it before realising what it was.
During my 3rd break Auston breezed past me and told me that he is gonna do his first 40 miler today. I would have thought he has done such a feat already, but then thought that maybe I try to do the same. The next 10 miles would be easy downhill, and if I would continue late, this would be doable.
I went down really quickly. What resolved me for 40 miles even more was the location of water sources and the fact that I wanted to get to Castella the next day before post office closes, which is 3pm. It was 10:10pm when I got to my camp site. Just 15 minutes before I went past a group of tents and it seemed that Bandits setup was among them. Hiking in the dark under a thick canopy was a bit intimidating, but having the music playing and the head lamp on the brightest setting made it okaye. It was now only 18 miles till town so I would be hitting there the next day early enough.
I slept the night well, allthough it cointained too few hours. I got up 5:30am and got going 6:20am. The beginning of the day was just going down and I felt more motivated than the previous day. Seems that the day when I leave from town is the hardest mentally, and when you get to sleep in the woods, it gets better.
I kept my first break already after 1.5h, as there was a water source and the next one would not be in a while. My habit has been to do first the full 2h, and then look for a break spot. Bad Boy and another hiker joined me. Seems that everybody that are still hiking at this stage of the trail do a pretty good mileage.
Soon after I continued hiking, nature called. While doing the business, I noticed that the trail curved in a way that you could actually see me if you looked a bit back. Even in the woods, you want to do your dirty thing in privacy.
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| Some familiar views when you get over 6000 feet around here. |
During the day, I encountered some forest service workers doing maintanence for the trail. They were trimming some tree branches hanging over the trail. It was weird seeing them doing this, as you still expect the trail to be a wild place. But actually it is well maintained and obvioujsly that requires a constant effort. Seeing this took a bit of the magic away. Glad of the work, though. I would not be rugged enough to traverse the actual wild.
It is really hot now, but luckily the canopies are providing shade. I had my choco-coffe mix during the 2nd break, and this gave me super powers. Hopefully I do not abuse the drug, as then the effect will eventually weaken. When I arrived to the break spot, there was a huge rattlesnake on top of a pile of wood. I was surprised. Somehow I thought that they would not be here, but were creatures of the desert. Need to start keeping my eyes open. I got really close to it before realising what it was.
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| The fires are affecting the visibility. |
During my 3rd break Auston breezed past me and told me that he is gonna do his first 40 miler today. I would have thought he has done such a feat already, but then thought that maybe I try to do the same. The next 10 miles would be easy downhill, and if I would continue late, this would be doable.
 |
| A nice view of Mt. Shasta. |
I went down really quickly. What resolved me for 40 miles even more was the location of water sources and the fact that I wanted to get to Castella the next day before post office closes, which is 3pm. It was 10:10pm when I got to my camp site. Just 15 minutes before I went past a group of tents and it seemed that Bandits setup was among them. Hiking in the dark under a thick canopy was a bit intimidating, but having the music playing and the head lamp on the brightest setting made it okaye. It was now only 18 miles till town so I would be hitting there the next day early enough.
Welcome to the 40 miler club! I got the achievement before Tehachapi, but I dunno if it counts bc it was pretty much a night hike till the mornin' hours. I ques it should be done during the day? Like from sunrise to sunset to count as a 40 mile DAY?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Let see if I have energy to redo the feat. There are many ways to measure that, I think. I would say that doing it in one go, no sleep in between, during 24h, is "what counts". And you doing that in Tehachapi was tougher than me doing it in easy NorCal 😀
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