To PCT mile 1543.1 (stats here).
I got up not until 5:30am. Not getting enough sleep many days in a row is starting to affect. Still, as the days are so hot, this drives me to not to sleep in. I got moving 6:30am with the help of the female hiker next to me leaving early and then coming back a bit later to get her forgotten sunglasses. I was slow to get moving as I was dreading for the upcoming climb a bit.
While I was keeping my first break, Bandit went past me. This was so early on the day that I was sure I would not catch him today anymore. As he starts later than me in the morning, he usually catches up with me midday.
I was glad to notice that the grade of the climb become more easy after the initial steepness. Feeling tired, I did not try to go fast even when going downhill. My standard pace seems to be around 2.7 mph even when not pushing so it is reasonable to take it more slowly every now and then. The maximum seems to be around only 3.3 mph anyway.
I met with an American hiker, Snow Hater when the ascend turned into descend. While we were talking, a big army cargo plane flew past us between some trees. It was really low and close and seemed to be going downwards. We were worried it would gonna crash and ran towards to see where it was going. There was no sound or sight of it anymore, so apparently everything was ok. Maybe it was dropping some water somewhere? There seems to be a lot of forest fires around the area now.
I continued my way to the nearby trailhead parking lot and utilised the toilet found there. This made me feel light for a while and I was having a good moment until my second break. Snow Hater caught up with me there and we ended up talking about American politics and climate change. It is fun to talk about these things with Americans, but I have not brought the subjects up myself just so that the mood would stay relaxed.
I had coffee at my second break but this time it did not help my hiking. The rest of the day was tedious and felt like just doing the miles. I was determined to do 30 but it ended up feeling a lot longer. Again, it was not until 8pm when I was at camp, which was too late but at least it was not yet dark. The camp was next to a stream, and void from other people. I set up my bugnet and was glad that the day was over. My dinner was really tasty as it was the dried beans, legumes and fake meat bits from my resupply box, with some added oil and spices.
As it was already dark, I heard singing from the distance. The source turned out to be a lady hiker who sang by herself really loudly. He went past my camp but was audible long after. An inconsiderate thing to do at this late hour, really.
I got up not until 5:30am. Not getting enough sleep many days in a row is starting to affect. Still, as the days are so hot, this drives me to not to sleep in. I got moving 6:30am with the help of the female hiker next to me leaving early and then coming back a bit later to get her forgotten sunglasses. I was slow to get moving as I was dreading for the upcoming climb a bit.
While I was keeping my first break, Bandit went past me. This was so early on the day that I was sure I would not catch him today anymore. As he starts later than me in the morning, he usually catches up with me midday.
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| The views are rocky! |
I was glad to notice that the grade of the climb become more easy after the initial steepness. Feeling tired, I did not try to go fast even when going downhill. My standard pace seems to be around 2.7 mph even when not pushing so it is reasonable to take it more slowly every now and then. The maximum seems to be around only 3.3 mph anyway.
I met with an American hiker, Snow Hater when the ascend turned into descend. While we were talking, a big army cargo plane flew past us between some trees. It was really low and close and seemed to be going downwards. We were worried it would gonna crash and ran towards to see where it was going. There was no sound or sight of it anymore, so apparently everything was ok. Maybe it was dropping some water somewhere? There seems to be a lot of forest fires around the area now.
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| Today was tiring, and the surroundings seemed to be looking mostly like this. |
I continued my way to the nearby trailhead parking lot and utilised the toilet found there. This made me feel light for a while and I was having a good moment until my second break. Snow Hater caught up with me there and we ended up talking about American politics and climate change. It is fun to talk about these things with Americans, but I have not brought the subjects up myself just so that the mood would stay relaxed.
I had coffee at my second break but this time it did not help my hiking. The rest of the day was tedious and felt like just doing the miles. I was determined to do 30 but it ended up feeling a lot longer. Again, it was not until 8pm when I was at camp, which was too late but at least it was not yet dark. The camp was next to a stream, and void from other people. I set up my bugnet and was glad that the day was over. My dinner was really tasty as it was the dried beans, legumes and fake meat bits from my resupply box, with some added oil and spices.
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| Contradicting the previous picture, there was also lot of this. |
As it was already dark, I heard singing from the distance. The source turned out to be a lady hiker who sang by herself really loudly. He went past my camp but was audible long after. An inconsiderate thing to do at this late hour, really.
Maybe she was afraid of bears and sing to scare them away?
ReplyDeleteGood point. Maybe that is what it was. Did not bother me that much really but I have noticed that some night hikers really do not take into consideration at all that most of the others are already sleeping.
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