To PCT mile 2018.5 (stats here).
I only slept 4 hours or so. I kept working late with the blog, and got up early in order to finish the updating. The little time I spent in bed was not that nice. The inflatable bed that Dana set up for me was way too soft. Or maybe it was not inflated fully. Either way, I could not sleep in it. My brain did not work after the long day so I ended up sleeping on the small couch downstairs, which was not long enough for me. Dana told me that I could sleep on the long couch upstairs, but my thinking was not straight.
When I took my stuff from charging, I noticed that my head lamp did not turn on. The battery was fully charged, but pressing the button did nothing. Was this due to the moisture during the night at Big Lake Youth Camp? If so, I am disappointed at Petzl. Luckily, Dana and Sue were more than happy to give me a ride to REI. Unluckily the head lamp was one of the few items that I ordered from Amazon, so I could not just change it to a new one at REI.
I ate the granola I bought the previous day for breakfast. I was agitated to realise that once again I had way too much food in my backpack. I had leftovers from the previous section and the full large size post box is indeed just too much food. Still, I packed all that with me. I should have asked Dana and Sue if they would accept half of it as a donation.
While we were driving back to trailhead, I managed to catch up with my blog. Even as this hurrying meant that the writing is clumsy and horribile, I consider this a win. When back at the trailhead, Bandit and Raider started to hike immediately. I was exhausted and as the day was really hot, decided to chill at the picnic table. There were plenty of other hikers to socialise with. Town days should be for resting but for me they are everything but.
I finally started hiking sometime around 2pm. No proper sleep in a long time, days heat and the exposed terrain meant that I had no motivation or energy. The surroundings were just burnt forest, so I got no help from that department. I started to listen the second part in the Rembrance of the Earth Past series, but the reader was different than in the first book and not nearly as good. Also, the chapters were divided in a stupid way and made following the narrative hard. I gave up soon and switched to music.
The water from my drinking bladder tastes like shit. Before arriving to Bend, I had it full of some sports / electrolyte mix, and did not empty and clean it for a day. Now a nasty side taste is present.
The day was uneventful. I leap frogged with few hikers, notably with Old Timer, few Americans and a Danish medical student called Silver. At one water source, I noticed that the cipmunks are especially arrogant. Clearly some people have been feeding them. Usually the are very sensitive and wary. Otherwise, the day was boring. I did go very slowly and resolved doing only 20 miles. As it started to get dark, the sparse locations of suitable camping sites meant that I only did 18 miles. I was at my campsite way too late anyway, 8:50pm. I should have had a shorter day as I have not been sleeping enough lately.
I only slept 4 hours or so. I kept working late with the blog, and got up early in order to finish the updating. The little time I spent in bed was not that nice. The inflatable bed that Dana set up for me was way too soft. Or maybe it was not inflated fully. Either way, I could not sleep in it. My brain did not work after the long day so I ended up sleeping on the small couch downstairs, which was not long enough for me. Dana told me that I could sleep on the long couch upstairs, but my thinking was not straight.
 |
| Hanging at the trail head and avoiding hiking in the heat. |
When I took my stuff from charging, I noticed that my head lamp did not turn on. The battery was fully charged, but pressing the button did nothing. Was this due to the moisture during the night at Big Lake Youth Camp? If so, I am disappointed at Petzl. Luckily, Dana and Sue were more than happy to give me a ride to REI. Unluckily the head lamp was one of the few items that I ordered from Amazon, so I could not just change it to a new one at REI.
I ate the granola I bought the previous day for breakfast. I was agitated to realise that once again I had way too much food in my backpack. I had leftovers from the previous section and the full large size post box is indeed just too much food. Still, I packed all that with me. I should have asked Dana and Sue if they would accept half of it as a donation.
While we were driving back to trailhead, I managed to catch up with my blog. Even as this hurrying meant that the writing is clumsy and horribile, I consider this a win. When back at the trailhead, Bandit and Raider started to hike immediately. I was exhausted and as the day was really hot, decided to chill at the picnic table. There were plenty of other hikers to socialise with. Town days should be for resting but for me they are everything but.
I finally started hiking sometime around 2pm. No proper sleep in a long time, days heat and the exposed terrain meant that I had no motivation or energy. The surroundings were just burnt forest, so I got no help from that department. I started to listen the second part in the Rembrance of the Earth Past series, but the reader was different than in the first book and not nearly as good. Also, the chapters were divided in a stupid way and made following the narrative hard. I gave up soon and switched to music.
The water from my drinking bladder tastes like shit. Before arriving to Bend, I had it full of some sports / electrolyte mix, and did not empty and clean it for a day. Now a nasty side taste is present.
 |
| The chipmunks are everywhere! |
The day was uneventful. I leap frogged with few hikers, notably with Old Timer, few Americans and a Danish medical student called Silver. At one water source, I noticed that the cipmunks are especially arrogant. Clearly some people have been feeding them. Usually the are very sensitive and wary. Otherwise, the day was boring. I did go very slowly and resolved doing only 20 miles. As it started to get dark, the sparse locations of suitable camping sites meant that I only did 18 miles. I was at my campsite way too late anyway, 8:50pm. I should have had a shorter day as I have not been sleeping enough lately.
 |
| Pushing it too late, again. |
Comments
Post a Comment