Another very cold morning greeted us. I was cold in my sleeping bag overnight on this last day of spring. The group got up around 7am and moved slowly, eating breakfast in our sleeping bags and slowly packing up as the sun’s rays found us. Pepper Jack walked down to the river’s edge, crossed the bridge and walked over to the sand bar where we had cooked last night. She peeled off her clothes and naked, dove into the frigid water, squealing when she came up for air. I was in shock, not from seeing a naked woman 200 yards down the hill, but for the fact that the air temperature was 33 degrees and I was bundled up in winter clothes and there she was taking a morning swim! She hurried back to the campsite; we all finished packing up and began what would prove to be a tough day of hiking.
We climbed all morning, gaining elevation from 7,800 to 10,500 feet. There were, thankfully, only a couple patches of snow along the trail at the highest elevation. Stopping along the way for a midmorning snack break, we were passed by Flying Brian, the trail hiker/runner who hiked the Triple Crown all in 2001 (PCT, AT, and Continental Divide Trail, totaling over 7000 miles) and David Horton, who broke the AT record, going from Georgia to Maine in 45 days last year and who, this year, is attempting to break the PCT record by running from Mexico to Canada in 66 days. They both spoke to us, briefly however, then disappeared down the trail. Note: these are supported treks, with no backpacks and these gentlemen will have food and shelter provided for them nightly.
After a lunch break we descended 1700 feet to a low point of 8,900 feet at Death Canyon Creek. From there we began a steep, long, grinding climb which royally kicked my butt. My legs felt like lead, I couldn’t catch my breath, and it was a rough go of it the next 5 miles. On north facing slopes we encountered intermittent patches of deep snow to climb/hike over. The bulk of the trail, however, was clear. One of the big challenges continues to be how sandy the trail is, often like beach sand with soft steps that sometimes make me feel as if I’m hiking backwards. Upon reaching the crestline, we stopped to view a vast desert below and distant desert mountains with no vegetation on their rugged faces.
Freight Train made a small snowman in the spirit of being in snow country. From there we hiked to a saddle on the crest, arriving around 7:30pm. A .2 mile walk to a meadow with a crystal clear snowmelt stream provided water for cooking. The mosquitoes were out in force and fortunately it was cold, so we all bundled up and I set up the tarptent for relief. After dinner I retreated to the tarptent and did some journaling while the mosquitoes buzzed up a storm outside. Tired from the day’s significant climbs and long miles, I was soon too tired to write and I zipped up the bag to keep out the chill and called it a day.
Today’s weather: sunny, low 28, high 70. Today’s mileage: 20.9; cumulative mileage 737.6.
