First real hiking day on the PCT! I was excited to be back. Around 5:45am Drew stirred and I decided to get up and pack. Last night’s cowboy camping helped it go quickly. At 6:15 I was first on trail and assumed everyone would pass me on the massive climb ahead. The first two to three miles were completely overgrown with shrubs and brushy plants that were over my head and at times so thick I couldn’t see the trail ahead nor my feet. I managed to do a really spectacular face plant and thought my pinky was broken on the fall, but all was O.K. A mile later I fell again, this time doing a butt plant on loose shale/dirt in a gulley. About 5 miles into the hike I stopped at a spring to reload on water and to have a snack.
While breaking, Drew caught up and we hiked together the rest of the morning. We climbed and climbed, talking for miles as I led and he let me set my pace. Twelve miles of up, almost 5,000 feet vertical, were accomplished before lunch. We missed a water source near the end of the climb and pushed another 2.3 miles to a spring where we stopped for lunch. It was 12:30 and we had already hiked 13 miles, almost all of it up. I kept thinking the rest of the gang would show up while we took our lunch break, but it didn’t happen.
So we pushed on after lunch and hiked 5 more miles to Cold Springs where we had no choice but to fill up on water as the next water is 13.5 miles farther. Not long after we got water and were studying the maps, a couple guys drove up on the nearby dirt road and got out to get some of the spring water. We talked for a bit and they asked a lot of questions about our journey and the trail. The next thing that happened was that they went back to the car, then returned with pretzels and a cold beer for each of us. Trail magic! Drew had already shared with me stories of his numerous encounters with trail magic this year on the PCT, far more than I’ve experienced. He may be a magnet for it.
Just as our trail angels were about to leave, the gang showed up. They were in shock that I had hiked 18 miles before they caught me. I was too. We hiked another two miles and they were done for the day. I was slowing down and feeling aching feet, my first new blister on a toe, and aching hips with five liters of water in my pack. So I was happy when we stopped, and it was only 4:45pm. This evening we all cooked and ate around a campfire in a nice dense forest with views to Mt. Lassen just a few yards walk away. We shared trail stories and it is now 9pm and everyone is tenting and quieting down to sleep. I am very happy that I was able to do a big mile first day, especially with over 5,000 feet of climbing. Tomorrow we’ll do another 20+ mile day to go into Chester early Tuesday morning so my five fellow hikers can resupply. It’s great to be back on trail! Today’s weather; sunny, low 55, high 82. Today’s mileage 20.2; cumulative miles 898.9.
