Each morning our 6am wakeup gets a little darker. I’ve had to use the headlamp the last three mornings to see to pack up gear inside the tent. I did a lot of stretching this morning in hopes that the painful calf muscle of last night wouldn’t prevent me from climbing this morning. I left camp about 6:40am, about 5 minutes ahead of Tabasco. I used the time to start really slowly on the ascending trail and to further stretch the leg. Though painful early in the hike, the leg seemed to stretch out and get better as the day progressed.
About an hour into the climb Tabasco was analyzing footprints on the trail and pointed out a fresh north bound boot print that we hadn’t previously seen. We decided it was the print of Spirit, a section hiking flip-flopping (we’re not sure what she’s doing) gal we met at the library in Dunsmuir. Sure enough, about a minute after we had this conversation, there she was, on the side of the trail, just getting organized to start her day after sleeping in a not so flat or appealing place beside the trail. She said she was going to have to hike back down for water, so we figure we won’t be seeing her again.
We climbed all morning, passing the Castle Crags and eventually reaching an elevation that relieved us of the pesky gnats that wanted to fly into our ears and eyes for about 2000 feet of the climb. Around 11am we passed two southbounders who were completing their two years of hiking to finish the PCT. They attempted thru-hiking last year, but the woman of the couple broke her leg last year while fording one of those tough crossings in the high sierras. They only had 30 miles left when we passed them and they were likely flying, if not walking, on cloud 9.
We reached Trinity Divide shortly thereafter and took a break at the top of the divide, which reminded me of the five major passes we crossed in the high sierra. Having only hiked 22 miles of this section thus far, my thoughts and impressions were that this already is the most beautiful and breathtaking section of the PCT, except for the High Sierra. We ate an early lunch and while I napped briefly under a shade tree, a couple passed by who were day hiking. We spoke for a few minutes and the couple, Larry and Barbara, were from Stone Mtn., GA (Atlanta) and were retired and working their way across the country and doing lots of hiking in the process. They shared some water with us and we talked hoops for a few minutes…they are both Univ. of Kentucky graduates and of course hate Carolina, a bitter rival. We thanked them for the water and they continued down trail while we relaxed for a few more minutes.
Another day hiking couple, with camera and tripod, passed us before we got back on trail at 13 miles into the day. We hiked another 2.3 miles before reaching the mountain road crossing where the Georgia couple was at their truck/camper as we passed. We decided to visit them in the parking lot before pressing on. Larry offered us more water, which we graciously accepted, since most water on today’s hike was off trail a half mile or so.
We talked about trail sections on the AT (Larry is a leader with the Georgia Hiking Club that maintains all of the AT in Georgia) and Tabasco gave them some ideas for hikes in the Washington Cascades. While we were talking about the AT and hiker hunger, Tabasco mentioned that we are always hungry. Barbara asked if we were hungry now and we both said yes. Five minutes later she brought us a plate with a tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, and a snack bar, along with a cup of cold milk. Trail magic!!!. Or a yogi? Hmmmm…I think trail magic from trail angels. OK, maybe a yogi. This was in the gray area on that subject. Anyway, it was a tasty and much appreciated second lunch and we enjoyed the company as well. As we were leaving, we got a photo with Larry with his UK hat on and me with my UNC hat on. Larry commented that he couldn’t believe that he had “just fed the enemy”, so I suggested we raise our fists at each other in the photo. Just before the photo was taken, I changed my fist to a #1 to make sure Larry remembers who the national champion was in college basketball this past season. We got a good laugh out of the scene, then said goodbye and resumed our afternoon hike.
A couple miles later we passed a couple on horseback, then we reached a trailside spring where I resupplied on water. Now 4pm, Tabasco set a blazing pace as we covered another five miles while climbing to our highest point in 200 miles, at 7600 feet. When we reached a high saddle the views were just too outstanding to go on to a lake 3 miles farther, which we originally planned to hike to. Each side of the saddle had a high point, so Tabasco climbed to look at the higher peak, while I summited the other peak. Tabasco yelled from his peak that there was great camping up top, so we met back in the saddle and put the packs on to climb up to the peak.
At 6pm we called it a day and took several photos of stunningly gorgeous views in a 360 degree panorama where I’m sure we can see over 400 miles of countryside, including all of the hiking of Mt. Lassen, Castle Crags now far below, Mt. Shasta, the Trinity Alps, the Marble Mountains, and other mountain ranges to the south. We ate dinner; Tabasco read his book; we took in an awesome sunset, I drank Merlot, Tabasco drank Cabernet Sauvignon. I lay in my sleeping bag journaling, called home to Charlotte and to Portland and watched light fade to darkness where we have a million stars and still fading light in the west at 9pm.
I’m listening with my headphones to some classic rock as I journal. We are cowboy camping and a cool breeze is blowing the paper as I write these final sentences for the day. This campsite is among the best of the best and reminds me of our best night camping on the AT on Mt. Lafayette in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS! This evening goes in the memory bank for the rest of my life. Everyone should experience this at least once.
Today’s weather; sunny, low 52, high 78. Today’s miles: 22.4; cumulative 1126.8.
