PCT day 17 - mile 314 to mile 343

"Showers are for dirty people" Voodoo

"Deflation of the mattress is the saddest sound in the universe" Tank Top

After last night's party we have lost Mason to the hangover, he was unwilling to take any action in the morning so we left him by the inn and started walking about 6:45. Perhaps the problem was that he was only 19 years old so technically not allowed to drink, but who knows. Later on Tank Top got a text message from him saying that he is taking a ZERO day to recover.

After around 14 miles, we had a long break at the Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area where we ordered a pizza and a drink, it took an hour and a half to deliver as the driver couldn't find the way in, the ranger who happened to be in the area helped him find direction over Tanks phone. I had a little dip in the lake here, but didn't go for a swim as the water was quite cold.

An issue we've been facing today and will be tomorrow was the lack of water sources, after Silverwood Lake we hiked another 14 miles without a single stream or a puddle and if not a nice lady at the convenience store in Cajon Pass where we arrived around 6:30pm who let us fill the bottles, we would have to hike another 6 miles to reach a water cache. Cajon Pass is the place of trail famous McDonalds which a lot of hikers look forward to, it even has a PCT style pointer. But since it is only a drive thru and the waiting time was over 15 minutes we decided to save time and buy our resupply at the convenience store, which was kind of anti climactic, but on the other hand screw that money grabbing capitalists! :)

We walked for another two miles past Cajon Pass and set up camp at what we thought was a reasonably quiet area until a huge cargo train rolled in right above us, so it looks like it's going to be a noisy night after all [1AM update: trains indeed pass by right above us every half an hour honking cheerfully, I can't even be mad at it anymore, it's like universe had something to tell us].

Tank Top convinced me to cowboy camp today (only sleeping bag and mattres, no tent), which I never done before (I guess I done it once in Germany while urban exploring years ago, but I didn't have an option back then so it doesn't count!), it should be an interesting night, especially after seeing that rattle snake yesterday. 

Mason in the morning:
Eager Beavers backpack:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 77) - Hikers Welcome Hostel to Eliza Brook Campsite / mile 1816

Image
"After hiking in White Mountain's everything else seems easy" Sue First day in the White's, I can confirm now that terrain here is unlike anything we faced on the AT so far. In the morning I had a coffee and a breakfast muffin at the hostel, surprisingly despite the early hour Tum Tum, Iceman, Yukon and Gutsy were up as well. Weather was supposed to be a mixed bag but we were all determined to climb Mt Moosilauke today. I headed out and started the 4000 feet climb first, it was a long, steady uphill going through well maintained terrain, problems only started at the top. Day was quite windy, combined with the rain and exposed, alpine environment, it became a recipe for a very wet, cold and uncomfortable time. At the top wind was pushing me left and right and rain was cutting across with great speed, I was completely drenched in just few moments. Luckily exposed section didn't last too long and the AT dived into the pine forest soon after. ...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 12) - Icewater Sorin Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter / mile 231

Image
Today could be described in one word - windy. And it was not your refreshing summer breeze, it was the kind of wind that chills your bones and the moment you feel it you want to turn around and go back home, except there's no home and you can't turn around. The food I hanged last night was completely frozen, it was funny to crunch on a solid snickers and granola bars for breakfast. At least it was sunny, I've put all my layers on and started hiking. Trail looked really good, I could see small patches of snow and icicles probably formed last night hanging from the bushes. Later during the day you could see the damage last years hurricane has done, fallen trees, layers of uncovered rock showing that there was not much trees could hang on to beneath, trail was trying to manoeuvre around the blow downs and disturbed earth. I haven't met many people today but I hiked alongside Blazer, a friendly, older American guy. He also hiked PCT, so w...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 76) - Lambert Ridge to Hikers Welcome Hostel / mile 1799

Image
Hot, humid, stormy day. My goal was to place myself withing the short distance before the climb to Mount Moosilauke. AT in New Hampshire definitely prooved from the very begining that it means business. The first and second climb of the day:  Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube were steep and rocky, the path was muddy, overgrown and not very well marked, combined with the hot and humid weather I was moving at a snail's pace. Views were quite rewarding though and after the initial struggle trail got easier for the rest of the day. I've seen yet another two bear cubs, no mother in sight this time around which got me a bit spooked. Cubs climbed so high up the tree I could hardly see them from the trail, they were so incredibly agile! I've taken a blurry video of the couple as I thought it was fairly safe to do so, that's 10 black bears I've seen so far on Appalachian Trail.  At one point I took a break  by the road and tried to dry my feet a...
Read more