Start: little Jimmy campground
End: about .1 mi past sulphur springs
Daily: 19.2
Total: 407.2
Today was not our favorite day on the PCT. It started out at 8:30 with a short downhill, and then immediately started uphill at the same grade we went for most of yesterday - just up enough to make me have to stop every 10 minutes or so. The stupid thing is, we started this up when we crossed highway 2, then went up and over a giant hill, then came back down to highway 2. I hate it when big ups are just to do big downs right after.
After that we crossed the highway again, and then we started a detour to bypass the breeding area of the mountain yellow legged toad. Yes, really. The Forest Service closed about 4 miles of trail so that we wouldn't upset them while they're doing their business. We had to walk on the highway for about two miles before we were supposed to go up the Burkhart Trail to meet up with the PCT again. But there were signs all over saying the Burkhart Trail was closed to hiking. We didn't know what we were supposed to do, so we did what we thought was the right thing and stayed on the road another 2 miles until the trail crossed it again. It was really frustrating because there were absolutely no signs from the PCTA in the area telling us where the detour was. We had maps with the detour on them but they didnt say anything about the Burkhart trail being closed. Oh well. So our daily mileage and total mileage doesn't match up, but I can't help that.
Then we walked a few more miles, got confused by signage once again, and ended up doing a tiny bit of bushwhacking to get down to where we're camped. It's a nice campsite next to a (mossy and slightly gross) stream that has some cleaner sections, so we got to take hobo baths and I cleaned my socks. Hooray. I love clean socks. So this evening is definitely way nicer than the rest of the day has been. Here's hoping tomorrow's easier.
Even on crappy days, I still feel really lucky that I get to do this.
Hi Chris and Hillary,
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that you are making such progress. Good for you. Chris, I wanted to tell you there is a new Lip Dub video completed by the people of Grand Rapids which can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/ZPjjZCO67WI the next time you have access to a real computer with internet. It's very cool.
What amazes me about this hike you are doing is you have a hike that would just about finish me in one day and you have to get up the next day and repeat it over again...and the next day after that and the next. On and on it goes. How are you holding up?
Rocky