The Long Haul

Got moving quickly this morning, I was ready to do some serious hiking! Snapped some pictures of the rising sun, and after a luxurious breakfast (keep in mind that I have to decrease my pack-weight stat) I was on my way. It was still a bit chilly, but with logging around my heavy pack I soon didn’t notice the cold anymore.

Because of another forest fire-closure there was a detour off the PCT. Fortunately it was very well marked, so no stress there. Despite my heavy, I felt good, strong. So I managed to get a pretty decent pace going. This mornings views alternated between hills with burned forest and thriving green lush forests as well (This forest is old. Very old… ).

Around ten in the morning, I’d gotten approximately 9 miles in, which was a good start. I had a sit-down and enjoyed some cream-cheese, cheddar and avocado tortillas. After this early lunch the trail weaved through the hills parallel to the BB Lake, and now I got some really nice views of it. I saw several boats speeding in the water, and while I was breathing in the dust, I figured that being out there on the water would not be bad way to spend the day. Instead I just kept hiking. The whole of the morning I did not meet any other thru hikers on the trail, only a couple of day-hikers. One lady stopped to have a little chat, and she asked me if I’d gotten “off” the PCT. I figured she meant if I was hiking the PCT, so I answered yes. After I hiked on though, her remark kept ringing through my head. I checked my online map, and as it turned out, I was in fact no longer on the PCT. She’d been right, and I had missed a turn. Fortunately it took only 10 minutes to get back to the fork and to return my course on the PCT again. If I’d kept hiking in the wrong way however, I would have descended all the way back to the lake. I’m sure that that would have made for a very very frustrating morning. So all was well.

During the afternoon there were several smaller climbs before the trail would continue mostly downhill for the rest of the day. I passed through another burn-area, the  base of the hills thick  with green from the new vegetation. You could see the fallen trees laying around the hills, scattered like mikado-sticks.

I aimed to camp near a water source, a big creek, with several camp-sites in its vicinity. This would make for a pretty long day, and by my estimations, I’d be hiking till past 1900. First I needed to get there though. And guess what? I’d taken another wrong turn, and found myself again not on trail. This time I figured I was not where I was supposed to be, because there were no hikers footprints in the soil. Fortunately again, correcting my mistake only took me another 10 minutes extra. Around 1630 I decided it was time for a little lie-down to strengthen the legs for the final push. And deploy my secret weapon: candy!

After that, the grind began. It was tough, warm, and I was getting tired, but since I’d set my mind to it, I wanted to make it to that campsite. I was counting down the miles. Finally around 1930 I dropped down into the creek-valley. First course of action was to refill my water bottles for the night. At this time my earphone-cable got completely tangled-up with a loop in my backpack, which I had to remedy first. As I was standing next to the creek, fumbling with the cables, I was an easy target for a swarm of mosquito’s, happily feasting on my bare legs. Being very tired and wanting to get into my tent, my frustration grew. Finally I managed to untangle the bloody cables, I rushed to get my water, and hiked another half mile to the campsite. I threw down my gear, pitched my tent in record time and got in. Safe from mosquito’s I lay down on the hard tent-floor to catch my breath after what had been pretty much 2.5 hours of continuous hiking at the end of an already long day. When I recovered a little bit, I walked over to the nearby creek and soaked my feet in the cold water; bliss. I devoured my cold-soaked couscous and now its time to relax.

Who said that I wasn’t right?
And I’ve lived for years, without a life
Don’t have a soul on my side
Still ridiculed despite how hard that I have tried
Don’t take me under your wing
I don’t need a hand, don’t need anything
I’ve got a roof over my head
As if I’d rather be alone with me instead

Close yet far
Drop me a line and tell me how the hell you are
And I’ll tip my hat to those who can’t believe it’s me
Though I never, never, never, ever wanted this to be…

Close yet far – CKY