Another Turnaround

Once more I had crummy nights sleep… I kept waking up and I noticed the air was filled with smoke again, bleh. This morning when we were getting ready to break down camp, I felt super lethargic, and when I got into my tent to pack up the rest of my stuff and laid down on my sleeping pad for a second, I thought I would never get up again. Somehow I managed to pull myself together, pack everything up and follow Jukebox and Pops back out on the trail. I told them that I was not feeling peachy and that I’d probably fall behind today, and that they should just go ahead.
It was a shame I was not feeling all that well, because I recognized that this mornings views were pretty amazing, and I was not able to enjoy them.

After a couple hours of hiking and drinking a lot of water I started to regain some of my energy, and where I first thought it might have been the lack of sleep or just the hint of a fever or illness, I now wondered if I might just have been really dehydrated. Happy I started feeling better I was able to pick up my pace and join Jukebox and Pops again as we hiked further along the outskirts of the Sierras. Before lunch there were a couple of spots where I’d get (poor) cell-service, so I tried to upload my remaining entries.
For today we’d aimed to do another 18 mile day, leaving us with another 18 mile day tomorrow and a few miles left on Sunday before trying to hitch into South Lake Tahoe. Before lunch I think the worst of this morning malaise was over and was hiking at a  regular pace again. Because of the several stops with cell-service, trying to figure out some stuff that required internet, we had a late lunch. At that time Jukebox got service, and checked the weather report. There’d be thunderstorms in the area this afternoon, and we could indeed see the front of dark clouds rolling in. There were still clear skies in the direction the PCT would take us, but we felt the first splatter of raindrops as we hiked out again after lunch. We hoped we could avoid getting rained on by hiking out ahead of the front. The winds picked up, making the pine-trees rustle heavily and we agreed to meet up at a spot a couple of miles ahead to decide if we would push on further or camp early to avoid pitching our tents in heavy rain. When we got to the designated spot we still had clear skies ahead of us, and within 3 miles (which would include a long climb) we’d be at the next campsite. We decided to push on, thinking we could still dodge the rain, plus it would make for an even shorter day tomorrow, which would be great.
The trail climbed above the tree-line and along the sloping hills of the mountain ridge in front of us. The views became spectacular, with several lakes in the area which we were unable to see from within the forest. As I was booking it hard uphill, Jukebox called out: “Look, rainbow!!” As she pointed in the direction we’d just come from.

I was glad we decided to push on. With some good tunes playing on my earphones, this stretch of today’s hike was by far my favorite of the day. The contrast between the dark and threatening rain-clouds on the one side, the clear blue skies on the other side, the mountain ridge on our flank and the several lakes that dotted the pine-forest below, made for a beautiful panorama. It’d been at least a few days since I had enjoyed my environment as much as today, and it felt great to be out there.

Because I was enjoying the views I let Jukebox and Pops pass me, and tried once more to upload one of my previous posts (without success). Oh well… Time to book it downhill towards the campsite for the final 1.5 miles.
We made it to the campsite, all pretty excited about the gorgeous views of the past hour. It is a public campsite and there’s a bunch of weekend campers out here too. We quickly pitched our tents because the rain-clouds had caught up with us and there was light drizzle falling from the skies. But the real dark front that had troubled us earlier, had started to diminish, and we were quite positive that we would not have to worry about thunderstorms where we’re camped. As we were having dinner, Coach camp over to our campsite twice to bring us extra food which they’d gotten from a couple from El Salvador who kept forcing their food on them. Even when we were pretty much done having dinner, the wonderful couple showed up in person to bring us even more food! It was eggs with chorizo and tortillas and it was absolutely amazing. It was so kind of them, and since we are always hungry, we gratefully accepted.

After this wonderful addition to our own dinner, we walked over to the lake where we caught the beautiful evening sky before it got dark. Safe to say that this was a day which started out a rough, but was colored by a great turnaround!

Tell me where are you going..
You got the Jack of diamonds, I got the nine of hearts
The cards get stuck together, so hard to pull them apart
I think your face is showing

Ain’t the first time that it’s snowing
First time in years that it has stayed on the ground
And when it hits the street, oh, it don’t make a sound
There is just no way of knowing

Tell me is she East of Eden
She just like a book and I don’t want it to end
Take it with me where I go
Turn the pages slow
She’s just like a book; I don’t want it to end

Love how we talk at night
Love how we talk at night
In the blue electric light

No I’m not the only one
No I’m not the only one
At least I’m not the lonely one…

East of Eden – Leif Vollebekk