7/12/20; mile: 1,144; elevation: 7,740 ft.
I really enjoyed Rebecca and Jonathan yesterday. After setting up camp, we shared time together as we cooked and ate our dinners. It felt very strange to me to be talking with people getting ready to end a journey and I’m not even half way done with mine. Yet, at the same time, we are brethren. We chose a path, committed to it, and inevitably an end will come. I just can’t see mine yet. Not even close. I need a break at home, first.
I woke early again to another glorious sunrise. Mornings like this make it so hard to leave the comforts of the warm sleeping bag and a cup of coffee. I mean, how often do you see a selfie of me in bed in the morning (and smiling!)? And with a climb first thing, I shouldn’t be smiling, but that is the way of the trail. So, one foot in front of the other it is. One more night out here and then I’ll be home for a break. That’s more than enough motivation.
The morning is gloriously cool, with even a few snow patches here and there, but that will change. And I’m hiking alone again which isn’t bothersome. After the initial climb, the trail turns into a ridge walk, luckily on the western slope so it isn’t too exposed to the warm sun. After about 8 miles or so, I take a break at a creek crossing (and shade) near Five Finger Lakes and meet a gentleman named Brad. We chat for quite a while as we lounge in the shade and get to know each other. He’s an avid outdoors man and hunter, exploring this area for a very long time. In the normal world, he’s a banker focused on agriculture. But out here he’s just trying to get away, get grounded. He gives me some tips on places to camp between here and I-80 and so off I go. Down here, it’s just walking through the woods, but that will change.
Later, in the afternoon as I start to climb again, I catch back up with Lost Larry. I first met him back at Sonora Pass when I was leaving Kennedy Meadows North. He’s an old timer and returning to the PCT after first completing it back in the early ’80s when he was in his early 20’s. He’s not fast, but he’s ruthlessly consistent, despite his heavy pack and hunched-over profile. We share a short break together at a creek before crossing up over near Granite Peak. He shows me some scanned pics of him on his first hike and it reminds me of my Boy Scout days in northern Virginia. Monster external frame backpack, cotton athletic socks over the calf, brown bricks with red laces disguised as leather hiking boots; Oh the memories. After our break at the creek, I continue the climb ahead of him.
Soon after climbing out of the creek area and over the small “pass”, I’m entering civilization again. More accurately, ski lifts. This area of the trail from here until Donner Pass is littered with winter recreation resorts. They are eerily weird in the summer without snow around them. Quiet, empty, not moving; like most things I’ve witnessed on trail this year. I take a selfie and keep moving. As I descend on the west slope of the ridge, away from the ski lifts, I encounter a group of 3 women who are very excited about my journey (me at the end of my day, maybe not so much…). And with that, another version of trail magic. One of them gives me a candy cane. It’s July. This is one of the strangest gifts I’ve been offered. Don’t get me wrong, I accept graciously and save it for later (a long time later as a matter of fact). Gifts should be cherished, regardless of the actual item; it’s the intent that matters most.
The spot where they gave the candy cane had a little water, but was posted as a no-tresspassing area (UC Davis headwaters site), so I moved on. Guthooks indicates there’s another creek and campsite up ahead….uphill of course. But at least there’s water. The site is full of widow-makers; I’m leery of where to put my tent. I’m lazy enough to consider a spot with a downed log (for sitting and cooking), but I also feel like I’ve pushed my luck thus far and so move away to a spot without imminent death propped in the branches above.
I’ve set myself up for a grand finish tomorrow. I’ve got 9 miles of hiking tomorrow morning and then I get to go home for new shoes, resupply and a little relaxing. The bonus is that the Donner Ski Ranch (right at the road crossing) gives free beer to PCT hikers with evidence of a thru-hike permit. They open at 11. I’ll be there!
Savior out!
I’ve been going back through my emails and reading your posts that I’ve not opened yet, glad I read this one as I see that you’re originally from Northern Virginia, I had no clue, I am too I went to Mount Vernon High School, graduated in 83. Erik/DCrider