If a plane hadn’t flown over our tent at 7:20, we’d probably both still be asleep. We were sleeping so soundly. I jumped up, peed, and started the coffee. Wolf was just about to take down his tent down which is the last thing he does before hitting the trail. Bunny and I ate as quickly as possible and emerged just as Ivy was leaving. We hurried, as much as we care to, and were ready to leave at 8:30. Respectable enough for us.
It was 6 miles to the first water source. Between us, we had about a liter, so no life or death situation here. I did and didn’t like the trail today. The first couple of miles were on an off-road vehicle path which was washed out, steeper than the trail, and very rocky. I guess we’re in the Pennsylvania section of California. Once we got off the road, we were back on the PCT we have grown to love—fairly shallow grades and smooth bed which makes it easy to look around as you walk.
I’ll admit, I was struggling this morning. I don’t know what was wrong. Maybe I didn’t eat enough last night. Maybe the chickpea curry we had didn’t sit well with my system. Maybe I didn’t drink enough. Maybe I didn’t get enough caffeine this morning. Maybe my pack feels like a gorilla riding on my back. Whatever the case, something was off. I couldn’t let Bunny lead because I still couldn’t keep up with her.
We still made it to the water right at 3 hours with a couple of short breaks. 2 mph net, which I’m fine with that pace. When we got to the water, I was a bit disappointed. It was a trough with lots of debris in it. I could see water trickling in through some weeds but couldn’t see a way I could intercept the flow. As I was walking around trying to figure it out, I saw another pipe behind a barbed wire fence with a slow, steady flow. I was able to collect what we needed.
Bunny filtered while I cooked a hot lunch. It’s 19 miles to the next water source so we can carry a little less if we cook lunch and eat a cold supper. In all, we spent an hour drinking plenty and eating. When we left, I was carrying 4 liters and Bunny had 2.5 liters. Heavy packs again and we still had almost 10 miles to go.
The terrain wasn’t bad today, but I am sick and tired of wind turbines. I don’t think we ever lost sight of them today. California is getting a butt load of renewable wind energy. The higher in elevation we were, the worse the surroundings looked. We can’t tell if all the dead trees are from the drought or from a forest fire. Whichever case, it’s sad to see so many dead, burnt trees.
I tried to keep my head down and just concentrate on making myself walk. My pack weighed almost 45# before we stopped for lunch and water. With all the water, I was close to 55#. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling like crap today. The heaviest my pack got last year on the AT was 47#. Most of the time I was about 35# which is reasonable for the amount of luxuries we carry.
While I was looking down making myself walk, I noticed Ivy’s and Wolf’s footprints in the dirt track. When we caught up with them this evening at camp, I told them I saw Wolf was leading the way until they got to the water and then I saw Ivy got the lead and kept it almost all the way to camp. Ivy was a little creeped out thinking I might be a stalker paying that much attention to her footprints, but she admitted I was right. Perhaps I missed my calling as a tracker in the old west. I’ll try to notice where they have breaks tomorrow.
They did pick us out a nice campsite in a small woods. Bunny and I set up our tent and then sat with them while we had our hot tea and cold meal. We were kind of late getting to camp at 5:30 which is close to Wolf’s bedtime. He made an exception and stayed up while we ate. I’m guessing they had already been in camp just shy of two hours when we got here.
Hiking with Ivy and Wolf is very similar to how we hiked with Stickers and Lady Bug last year on the AT. We’d walk by ourselves and then meet up at night. Occasionally, we might hike part of the day together, but it was difficult because our paces were so different. I’ve got to admit, I do miss hiking with Bear, Sassy, and Good Chip Norris. Our paces were all pretty similar so we walked together almost all the time. We could talk, and eventually sing in angelic voices as one. Trail angelic voices are an acquired taste. It’s going to be very difficult for me to get the Army Ranger Colonel singing on the trail if I don’t spend more time with him. It’s a fine line between getting a ranger to sing and a marshal arts death. As long as I keep Bunny between us, I’ll be fine.
EFG