We concluded that Dancing Dog could have done yesterday, but she would have hated it. After today’s efforts and rough snow crossings, we all agreed that she made the right choice to get off trail at Olallie.
We all had surprisingly good nights of sleep last night. This is a statement that Bunny will challenge nearly every day, but after sleeping next to her and listening to her snores, I’ll speak for her. Do we sleep as well on the ground as we do in a bed? Duh! It’s tough sleeping and different. Despite Bunny’s claim that she needs 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night (which is why she justifies not getting up to pee in the night…I’m thankful we have separate pads and quilts) the aim of sleep is recovery. Bunny is recovered every day. Yes, a bit grumpier than normal from the tossing and turning, but double the coffee in the morning helps.
The uphills on the PCT compared to the AT just aren’t that bad. We started out with about 6 miles of uphill walking. After 4.9 miles, Bear said “That went by fast. The climb is barely noticeable.” At which point we stopped for a trail side memorial service after Sassy and Bunny tore him apart. Bear will be missed greatly. Someone tell his children that Sassy has moved to Greenland, where there is no extradition until the sale is complete.
I’m just kidding. Bear is still alive. He’s just a bit hobbled from the extra weight he is carrying and the few kicks to the groin he got. It was my understanding they were done with children, anyway, so no loss. Bear won’t be acting like an enraged dog hanging around a female in heat for a while. Other than that and the few cuts he’s got on his legs from “accidentally walking into stabs,” he’s as good as a 65 year old Bear. Yes, hiking takes its toll. He’s only 61.
Cumulatively, we crossed about 4 miles of snow in separate patches along the ridge running beside North Cinder Peak and South Cinder Peak. Today, it was decided that I was the most expendable member of the party, so I led over the snow crossings. It was warm enough that I could kick in larger steps closer together so our lovely brides wouldn’t have any trouble crossing. Sassy followed behind me with Bunny directly behind her. Bunny feels more confident watching an older woman in action (her words, not mine). Bear was designated survivor. He was very instrumental in talking Bunny over the roughest crossings. Bear is very calming on both of us in the snow.
Last year, we spent 3 rough days on the snow in Northern California with just the two of us. It felt much safer with a group of four. The biggest difference is that I don’t like to cry in front of friends so I’m forced to stay calm. Another big difference is that I could concentrate on making steps in the snow for everyone to follow and I didn’t have to pay attention to navigation. I trust Bear to handle reading the maps whereas with Bunny…
I’m not bad at maps. I consider myself to be fairly competent with map and compass, map reading, and just following a gps. Having said that, I don’t hold a candle to Bear with maps. In all the snow crossings today, we managed to never stray from the trail at all. Bear reads more in a map than I ever consider. As an added bonus, he converts all directions into Klingon. Grieb no kleisch!
There were four steep sloped crossings that would have freaked DD out. In fact, I was pretty close to freaking out once or twice. The four of us worked very well together as a team in the tough spots. That’s probably a result of the nearly 1000 miles the four of us have hiked together on the AT and PCT.
On the last steep crossing, we couldn’t decide whether to cross the snow, climb above it, or descend below it. We ruled out a direct crossing because the angle was close to 70 degrees and there was a potential couple hundred feet of fall. I climbed up above the patch to see if I could maneuver over the top. I started climbing and got myself committed to a point of no return. It was way too difficult for the ladies, so I told them to drop below the snow (we had already been told there was a potential path below by some nobo hikers).
I continued forward while Bear lead them below. I managed to get stuck in a crevasse above while everyone else bushwhacked below. I had to take my pack off so I could work my way forward. I was able to kick a hole through the snow pack, grab my pack, and slide down about 15’ before crashing into the trail again.
The rest of the group appeared about 40’ below the trail once I got composed again. I could see a path a directed Bear from above. He got near the trail and I was able to reach down and pull him up. The girls both followed without incident and we helped pull them back up to the trail.
All of this happened in the first 12 miles of the day. By this point, we were all beaten down, but we needed to get in a long day because we have friends picking us up at Santium Pass and there is a time crunch involved. John is scheduled to go on an expedition to the Sawtooth Mountains and he’s supposed to leave on the 15th. We want to be able to spend an entire day with John and Jenny before he has to leave. If we stick to our original plan, we’ll have right around 10 miles to go tomorrow.
With 5 miles to go, Bear asked if anyone wanted to try to find an earlier spot to camp. Sassy was the first to say she didn’t want to go through all the hell we had so far to quit early. Bunny agreed. Bear took off in the lead. There was just two small snow crossings we had to deal with after that. One of which, I slid down on my butt. The other we could pick out a trail to avoid the snow once we climbed to the top of the snow patch.
We were hurting, but we kept pushing on. We knew we were required to push on to at least 16.5 miles because we were crossing a restricted camping area which we hadn’t gotten permits to camp in. There were signs posted stating it was a $200 fine. We weren’t sure if that was for the group or per person. We didn’t want to find out.
The last half mile was uphill in a burn area. There was a pond with some campsites around it. When we got there, we had a hard time finding the spots because of all the downed trees. Bear and I finally found a couple of spots next to each other with only a couple of widow makers around. We were too tired to care. We set up the tents and crawled inside to eat because the mosquitoes were pretty thick.
It had been the hardest day so far even though it was a full mile shorter than our previous long day. The snow just takes a lot of energy out of old bodies. Bunny and I were both glad Bear and Sassy were with us. It we were going to die in a humiliatingly stupid manner, we didn’t want to be alone.
EFG