We took a page straight out of Mizman’s playbook. We got on the trail right at 10. Mizman had an excuse. He used to stay up until 10:30 at night. It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes. At any rate, we did get our solid 14 in so we are in top form. Bunny made the observation that if we make it to Burney too quickly, we’ll just have to take more zero days (and we’ve already had 23 so far), so why not just take more shorter days and save money. She had me at “save money” and closed the deal with “8 miles today.”
The 8 miles is strategic and has nothing to do with MnM. There’s a water cache at the road there. If we hike past it, we’d have to carry 4-5 liters of extra water to make it overnight. If we stay at the cache, we can get by with carrying just a bit over a liter each tomorrow. The next water source after the cache is in 13 miles, which is where we will camp tomorrow night.
There’s a trail register just about a mile further up the trail from where we camped last night. Afterburner had told us that she had done some trail maintenance the week before last and had put a new book in the register. We were expecting to find the names of people we thought were ahead of us. Instead, we were the first to sign in. We didn’t see anyone on the trail yesterday, so maybe we have it all to ourselves.
Snakes were active again today. The first two I saw provided another National Geographic moment for me to film. I thought it was weird that the snake didn’t take off as I approached. It was stalking another snake. The snake off of the trail got scared by our approach and took off across the trail where the first snake was waiting. In retrospect, I’m sure snake #2 was hoping that snake #1 would be spooked and take off. It didn’t work out that way. Snake #1 grabbed snake #2 and nearly bit its head off. Once #2 was subdued, #1 proceeded to swallow him. It was interesting to watch. Bunny was a little freaked out by the whole predator/prey nature moment and didn’t want to pass while they were still on the trail. I assured her that snake #1 was totally vulnerable with another snake half eaten hanging out of his mouth. She was perfectly safe to pass.
With all the snakes we’ve seen the last two days, I’ve got the permanent lead when walking. So far, I don’t think any of the snakes we’ve seen up here have been poisonous. Most of the rim is fully exposed because of recent fires so when I saw a clump of trees ahead, I asked Bunny if she was ready for a break. I performed an area snake check yelling “snakes be gone or die” which always clears out the area. We had a nice shady spot on the edge of the rim with a steady breeze to keep the flies and mosquitoes away while we had our lunch.
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and Bunny got her gift a day early. Sam, her son, who is in Basic Training, got his phone today. It was perfect timing when he called. I could hear Sam on the phone talking. He is sounding more confident and mature after just a few weeks in the army. This was always a dream of his and he’s loving it. For the last few weeks, they’ve been firing live ammo. No surprise, Sam got an excellent rating in marksmanship. He’s got the sharpest vision of anyone I’ve ever met. He once spotted a porcupine in a tree while we were driving 30 mph down the road. I didn’t believe him so I backed up. He was right. I never questioned his vision claims after that.
With our stops and breaks, we still made it to Cache 22 by 2. That means we were walking over 2.5 mph when we were in motion. Of course, we had ideal conditions, both weather and trail. Right next to Cache 22 was Milo’s Egg Stand. He was selling eggs for $.02 each. I felt it was wrong to profiteer off of PCT hikers so we agreed to pay $.05 each so he’d just break even.
The register at the water cache gave us some assurance that we are not alone in the wilderness. At least 5 other nobos have signed in since May 3. The most recent is only 4 days ahead of us. Hopefully, they are able to break trail for us around Red Mountain. If they can establish those 11 miles, we should be good to go for the next 150 miles. By the time we get our package next week, the melt should be in full swing.
We picked a spot to set up camp and then proceeded with the usual chores. Bunny took care of nest building while I fetched and filtered water before cooking. When she was done setting up, she came outside and freaked out. Right next to the tent was a mouse that was in terror for the exact same reason Bunny was. There was a snake measuring in at a couple feet in length wanting to eat a rodent. They both ran to me for protection. I assured Bunny she was safe because snakes cannot eat anything bigger that themselves in length. As long as she stays straight, she’ll be fine. She just needs to quit curling up in the fetal position every time she sees a snake.
EFG
That’s not the book I left in the register! I guess Justin from the PCTA finally came by to leave an official one, and so he took the one that had the hikers before you. At least there there’s the one at the cache.
We were surprised that no one had signed in. Mystery solved. We’re sitting in Burney having gotten snowed out a couple days ago.