Two very unusual things happened last night…it rained all night, and I didn’t get up to pee a single time. I’m pretty sure there’s a causal relationship there, but I’m going with slight dehydration as my excuse. It was Bunny who insisted we get up and pee at 7. The couple that pees together…disgusts everyone who reads about it? I like to have a bit more mystery in our relationship than currently exists but thru-hiking is a 24/7 intimacy.
I’m not afraid of rain. I don’t mind hiking in rain. But I hate to pack up in the rain. With very little effort required, I was able to persuade Bunny to wait out the rain. We chose 1p as the latest time we would leave. Since we were pretty close to the trail (3 tent stakes touching it), we could hear people as they packed up and headed out. By 9, we were the only ones strong willed enough to not be intimidated by peer pressure. When the rain finally stopped at 10, I made my lucky wife brunch in bed. I was guessing that she didn’t really want to get going and wasn’t expecting to be out of camp before noon. We made it on trail by 11:10.
Early morning motivation is not a strong suit for us. That’s why, last year on the AT, it was so nice to hike with Bear and Sassy. Bear would wake Sassy up at 6 and then lie quietly in bed until her initial anger at being awoke subsided. Once they started laughing, we knew it was time for us to get moving. It was a great way to start the day, laying in bed and wondering if this was the day Bear would die. He always pulled through because of his laid back humor. About the only issue I had with Bear was that he didn’t like mint Oreos. Every resupply, Bunny and I walked out of town with 1/2 package of regular Oreos and a full package of mint ones. Now that I ponder that a bit more, that was a good thing that Bear didn’t like mint Oreos since we got 3 times the amount. Bears a good guy. You can never carry too much chocolate when hiking.
The weather this morning can best be described with two words: humm and id. Even though the temperature is not getting above 65, we are dying out here. Maybe it’s the toxins from the last month rushing out through our pores, but I couldn’t take more than 50 steps before having to stop to wipe the sweat off my face and drying off my glasses which had steamed up. It was pretty miserable. When something messes with my eyesight, I have a very hard time staying motivated.
As we were executing our morning climb, we came upon a tent set up in the trail. On a hunch, I asked if Hero was inside. He was. He had pushed on about 3 miles further than us last night trying to keep up with Ryan. That was only his second day of hiking and he started cramping up pretty bad so he decided to take a day of rest. We offered him some electrolytes but he said he had some. We moved on. I know he’ll catch and pass us in the next couple of days. He’s only 20ish and will recover quickly. Once he gets his hiking legs, we won’t see him again.
Around 2, we crossed over our high point for the day and finally encountered a breeze. The clouds finally started breaking up a bit and the sun even made an appearance. Instead of raising the humm iddy, it actually dropped and became a pretty pleasant afternoon. It was too little, too late. Bunny and I had started too late and my socks had really soaked up about a pint of sweat each. My wet socks combined with all the leaf litter that was falling into my boots, started to make some hot spots on my Achilles’ tendons. I kept having to stop to empty my boots. I’m carrying gators but I got out of the habit of using them on the beaches in Oregon. I’m going to have to put Leuko tape on tomorrow and start using my gators again.
We had wanted to make it about 5 miles further today to a National Forest Campground, Panther Creek. Our late start, early humidity, and aching feet made it out of our reach. When we got to Trout Creek to take a break, it was already after 5. We saw a couple we had camped near last night and started talking with them. This is their 3rd day on the trail, just like us and Hero, so we decided to camp here with them.
Chris and Lynn (aka Someday and Wea as in Sacagawea) are from the San Francisco area. Wea’s Family is from Southwest Missouri which proved to us that she is highly intelligent since she left the state. As we were talking to them, Hero strolled into camp. His cramping had eased up so he decided to push on. There is one other hiker here tonight that we haven’t met yet. He was already in his tent asleep by 8. He’s a true thru-hiker, not a wannabe like we have become. I’m in the process of accepting that we aren’t going to be able to complete our PCT thru-hike, but I can’t come to terms with calling myself a section hiker. I still have some dignity left.
EFG
You’re carrying gators on the PCT? No wonder your packs are so heavy!
I have since killed them, skinned them, and wrapped the skins around my ankles. The packs are much lighter now.