PCT: Day 123

This seems redundant, but I got up early to tackle a hill before it got too warm.  I started climbing immediately and would continue to climb 3400ft over the next 8 miles.  The climb itself wasn’t too bad but the first couple miles was rocky.  This wouldn’t normally be a problem, but I think I pushed my shoes too far and have a blister on the ball of my left foot and another on my right heel.  Neither blister is terrible.  Every step hurts a little bit, and every once in a while one of the pointy rocks decides I’ve been too comfortable and jams perfectly into a blister. I walk a little slower to try to avoid this but it’s inevitable.

The trail gets less rocky further up, and actually has some unburnt trees.  I’m still hiking through the burn but it hasn’t been all that bad…yet.  Once at the top of the hill I’m greeted to views of Mt. Lassen in the distance and swaths of burned trees in the foreground.  From here on out the trail surface turns to a very fine mixture of dirt and ash that puffs into dust clouds as I walk.  Within a few miles I have a layer of black dirt all the way up to my knees.  I’ve accumulated more dirt in a few miles than I did in the entire 32 mile day yesterday.  At one point I pass sections of fire hose, some partially burnt, which I assume are there because the fire moved too rapidly to retrieve them.  The entire area feels like a battlefield that’s been completely destroyed.

I stop for a long lunch at Cold Spring before continuing. I don’t know if I’m feeling the big day yesterday, the long climb this morning, or the cumulative hot weather, but I’m sluggish and worn out for the next 10 miles to camp. On top of the exhaustion it’s lonely as I’ve seen only one person since lunch. I seem to be behind the main herd, and outside of one large group there aren’t many people here. Its also been almost 2 weeks since I’ve seen my family so there’s some homesickness mixed in. I manage to find cell service and talk to Blue Lizard for a bit, discussing ideas to spend a couple days with the family and maybe jump to somewhere with more people. She’s already planning to meet in Burney Falls next week for our 20th anniversary, and we’ll hopefully have a plan by then.

I made it to camp by 5pm, setup the tent, and laid down with no energy to do anything else. I eventually perk up and eat, but can’t wait to get to Chester tomorrow for a shower and a night in a bed. Just as I get ready for bed a deer decides it’s time to walk laps around my tent. I give it some gentle cussing, put earplugs in, and go to sleep.

Oh, and a warning if you don’t like looking at pictures of burnt, dead trees, they’re coming. I feel like that’s all I see anymore so I’m just passing it along…