- Date: 2023-05-26
- Pct day: 21
- Start: Mile 259
- End: Mile 266
- Distance: 6 Miles
- Ascent: 541 feet
- Descent: 892 feet
- Start name: Tentsite (3)
- End name: HWY 18 access to Big Bear
- Wake up: 06:00
- Start hiking: 07:30
- At camp: 10:40
- In bed: 11:45pm
- Where I slept: bed
- Shower: yes
Key moments
- had a luxurious sleep in until 6am today. Words that I thought I’d never say outside of when I was doing rowing in high school.
- It’s hard to take things slow on the PCT, there’s an energy on the trail that moves you forward and wants you to keep going as far as you can in a day
- But a good reminder that being slow and consistent often trumps going fast and having a big rest. To that point I saw a hiker “snickers” this morning after I was outside my tent slowly packing up. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of days and he was for sure going to beat me into town. He stopped about 6 miles before me one day, and probably woke up early to get out quickly today. Consistency I think is key.
- Nicole had made it into camp late at night last night and me and her and another hiker Nathan enjoyed that we could take it a bit slower this morning, since we were heading into town
- Nathan was meeting up with a hiker physio (or physical therapist, as they call them here…I’m not sure if they are different to physiotherapists in Australia) - definitely a cool service. You can find the numbers for people like a physical therapist or a person who gives rides at certain caches on the trail, or on the “far out” app, which is a really awesome map app with comments on water sources and other points of interest and so much more. At times it feels like cheating compared to a map and a guide book
- after packing way too much food my bag was finally starting to feel lighter and I was enjoying that immensely
- A quick descent down 6ish miles you could see pockets of civilisation, including one rather large house just off trail - looked like a retreat centre, or maybe a cult? Who knows.
- as I got to where the trail met the road I heard a hiker yell “yiii-yo”, which I responded “coo-eee” - it was Nathan, and we met up at the road and had a discussion on bush calls - the cooeee is such a good one
- Nathan and I stood hitching for a ride for about 5-10 minutes before a friendly guy pulled over, hikers are very common here and the town is very much full of outdoors people so most of them know what’s up
- This guy, Richard, was super nice and offered us bottles of water an a fresh packet of chips. We chatted about the snow and the rain and he gave us a tour of the local geography as we got into town. The lake in the area that “big bear lake” is named after was nearly totally dry this year. Big rains eh.
- Turns out there are two towns here - big bear lake and big beer city. Big bear lake is the bigger one, go figure
- Nathan got dropped off at a spot to meet his physical therapist, and I got dropped just around the corner from where some hiking friends, Kristi and co, had organised a cabin.
- I did try to pay for gas for the ride but Richard just said he was going that way anyway. I swear the people are the best part of this trip.
- The cabin was a nice 70s vibe and included carpet in the bathroom (and toilet). Just like some places in Hobart!
- Showering after a hike is always funny, so much dirt comes off of you, just rinsing, and then even more comes off when you use soap. And then you wash some random part of your back and black water runs off into the sink.
- I put on my rain clothes and put my clothes into the washing machine
- Nicole and I waited in the living room, for our wash to be done, sort of in a slight stupor trying to work out what the order of operations is after washing.
- We got take out and I finally ate some vegetables. Gotta eat vegetables. Good old pad see ew
- Putting on fresh clean clothes is an amazing feeling
- I was on a mission to go into town to get my new sleeping bag I ordered and to also return my current one, as well as to mail my ice axe and micro spikes and stove and pot ahead
- Yup, I’m going stoveless for the next 80 miles. You just cold soak your food ahead of time in a jar, I do it for lunch and breakfast and dinner, it’s great.
- a bit of schenanigans at the post office - basically my parcel was supposed to get there the day before, but it didn’t, and looking into things, the kind postal service guy found out the the postal truck my sleeping bag was on was in an accident. I think everyone was ok, he didn’t say.
- So if my parcel didn’t get there today, then I’d have to wait until Tuesday to get it, since Monday is a public holiday.
- Not a huge deal, but in the PCT world, hanging out in town waiting for post is kind of a nightmare scenario where the town vortex can take all your money and keep you from doing your job - which is to hike to Canada.
- there was a chance my parcel would arrive by closing time
- I’ll take a chance
- Packing away an ice axe is always funny - you’ve got to basically wrap and tape a bunch of boxes around it and hope it holds together and doesn’t bust out. The staff at the post office again, were really helpful and provided tape and boxes.
- While I waited for my parcel to hopefully arrive, I went to a Mexican place and got a burrito so large I couldn’t finish it.
- I need you to understand that the fact I couldn’t finish a meal and a coke is a big deal.
- The burrito was fine, but I felt slightly defeated
- My new sleeping bag arrived! I could then use the box it came in to send my old sleeping bag off for returns, and the post office folks kindly let me send it off stating slightly past closing to get it off.
- came back to the cabin to explore where my sleeping mat was having its leak, a procees that seems part luck and sort science, wiping soapy water on it to see if it bubbles up anywhere
- Or Jeremy would put his lips close to the net to feel any air blowing on them, because your lips are really sensitive
- I caught him putting his lips near to the mat sort of gently listening / feeing for air from the mat and lost it and had a great old laugh, the big ones that make you cry a little. It was a good moment.
- Went to the local gas station and I got some taquitas - sort of like a a Mexican mini burrito thing that is on those weird heated rollers that hot dogs are on
- They also had sachets of mayo and hot sauce - best garnishes for my cold soak meals, so I loaded up on them
- The clerk said he was about to throw out the food so I could have it for free
- Yay? Hope I’m still saying yay tomorrow and not clutching on to a toilet wondering when it will all end
- I also caught up on a huge backlog of blog posts, it felt good but I need to stay on top of it a bit more, there just isn’t as much reception as I thought they’d be
Plan from here
- take a zero (rest day) tomorrow and resupply at the luxury of a real super market
- Pack my bag, visit a gear store to investigate a new pillow
Animals sighted
- some sort of blue bird?
Gear thoughts
- a great pillow could be a game changer
- A wide sleeping mat could also be a great replacement for my leaky one
Physical condition
- goood! Blisters seem to be turning into leather
- Right and left knee and hip randomly hurt when not carrying a backpack?
Thoughts and Observations
- doing a “Nero” (low mileage) then a zero really gives you a lot of time to sort things out
Some of the bad things
- I can feel the toll on my body slightly - on one hand I feel great, on the other hand I can see how some of the small niggles I have could add up to something more annoying
- Sometimes you aren’t always in sync with people on the trail - I think this is something that I need to embrace rather than resist. Not trying to be discordant, but rather that going at my pace in my time, is a good way to do things, and it doesn’t need to be always in sync with others. I’ll see these people again.
Quotes of the day
- “oh you can have those, I was just about to throw them out” — 7/11 clerk to me about my dinner choices
#pct #pct2023 #pctclassof2023
