PCT Day 184

Bushcamp to Bushcamp

36.2 miles

Sobo mile 1819.3

Total mileage 4471.9

Felling prime from a solid 8 hours of rest, I hit the trail by 3am. The 4 miles of pitch black switchbacks up to Seldon Pass were made easy on fresh legs. When I reached the top I was disappointed that I missed out on the epic vista due to darkness, but that’s inevitable when night hiking.

As I started my descent down the southern side of the pass the storm began. Lighten, thunder and heavy rain chased me down the mountain. Above tree line is a bad place to be during a thunderstorm…

By the time I reached the valley below, rain was falling so hard I could barely see the trail with my head lamp.

My Garmin had projected only a 10% chance of rain when I’d checked it that morning, so I hadn’t taken the time to properly water proof my pack or myself.

By the time the sun rose, me, my pack and everything inside was drenched. Not a great was to start the day. The only thing to do was keep moving, otherwise I’d freeze.

As the day progressed not much changed other than my position on the trail. It continued to rain, but at least I made good time since stopping was out of the question.

As I climbed towards Evolution Valley the weather abated for a whole 5 minutes, giving me the opportunity for my one and only photo of the day. Between frozen hands, a wet unusable touch screen and water droplets on the lens, photos were impossible. For this I am sorry, despite the miserable conditions, it was a tremendously beautiful day.

My approach of Muir Pass was more of the same. The intense deluge persisted until I reached around 11,000 ft. in elevation, whereupon the rain turned to snow. I rounded a corner to find Muir Shelter nestled between two snow peppered peaks perched above Wanda Lake. The fantastic sight made all of the days pain worth it.

The final switchbacks up to the pass were sketchy through slushy snow. Reaching the shelter, I pushed myself in to escape the howling wind to find it packed with shivering hikers. Any hope of waiting out the storm here deserted me.

After a brief respite from the elements, I headed back out to seek shelter at a lower elevation, and recommended that everyone else do the same. It was too cold and wet inside to consider staying the night at such an elevation.

It took another three hours of harsh weather before I found a place suitable to tent for the night. I threw up my shelter and crawled in utterly defeated. Things went from bad to worse when I discover that my down sleeping quilt AND my sleeping base layers had gotten wet.

Apparently my waterproof pack had a hole in it, and the two water proof sacks I used to protect my clothes and quilt also had holes. I guess that’s what happens after hiking 4500 miles with the same gear, things break down and you don’t realize it until you need them to work.

I won’t lie, it was a horrible night. It took me over an hour to stop shivering. I never really slept. By 1am the rain had stopped and I’d had enough, so I packed up my wet gear and did what I do best, hike.

P.s. Shout out to Roger for hooking me up with some protein bar cash! I’m obsessed with Quest protein bars at the moment, so you just bought me a whole bunch of them. Thanks!

Cheers!