PCT Day 65

Bushcamp to Bushcamp

21.2 miles

Mile 1001

Heavy rain woke me around 4am. Rather than fight for more sleep, I embraced the early hour by throwing on some jams while preparing my breakfast brew of a chocolate Breakfast Essential with three coffee packets mixed in a half liter of water. After polishing off my rocket fuel, I laid wrapped in my quilt trying to catch up on journaling in a failed attempt to keep my mind off the river I’d be crossing in a couple of hours.

Around 6am I packed up before meeting Spikes by the river bank. She hollered from the other side that crossing would be easier upstream, so I headed that way. I ended up finding a log that looked legit enough, so carefully scrambled across the raging river.

Safely on the others side, Spikes told me of how terrible the previous day had been, how the river nearly swept her away when she crossed and that she saw a bear! She certainly had a more eventful day than I.

We set off together, beginning our day with an ascent through the fog. It was eerily beautiful as we entered the cloud covered mountaintop, had I known I wouldn’t see the sun again until evening, I may have lingered longer in the valley.

When we reached the top of our climb, the trail lead back down into another valley where we faced another intense river crossing. Luckily, we found a log to cross on.

Soon after the river we encountered a similar ascent to the one we’d had earlier. I enjoyed the climb immensely, with water flowing down granite stairs, a lime green moss carpet and a heavy haze floating in the air, it was incredible.

oh and I saw another Sooty Grouse chilling on a rock.

At the top of the climb I chilled for a bit to enjoy the view before heading back down.

When I reach the valley below I was greeted with a large lake and an underwater trail.

I walked a bit further before reaching the largest river crossing I’d encountered thus far.

It was snowing at the time, so I left Spikes a note on trail to holler when she arrived before seeking shelter under a nearby rock. Shortly after I heard Spikes yelling, so I joined her on the river bank. I decided I’d rather not walk the rest of the cold day in wet pants, so I crossed the river without them.

Safely across, I spent the next 10 miles trudging through gnarly sun cupped snow trying and mostly failing to follow the trail as I made my way towards Dorothy Pass.

Just before the pass I reached Dorothy Lake. It had been snowing off and on all day at this point, so I was really looking forward to getting over the dang mountain.

At the top I barely stopped for a photo before heading down towards the valley below.

Two miles out from my planned campsite I missed a junction and headed down the wrong trail for a solid mile before realizing my mistake. Frustrated at myself, I backtracked until I was back on track. Shortly after I crossed the 1000 mile marker! What uppp!!!

From there it was just a mile to our campsite.

I made it there just before 7. After pitching my tent I made a fire and waited for Spikes until dark, but she never turned up. Worried, I retired to my tent hoping she had just decided to stop early and wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere.

Around 9:30 she arrive…turns out she wasn’t feeling well, so took a long break midday, which caused her to be so late. Regardless of the reason, I was jazzed that she had made it.

Anyways, we both crashed shortly after, exhausted from the brutal day.

P.s. Today was hard. The day before was hard. Tomorrow will surely hard.

Since I’ve entered the Sierras there have been no easy days. If it’s a flat day there’s snow and rain. If it’s a clear day there’s epic passes to climb. If it’s a flat day and nice weather, the trail is flooded and there are massive river crossings.

I’ve found that no matter how hard something may be, it’s only temporary. There’s always an end to the suffering, and that suffering makes the end that much more satisfying.

Cheers!