Thur. July 18th
Miles: 9.7
Total: ~190.3
Sent From:
Rain.
It fell through the night with unrelenting patter. A puddle formed in the tent, and we were laying on a slope. The intention to spend twenty hours in the tent was sort of a joke, but as the night progressed, it felt like that might become a reality.
Through the thick splatter of raindrops I heard a curse echo through the campsite followed by the sound of banging pots. We yelled out to V8 to see if he was okay. He was mid battle with an army of mice invading his tent. Actually only two, but they chewed a hole through his tent and were making their presence known. V8 was having none of it, so he hammered away with his cookset, ruining the mouses lofty plans for the tasty food V8 had in his tent.
When morning came, the rain had reached the end of the torrential downpour, and we all had wet clothes to don for today's hike. V8, who now has the better trail name Mousetrap, had to put on wet trail clothes that had dead mouse splatter on it. Apricots and I couldn't hold back laughter last night, but now we felt a little sympathy for him.
Another hiker who camped nearby had a mouse in his tent, but took the more sympathetic approach of just chasing the mouse out rather than bludgeoning it to death.
The fog was thick and drifted with the wind. Moisture crept into everything, and none of us wanted to get out of our tents and face a repeat of yesterday. Furthermore, today's miles were going to be far more exposed. Mousetrap (V8) checked his Garmin InReach which called for partly cloudy, high humidity, and low temperatures with wind chill. However, the chance for precipitation was low.
I rallied the troops to face the miles, rather than play the wait and see game. That was a good choice. After the first mile the fog lifted to cloud level, and soon the sun started to burn through and we were getting blue patches and direct sun.
It looked like we would be getting good weather for the hefty trek over Old Snowy, the Goat Rocks, the Knifes Edge, and the long exposed ridge walk. Well, not good weather, but much better weather than yesterday. It was still pretty chilly and windy as we made our climb, but the views were stunning, and the drifting clouds and fog really made for more dramatic views.
As we hit the high point of the PCT for today, Apricots and I ate lunch while Mousetrap made the short side summit to the top of Old Snowy, a peak that was about 300 feet higher and a half mile off the main route. Apricots and I watched him climb from the comfort of our wind screen rock wall. We had made the summit a few years ago with Pseudognome and were not feeling it today.
Once he returned, we made the steep descent down the Knifes Edge, where shale cut steeply down on both sides of the trail to glacially carved valleys covered with talus and sweeping snow fields.
Then we covered a two mile ridge walk where the strong cool wind blew on us almost hard enough to support our weight if we leaned into. The views were perpetually stunning, and it is easy to see why this section of the trail rates as one of the best of the whole PCT. The miles are hard, but the scenery is worth it (if the weather cooperates). Although, the wind blew the snot off the tips of our nose. Mousetrap referred to this as "The Snot Excavation Machine."
We descended off the ridge through lush mountain meadows overrun with snowmelt streams before we descended further into the comfort of pine duff trails in a well shaded forest. The feet were tired, but the last couple miles came easy as the wind was no longer beating on us, and the sky was clear.
Tonight we will spend our last night on the trail before finishing this adventure. A trail crew is campong near us, and they dug a large latrine hole near where we put up our tents. This has made for a couple instances of strangers walking past our tents while we dined. Mousetrap accidentally established eye contact with one lady squatting behind the tree while he dined. Awkward at best, I told him that he should have winked. He laments the missed opportunity.
There will be more...but we are uncertain what they will be. As for Mousetrap, I think he just may tackle the whole trail soon.
Today: The Greatest Day which followed The Worst Day
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