Every morning before packing up, we quietly sit in the tent while we drink our warm beverages and think our own thoughts.  This morning, as I stared out at the still dark sky, I thought about our friend Proton from PCT 2016.  Proton recently posted on Instagram about how he started hiking in the dark and how he was terrified about running into a mountain lion.  He said he was constantly looking to his left and right with his headlamp, looking for eyes.  He ended the  post saying he’d rather encounter 100 bears than 1 mountain lion.  As I watched the sky slowly brighten, I started to think about mountain lions and how I don’t ever want encounter one.  

Just then, Nick uttered a low, quiet, “oh shit”.  The way he said it had me on edge instantly - it wasn’t an excited exclamation, it was a cautious, nervous statement.  I looked at him questioningly but he wasn’t looking at me - he was staring intently out his side of the tent.  His headlamp was on (red light) so I looked where it was pointed.  

I froze.  I probably stopped breathing, too.  A mountain lion had walked out of my thoughts and into our campsite, not 10 feet away from the tent.   She was huge, probably around 100 lbs.  Thankfully, like most cats, she was aloof and didn’t seem to care about our existence at all as she stealthily slinked by, not even looking our way.  I’m grateful she wasn’t curious about the two sitting ducks to her right.  Still, it was terrifying - two steps or one leap and she could have been inside the tent.  After she vanished into the trees and I was mostly sure we were out of danger, I went to take another sip of my warm beverage and noticed my hands were shaking ever so slightly.  It was a cool experience to see a mountain lion so close - it was astounding that she didn’t make a sound as she walked by - but once was enough. 

While we were packing up, I kept scanning the area for the mountain lion, even looking up in the trees just to be safe.  Obviously lots of animals walk past our tent while we are sleeping (probably even mountain lions) but there’s something about actually seeing one that makes me shudder.

The rest of the day wasn’t nearly as exciting as this morning, and it wasn’t easy whatsoever.  I’ll just post a few pictures of the trail and leave it at that.

I DID have a great moment when three people on a side by side drove up.  They stopped to chat and ask about the hike, suspecting we were hiking the CDT but wanting confirmation.  They were so nice, asking if I needed anything (Nick was ahead of me).  I politely said no and we all went our separate ways.  However, about 5 minutes later, I could hear a vehicle behind me.  I turned and saw they had come back.  They stopped and the woman (Wilda) asked if she could possibly take my picture - she wanted to show her granddaughters a female thru-hiker.  I said of course, as long as I got to take a picture of THEM.  Wilda was very kind, calling me super woman and telling me I was in great shape (well, I suppose my legs are at least).  They really gave me a boost when I needed it most.  I thought of them a lot today and I hope they had a great picnic with their granddaughter.

At dinner, Nick and I looked at the map and decided to make our own alternate.  We didn’t get as far as we thought we would today and, since we need to pick up our resupply from the post office before 4pm tomorrow (otherwise we won’t get it until Monday), we needed to find another option.  The biggest issue we’ve been having is getting accurate distances in the CalTopo app, mainly because the lines for the switchbacks don’t show up; therefore, when we try to calculate distance, we are always short.  To be safe, we decided to walk on country roads tomorrow since we’re pretty sure those distances are correct.

After dinner, Nick hiked ahead of me on the road and somehow found us a place to camp just inside the National Forest boundary.  It’s so delightfully warm down here at this low elevation that I don’t think I even need my quilt.  Love it.

Along the trail:

Camp: (pics taken the next morning)