Start: 0800 - Laguna campground
End: 1730 - PCT mile 64
Miles (today) - 18
Miles (cumulative) - 64
We woke up to frost on the tent and icicles on the clothes we hung to dry. It's not the coldest camping I've experienced but damn!
It's tough to get out of your sleeping bag on mornings like this, but we managed to get moving before anyone else. After about 30 minutes on the trail I completely forgot I was ever cold - the heat was so nice. There were some pretty fantastic views most of the morning:
We smiled at this one. :)
Probably the most interesting part of the day was when we had to get water from a horse trough. Imagine walking up and seeing this:
A lot of hikers congregated here while we tried to figure out how to get the spigot inside the trough to run (so at least we wouldn't have to dip into the stagnant water).
Needless to say, we got it all figured out. (The water in the tank fed the trough - we simply had to turn on a pump to fill the tank and then wait for the water pressure to cause the spigot in the trough to run.)
While we were waiting for the water in the tank to fill, another hiker took notice of Nick's gold sparkly gaiters and said that he had initially ordered the same ones. Like me, he too thought they looked brown in the picture. Actually, Nick's gaiters have been getting a lot of attention these past few days. One hiker (Blackbird aka Jessica) called Nick 'Diva' - he turned to me after she walked on and emphatically stated there is no way he is accepting that as his trail name. :)
A close-up of Nick's famous gaiters
The last part of the day was rough for me. I was mentally and physically ready to call it quits by 1600; alas, there was no good place to stop and make camp so we had to press on. Nick was doing well - he's really in his element on this trail. I, however, was frustrated. The last several miles were all downhill (my bane, remember?) and I don't like being the weakest link. It's difficult to remain positive when you are struggling but your hiking partner is happily hiking about 10 minutes ahead of you. I felt inadequate and angry- it took me a moment to realize I wasn't angry with Nick, I was actually angry with myself. So I did what any rational person would do: I took a break and ate my chocolate peanut butter protein bar. After about 10 minutes I felt less sorry for myself and was able to press on. :)
When I finally made it to the campsite I was happy to see Nick setting up the tent. That was nice - I'm not a fan of tent setup.
Just as I'm about to fall asleep some coyotes start howling and wake me up. Never a dull moment out here!