Start: 0630 - Upper Shake Campground
End: 1830 - Hikertown
Miles (today): 25.5 (24 PCT, 1.5 off)
Miles (cumulative): 534.5 (433.5 PCT, 89.5 alternate, 11.5 off)
Oh how I wish I wouldn't have chosen to stop hiking at the first campground yesterday! We should have hiked the additional 5 miles to the second campground (with water) as we originally planned. For some reason I thought we only had to hike 17 miles to Hikertown - silly me, the reason I had 17 in my mind is because Hikertown is at PCT mile 417.5 ish - 24 miles away from the Upper Shake Campground. Add in the off-trail miles we hiked to get water and you have a very long day.
We didn't have enough water for breakfast this morning so we did what I've always wanted to do - we hiked for a few hours and then ate breakfast. The only thing wrong with this scenario was that we had to hike quite a bit off the trail to get to the water so we could eat breakfast.
Admittedly, I was a bit put out that we were going off trail for water. I wanted to walk a few more hours to a water source right on the trail because I didn't think it was wise to add unnecessary miles to an already high-mileage day. Plus, the "guzzler" (aka a cistern) was supposedly tricky to find. It all seemed like a bad idea to me. However, as we followed the directions given to us by TW Horsewater (trail names are weird!) I started to look around and realized how beautiful it was there. It truly is about the journey and not the destination - suddenly, I was ok with having to walk the off-trail miles.
the view as we came upon the "guzzler "
Yep. This is how we got water today.
a close up view of the guzzler - we had to reach in and dip our bottle in the pool of water inside. The stick was useful for pushing the bottle under.
The trail was very beautiful today and I really enjoyed the hike. Listening to music while hiking can be dangerous, though - I was listening to a sad song when I came upon this memorial for Karen and burst into tears. How sweet of her friends/coworkers. Karen was on my mind for a while.
The tears turned into laughter when I saw these rocks for mile 499.6:
And then, wouldn't you know it, we hit PCT mile 500! It seems like the miles are just flying by!!
the PCT mile 500 marker was at mile 501.7... Weird but whatever. :)
Around mile 24 my right ankle/shin started to protest and all I could think was that it would have been fine if we hadn't hiked the extra 1.5 miles to water. The last mile was pretty tough for me, particularly because I was in pain and the road was long and straight and endless. I compare everything to how I felt while running the Boston Marathon and this time the pain was almost as bad - it took a lot of inward focus for me to get through it.
the long road to Hikertown. I felt like I was in Kansas or something (except for the mountain backdrop)
Hiker town is pretty interesting - we are staying inside what looks like a movie set. Despite my ankle/shin (it's going to be fine, it just needs a little rest) I was happy to shower and to chat with other hikers. Special K is here (surprisingly) - he's leaving at 2100 to night-hike the next section with Star. :)
Another message from a friend/ex coworker came through tonight - Jane, thank you for being so awesome, your words mean more than you know. :)
we stayed inside the hotel - of course!
inside the room at Hikertown
inside our room
We're heading down there
ummm.... Ok, I'll stay right on the trail
Along the trail:
