PCT day 5 – triple trail magic
Best camp ever last night. So warm. No wind. Beautiful sunrise. I was in bed at 7pm. Asleep by 7.30pm. Didn't wake up until 6am! No one did, we all had 10.5 hours sleep!!! We must have needed it.
The others were talking about hearing the Coyotes howling. I didn't hear a thing. I miss all the good stuff!!
I've not really got any injuries yet, my knee niggled a little bit on the second day but I taped it up and it's been fine since. Now just have to figure out how to get rid of this white cross on my knee!
My hip is giving me a bit of grief (but not the old hip problem you'll be pleased to know), this is a brand new one! My left hip flexor is sore, I think I may have strained it. At night when lying on my back I can't lift my knee without using my hands to assist my leg. In the morning it's incredibly stiff and after the first painful hour of hiking each day it loosens up and is ok. Then the cycle repeats. I have a constantly bloody nose and a chesty cough (mostly at night) and I think it's because of all the dust.
It was a 14 mile day to scissors crossing. 6.30am start. Getting quick at packing up now. My tent is organised and everything has its place.
First 6 miles was ok. Saw lots of animal tracks. Lots of down, and a little up. So much dust.
Next 9 miles we knew we were back in the desert. I saw a snake!! I almost pooped my pants and had a cardiac arrest at the same time, I did stop breathing for a bit.
After that I jumped at a lot of sticks. We picked up a new member of the herd, Robin. It just got hotter and hotter and hotter. Last 5 miles were awful last 3 miles were horrific and the last mile my feet were screaming at me to stop. They felt so hot they might burst through my shoes. I felt like I was walking on stumps. We did go fast though. We wanted to go fast because the Stagecoach RV park has food, showers, laundry, water and wifi. Got the 14 miles in by 1pm. Paying for it with my second blister now on the outside of my heel. It's just a little one. Hope it stays that way.
Then I saw a car. My friends had hitched a ride!! And when I got there it was trail magic. An ice cold Gatorade!! I stuck my head in the ice box.
He gave us a ride 3 miles down the road to the rv park. When we got there another man, Ken, bought us an ice cream. Score!
Finally had a shower and oh boy it was good. The only soap I could find was a bar of Old Spice – now I really am like my Grandad! My hair stayed in the same position when I removed the band. Did some laundry - so nice to have clean socks, and we got free detergent, it's great being a hiker! Sat in my one clean pain of knickers and my gilet only in the laundry room. There was wifi but it was so slow.
We found some other hikers there we have been crossing over with.
2 ladies came over with warm Turkey and cheese rolls and pickles for dinner. Triple trail magic!! Ya'll doing that thing Reese Witherspoon did in Wild? Yes ma'am!
I'm really enjoying our little herd. I'm the slowest and I know we may eventually break up which makes me sad, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. The group of 4 hikers in the picture above have stuck together so far, the girl, Roxanne, said she's the slowest in her herd too so we may eventually join up. Who knows!!
I have encouraged us to stay together until Warner springs as there is a 35 mile waterless stretch starting tomorrow. There is a huge cache in this section but we can't rely on it to be maintained. If it's not we may have to do some night hiking as it will take less water to hike at night...
10 miles of straight up tomorrow...