PCT day 66 – Sunset
The alarm went off at 6, I immediately changed it to 6:30, when 6:30 came Growler and I decided we deserved another half an hour. That extra half an hour was a mistake for me – I started dreaming that I had to urgently collect wood for a fire and I was in an area with absolutely no trees so I was running backwards and forwards looking for wood that didn't exist. When I woke up I was exhausted!
I packed away while growler lounged in her tent. She wasn't keen on getting up this morning. I hiked on and we arranged to meet later. The first 10 miles went by with no problem. The weather was perfect for hiking, the clouds taking out some of the heat from the sun.
I felt good today. Like the master of my own universe. I hiked up the biggest hill of the day and when I reached the top and turned around there was the most spectacular view (the photo doesn't do it justice). I sat for a while and played my favourite piece of instrumental music – called Contentment – and enjoyed the moment.
We had 4000ft of elevation gain today but it was in small ups and downs which is much nicer. I waited for growler after 10 miles, she caught up and we ate lunch together.
We were kept entertained by the ants karting off bits of ritz crackers. Were they working together or fighting? We'll never know...
We hiked another 6 miles and filled up with water in preparation for one last slightly cruel climb at the end of the day to make 20 miles.
We camped at the top of the hill as it was likely the only flat spot for a while. Beautiful views both ways.
Arrived at camp at 6pm so we had time to relax, set up camp, have very in depth discussions about trips to the cinema, popcorn and the differences between our countries, eat dinner and the sun doesn't set until 8:30pm now.
I had a really good day today. Hiked at a reasonable speed. Didn't start too early and finished at a reasonable time! It wasn't tooo hot and there weren't tooo many mozzies. The end of this section is in sight! Only 2 more days and 35 miles until we get to town and I can wash my stinky body and my stinky clothes.
We picked an awesome camp site, a little windy at times but that kept the bugs away. We settled into our tents to watch the sun set...
