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Click "Play" below to listen to the Day 11 audio journal.
June 4, 2015
Day: 11 Daily Miles: 46.25 Total Miles: 517.25 Hours Hiking:15.5
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| Early morning sun on the way to San Francisquito Road. |
June 4, I made it 46.25 miles to point 0353018 E 3449449 N UTM, which is HIKERTOWN! This morning I started off at the abandoned or old site of the Anderson's Oasis Cache, there were to people there sleeping when I left, one in a hammock and one on the ground. I rolled in there pretty late, because I had done a 51.25 the night before, so I was feeling a little tired, but I got up at the normal time, left about 5:20 am I think. The first.... well, all the way up to San Francisquito Road, it's pretty level and flat, so I was cruising. Doing good time, feeling good...and this was the day where there was the Powerhouse Fire burn/closure area, that has a really stupid walkaround for like 14 miles on roads...and the silly thing is that it [PCT] was originally closed at San Francisquito Road, except for they changed it and then made the closure 3 miles up a hill...so if you wanted to hike the PCT for all its miles, you have to go up this freakin' 3 mile hill and then come back down the same way, which was reallllly stupid.....I hit the road pretty early, did the climb, got to the closure area and then I'm not going to talk about what I did... Fast forward about 4 hours or so and I'm back up on the ridge about 12 miles later, at the other end of the closure and basically I wasn't feeling too great from that point on.
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| The end of the Powerhouse fire closure. |
For the most part, you're on this ridge, flip-flopping sides of it, which on the west side was fog and clouds, and on the east side it was looking down onto the Antelope Valley where Hikertown is, so it's open and clear and sunny. There are these ups and downs thrown into the middle, which are silly. I had some caffeine earlier and it was too early basically...so I kinda crashed and got into this bad mood...and was feeling lethargic. However, that could have been due to the previous days big miles...there are lots of factors that go into feeling angry and lethargic...its not like I'm really angry, angry at the trail for doing silly things...its more of a state of mind that isn't good, it isn't productive at all to going fast and doing miles and motivating you to continue on. It was just hard climbing that ridge. For the most part its fairly benign, you're in these trees slapped on the side of a hill...its fairly nice, in shade...it was really windy so that kept you cool...It just didn't seem like the miles were going by, and that I had so many more to do on this ridge..and it was lasting forever and ever and ever, plus I didn't see anybody. I know most people, or a lot of people, they go to the Anderson's and then they roadwalk the entire way to Hikertown, or just straight hitch and skip about 15+ miles on the other side of the closure, which is this ridge and the area you cross when dropping down to Hikertown.
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| Part of the 'forever' ridge walk, nearing where you finally drop off. |
It just kinda pisses you off that they are going to consider themselves thruhikers even though they skipped a bunch of the trail, but it's one of those things where I have to keep pushing and not stop....and that's what I did. Had my head down, music on if it helped...for the uphills you just count your steps to take your mind out of the equation and keep going. Eventually, just as you turn off the ridge and start going down the hill towards Hikertown, I met two other people, who were talking about the same thing - the other hikers hitching, and how lame they were. From then on, I passed another 6 hikers...it was crazy. Once I hit the downhill I felt better, I had a little more caffeine to try and boost my mood, especially since that was about 10 miles out...it works...I know it does, that's why I do it. Caffeine is pretty amazing! especially when you don't abuse it. I bombed down the hill and did the ups and downs.........something reallly weird happened to me that day, I don't know what I did, I think I may have set my pack up against some bush or plant or something that put a bunch of little, tiny spines on it, because like half way through the day, I'm hiking then all of a sudden, my lower back feels like there is fiberglass on it...and I don't know why. I go to rub my back and my whole back turn on fire. It's these tiny points of fire...but when you rub them, it hurts a lot....I really don't know if it's in my shirt, on my pack...I hiked earlier in the morning with no shirt on...I can't tell ya...it's very strange...and even two days later, now, I still feel a couple of them.
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| Down into the Antelope Valley, about 4 miles from Hikertown. |
My guess is that I may have put it into a stinging nettle...I don't know...but....that was starting to piss me off as I got closer to Hikertown, that my back was all tingly and one fire and felt terrible...I rolled into Hikertown, just after 7:00 pm, which was great. It meant that I did a 46, which was the end of my day at Hikertown, into a resupply, so I can't ask for much better than that! I resupplied and repacked everything in about an hour, then got a shower got my laundry done and basically got a bed even! A nice mattress in the "Captains Quarters", which was great. I slept pretty well, but went to bed a little late, which was silly, but that kinda happens, especially when you're at a resupply/trail angel place...lots of people, lots of things to do and keep you distracted. I pushed through, it was one of the more mentally challenging days of the hike so far. The first ones, when I was sick, were more physically and mentally challenging, buy more physically so. I just have to keep going, and know that some days just won't be good.
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Pinchot Pass, looking north towards Mather Pass, Sierra Nevada Mountains.
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