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Stopped at: Four Roads and a Trail, mile 251.7 Miles today: 17.4
For the past 2 days, I didn't get enough sleep; therefore, I woke up late at 7:30 am and decided to leave camp at 8:30 am. The small camping spot nestled among the old trees by the creek and the nearby hills barricaded the sun until late morning.
For almost the entire journey, I have been reminding myself about the miserable times, but today I was altering my attitude because the old attitude was unencouraging. Because I had to leave the trail by October 1st to attend my sister's wedding, it's difficult to imagine completing the trail in one shot- I should just come to grips I will most likely not finish if sections are not skipped. Instead of pushing myself, I've decided to be more laid back.
I had not expected anyone to be immediately behind me, but Stay High (Bill) and Michelle crossed the creek, and we talked briefly before I moved on. They arrived in Idyllwild a day ahead of me, and I probably would have encountered them last Sunday in town had I stayed. I was able to skip ahead of them because they had to wait until Monday for their package at the post office.
Much of the morning was spent climbing to the next water source at 6000 feet elevation. The campsite was beautiful with almost complete shade next to a running creek. There wasn't a piece of trash around, and only fire rings built from rocks to hint hikers had been here. This place was like a bigger version of the campsite last night.
The beauty with these campsites were they are too remote for weekenders and rowdy partiers. I could imagine it would be a cozy place when many hikers sit around a campfire during a moonlit evening. Too bad for me, it was too late in the hiking season to expect many more thru-hikers.
After the creekside campsite, it was more climbing to the next water source 3 miles ahead, but the databook doesn't give any credit for water there. I learned this information from Stay High and Michelle after they arrived at the creekside campsite as I was leaving. They also informed me all the creek crossings are really coming from one source and this whole area was Mission Creek.
Generally at noon, the heat was unbearable, but the elavation was high and the skies were suprisingly overcast, which allowed me to hike between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm nonstop.
At the Mission Creek trail camp, someone stuck a note from April on the PCT pole. Supposedly, the note indicated there was a spring at the horse camp 150 yards off the trail, but I couldn't find it. There were some footprints of someone just ahead taking the detour to find the water source. Hope they had better luck.
Many trees in the forest were dead as I headed to the side trail leading to Heart Bar Creek to find water. At 3:00 pm, my right foot said, "Stop!" I may have pushed myself too hard today because of the cool weather and felt a familiar pain around the ankle area. I sat on a log and ate cereal and pop tarts. The water ahead could wait.
Two forest rangers who are out here clearing dead trees off the trail (by sawing off portions of the trees blocking the trail) came by in their green SUV. The woman ranger informed there probably wasn't any water at the Heart Bar detour. (The databook did mention water was only available around early spring.) They offered water from their cooler, and I added 2 litres to the 1.5 litres I still carried.
The man ranger verified there was a creek at the Mission Creek trail camp I passed not long ago, but it wasn't easy to find. If the other Mission Creek crossings had water (which they did), then the trail camp creek should also have water. Hopefully, they will do something to identify the water at the camp. These people had great outdoor jobs being surrounded by nature in it's glory, and they also met folks on the trail who also enjoy the wilderness.
One of the beauties of meeting certain strangers was the information they provided. Not far up ahead was a place where tamed animals were housed to be rented, for examples, filmed for movies. The ranger quietly voiced her opinion of the wrong of keeping animals in small cages, and if she's right, then I would agree with her.
Now I was rested and had some new energy, I booked for an hour to the next apex, where I ate a sandwich for the energy needed to hike till dusk. Stay High and Michelle passed as I sat on the mountain top- they were planning on stopping for the evening just 30 minutes ahead. I would see them briefly one more time up ahead.
After the quick meal, I hiked for another 3 hours and reached a point not far from Highway 38. There were many flat areas to set camp, but it was a quest to find a position where a dying or dead tree wouldn't fall on me in the night. The chances of a tree falling on me were slim, but I don't want my trip or life ended abrubtedly by a huge tree in my lap in the middle of the night.
