Day 29 (June 7th)
Mile 369.3- 383.9
14.6 miles (23.5km)
Today we summited Mt Baden-Powell at 9406ft! This morning we enjoyed a last town breakfast of oven croissants, jam and leftover pasta and caught a hitch into town in the back of a pick up truck. Sometime during this zero in Wrightwood, we have taken to calling Julien, Corpse. This name was proposed by Crash, who was making fun of Julien for his habit of laying down for a rest next to the trail with his backpack still on. The name is so contrary to Julien’s warm and outgoing personality, that is has stuck. So today our crew officially all have trail names: Me (Beetle), Thunder, Salty, Crash, and Corpse.
We were all happy to be back on trail. We stuck mostly together as we hiked up to the base of Mt Baden-Powell– and then we began the climb. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as San Jacinto a couple weeks ago– but we did start to encounter substantial snow around 8400ft. We pulled on our microspikes and continued on. I had a little trouble with the altitude, feeling somewhat short of breathe and a little nauseous during the climb, but that settled down at the summit. There were incredible 360 degree views, blue skies and warm sunshine. At the top we all enjoyed a summit beverage to celebrate and downed some lunch.
Once over the summit, I expected to be headed mostly downhill– but it was not so. We spent the afternoon climbing up and down ridges, avoiding deep snow and bushwhacking through some low (thorny!) shrubs. The boys raced down the mountain ahead of us, so Thunder and I ended up walking together chatting about life, friendships, and books we enjoy, among other topics. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon and I again reflected on how grateful I am to hike with such awesome people. 🙂
Day 30 (June 8th)
Mile 383.9- 406.6
22.7 miles – plus 2 extra miles on an alternate (39.8km)
This morning, for the first time on the PCT, I really wanted to sleep in. It was a chilly morning and I was warm and cosy in my tent, and I would have been quite content to stay there. Instead, at 5:45am, I started packing up and by 7am I was on trail. Even still, I was among the last to leave the campsite. PCT hikers are earlybirds! In the morning, there was a 1000ft climb to wake me up. This was only the first of several climbs totally nearly 6000ft of elevation gain today– of course, there was an equal amount of decent as well! As I descended from my first big climb, I came to an area where the official PCT has been closed to protect the habitat of an endangered frog. Instead PCTers were to take a 5 mile alternate route along the highway, which was about 2 miles longer than the actual trail. I joined Thunder for this portion and we continued our life chats until we were back on trail and ready to stop for lunch. Here we caught Salty, who told us that he had thought Corpse was right behind him, and was now concerned that Corpse had gone the wrong way when rejoining the PCT. We all fretted for a bit and sent him a Garmin message, but ultimately we went on.
About 6 miles before my campground I ran into a woman named Tortoise. We chatted and she told me that she had hiked up Baden-Powell this morning. I soon discovered that her starting date was May 21– a full 11 days after me. Yet she too had just reached the 400 mile mark! I remind myself that I shouldn’t compare myself with others. One of the guiding philosophies of a thru is ‘Hike your own hike’ (HYOH). We hike the PCT for ourselves, not to compare or compete with anyone else. Still, I am glad that when I hike into camp, my friends are there. I’m especially glad to see that Corpse made it to camp ahead of me. Turns out that he was never lost at all. He must have snuck by Salty without him noticing!
With the alternate route, I very nearly hiked 25 miles! I could not have imagined doing that a month ago!
Day 31 (June 9th)
Mile 406.6- 424.9
18.3 miles (29.5km)
I can’t believe that 18 miles is starting to feel like a short day! I was on trail by 6:45am this morning, and I was still the last of my crew to leave camp. The morning went by relatively quickly– a climb up into the hills, a water source with swarming bees, and a nice descent to my planned lunch spot.
By noon I had hiked nearly 12 miles and arrived at the ranger station where we had talked about having lunch. We had heard that you could order a pizza to the Rangers station and we were all quite excited about the prospect- but I didn’t have service for a lot of the hike in the morning, so I thought my chance to order pizza had passed. Upon my arrival, I found not only a hubbub of hikers, but also Trail Angel Joe, who I had encountered last week when heading into Wrightwood. Joe offered us drinks and some snacks– including fresh papaya. Salty, Corpse and Thunder then told me that they had ordered pizza for all of us and had gotten me a veggie pizza with no cheese. My heart immediately filled with love for all of them for having thought of me and my veganism. My eyes filled with tears at the thought of pizza. The XXL pizza that they had ordered for themselves was the largest pizza I have ever seen, but they ate it quickly with only a little help from the other hikers. In passing, I mentioned that I had been craving pickles while on trail. Immediately a hiker named Ranger said “want one?” and threw me a bag of pickles. The trail really does provide!
After a long and very enjoyable lunch, we continued the last 6 miles to our proposed camp spot. On the way, we ran into our friend Jacob (now Patches)! I hadn’t seen Patches since we submitted San Jacinto together, so it was lovely to see him again! We all decided to make camp together near a small creek and dirt road. We regaled eachother with stories, shared our ‘Pits and Peaks’ of the day, and ate even more food. I was fed and in my sleeping bag by 7:30pm! Its been a really nice day of beautiful views, great food, and awesome friends.
Day 32 (June 10th)
Mile 424.9- 444.3
19.4 miles (31.2km)
I have been hiking for one month today! 444.4 miles, seven showers, and an unquantifiable amount of ramen.
It’s been a crazy month and today was a sampling of some of the best moments. I woke up wide awake at 5am and was on trail first of my tramily. I hiked 6 miles in the blessed coolness before Thunder caught me. The morning views were of stacks of blue-grey mountains fading out as far as the eye could see.
A couple days ago, we had been told that there would be trail magic starting at 10am at the North Fork Ranger station. We made it there by 11am and were greeted by angels with breakfast burritos. They even had a fancy vegan pastry for me! We hung out there for an hour or so, snacking on fruit and veggies and enjoying conversation with hikers and angels.
The trail magic was truly paradise, but we were only 8.5 miles from Acton and our next resupply stop– and I was itching to go! The afternoon was overcast (for once), so we enjoyed the cool weather as we hiked our final miles into town. Next step was to hitch a ride into town… fortunately Thunder and I were immediately offered a ride into town when we stepped off trail. The boys, who had arrived to the road before us, were not so lucky. As we pulled out of the parking lot with our hitch, we saw them standing with their thumb out on the side of the road. We waved at them as we drove past. Kindly, our hitch offered to go back and pick them up as well.
Tonight we are sleeping on the back lawn of the 49er Saloon in Acton. The owners have fenced off their backyard and set up infrastructure for bucket laundry, cold showers and the opportunity to weigh ourselves (I’ve lost 10 pounds already)! True luxuries. The owners are incredibly kind and supportive of hikers AND their restaurant has some of the best vegan food that I have seen on trail. Tomorrow morning we will resupply and be on our way north!
