Miles today: 31.1
Trail miles sum: 1091.4
Trail location: 1773.7
Elevation: 5050
Spinning on the turntable: Kid Rock: Sweet Southern Sugar
Today I saw 14 deer. 14! I saw a herd of about 7 deer early in the morning and then the rest were sprinkled throughout the morning.
Deer in the woods
I was chatting with another hiker and he said the deer are becoming too comfortable with humans. He had spoken with park rangers who recommend throwing rocks at the deer to scare them away. I’m very much enjoy watching them so I’m not ready to throw rocks yet.
A raccoon paw print I believe…
Raccoon print
Today was a day to hustle. Projecting our schedules, the van and the trail, gives me an idea of what kind of miles I’ll need to cover in this section. We’re heading for Crater Lake and have about 80 trail miles between here and there. If I can pull a 30 mile day today I can meet up with Noelle tonight and then hike two 25 mile days.
So, off I went with a goal of ten miles hiked by 10AM. I was pleased to easily make this goal. The terrain was a big help!
I focused on moving just a little faster than my normal pace. It wasn’t comfortable but it wasn’t terrible either.
Noelle hiked out to meet me in the late morning and we hiked back to the van together, arriving around 1:30, 19 miles completed. Noelle made me two peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese and honey sandwiches. I wolfed them down and returned to the trail by 2PM.
The first four miles flew by effortlessly. Then….the rocks began.
What to you do as a landowner when your property has zero value? Allow the PCT to run a trail through it.
So many rocks
My pace dropped from 3MPH to the low 2’s. The rocks really hurt my feet. I kept pushing on and passed a group of hikers spread out on some rocks like dollops of wet Elmer’s glue. Too-da-loo…
And more rocks
Noelle, having drove ahead, again hiked back to meet me and we hiked the last few miles together.
Overall I feel ok after the days hike. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. If I can inch my daily mileage average closer to 25 it will really help with our overall timetable.
Oh my gosh Steve. I can’t believe that trail with all those rocks. How one doesn’t turn their ankle is amazing. Brutal! Are the rocks granite? I couldn’t tell. Love the deer. I too couldn’t throw rocks at a deer. Bad karma. Beautiful terrain. Much prettier than the southern portion of California.
Continue safe travel Blessings to you and Noelle.
Liz from Fresno Retro