Faraway Feat: PCT Day 48

The hail from last night quickly melted and the wind blew the clouds away. By morning the tent was dry and there was a briskness in the air. We each carried an extra two liters than usual (4L each) because our next water source is 17 miles away. Since we still have a weeks worth of food our bags are heavier than normal.

The day warmed up to the upper 60's and for one of the first times I'm grateful for the cooler weather as this section would have been difficult with hot temperatures (heavy packs an lack of water).

We are officially out of the SoCal desert section and now we are only first experiencing long stretches without water. The mountains and peaks have become sharper and more jagged in the distance and I can't help but wonder if these are the foothills to the Sierra's.

-Joe

We left camp at 6:30am, went down to the stream on trail and filled up our 4 liters. The next water source is 18.8 miles up.

We started around 5,300ft, dipped to 4,600 then climbed up to 6,300- this up and down repeated a few times today. I was feeling extra tired and my pack extra heavy. I felt like I was moving SO slowly. And I was.

The sun was shining brightly and warm all day with a minimal breeze.

The mornings miles flew by, before I knew it we had 5 miles done! We stopped for lunch in a neat section of today's hike. It was a lush tree filled area with tall grasses, there were some large rock formations that served as both a table and for sitting. Perfect for our break.

The hike today was very different than the days before; we were hiking on mountains but not ridge hiking, instead hiking along grassy and wooded areas.

Just as we packed up our lunch we heard thunder roll above us. The storm clouds were brewing just to our west. So out we pulled our pack covers and I put on my rain jacket (which I regretted and removed shortly after).

We passed through a gorgeous meadow with beautiful purple flowers, thunder following us the whole way. As we climbed we were offered many views- the mountains were all around us in the distance, about 6-7k ft high. None had snow thankfully, but it was a small mountain chain. The view of the rain off in the distance was neat to see. And the rain never made its way to where we were, we kept ahead of it the entire day.

Today's hike did not conform with the rest of SoCal- it was lush, green, and lots of shade was offered (although it must not always be like this, as there was no source of water for us).