Day 98: Thunderstorm

Date: Tue 7/24

PCT Start Mile: 1525.5

PCT End Mile: 1555.9

PCT Mileage for Day: 30.4

Total PCT Mileage: 1555.9

The Highlights: morning haze, rocky hiking, afternoon thunderstorms

I was beyond exhausted when my alarm went off this morning. Nooooooo. I didn’t feel that great, I was still tired, and I wanted to sleep. The only thing that finally pulled me up to get ready was the thought of getting to camp earlier tonight.

Once I was up and moving, I was feeling better. I snapped a pic of the red sunrise as we left camp. Not far down the trail, we noticed how hazy the surrounding valleys were – likely with smoke from forest fires up near the CA/OR border.

Today’s hike was much easier than yesterday’s, with some gradual climbs in the first few hours of the day and then mostly downhill, flat, and only tiny uphill undulations.

While the morning started very humid and most of the trail was exposed throughout the first half of the day, the humidity gradually faded and with some cloud cover, the hiking was mostly pleasant, unlike the brutal heat of yesterday.

The trail included several very rocky sections today – which are tough on your feet and your shoes. By the time our lunch break rolled around, I was ready to get off my feet for a bit, even if it was to eat something as unexciting as mashed potatoes.

We gotten in about 18 miles for the morning – the same type of mileage we would do for an entire day back in the desert, which makes all of us think – what the F were we doing in the desert? We were hiking slower, but not that much slower. We did take more breaks…

A chipmunk with fat stuffed cheeks entertained us while we ate, basically running circles around us… sneaking close and then running away again. Lunching at a tent site, my guess is this little guy likes to try to get into the food bags of those that tent overnight here.

Even though I attempted to power nap after eating, I was still tired when we hiked out again. Suddenly it was much hotter. We hiked through the heat and rocky terrain, slowly approaching cloudy dark blue skies. The trail headed toward the sound of the thunder in the distance.

With just under six miles to go to our planned tent site, it started to rain. At first just a gentle shower, but then eventually big ‘ole fat drops. And then gentle again.

It seemed we were right on the edge of the cloud and heading toward clear skies as the trail curved around the mountains ahead of us – but the cloud must have followed. It rained on us off and on as we made our way down the trail – often sun showers.

Luckily it had stopped raining by the time we reached our tentsite for the night, so we were able to set up our tent and get everything inside without getting wet.

Soon another hiker arrived – Pack Mule – whom we had first met back in the Sierras – and we chatted with him as we set up and cooked our dinners. Naturally, the skies were dry when I started cooking, but started raining soon thereafter.

I hurried to pack everything back up and get in the tent. It went like this for awhile – on-and-off rain. Lots of thunder. While I couldn’t see any lightening, I’m sure it was happening in the distance. The last thing California needs.

Today was only the third time it has rained while we have been on the trail. The first was Day 2 of the trail, over 1500 miles ago. The second was a very short shower while we slept overnight in the backyard of the church in Chester. We need the rain clouds move directly over the Hendrix Fire currently happening must north of the CA/OR border, minus the lightening.

There are several hikers camped in this tent site area tonight. While we had thought the crowd of thru hikers would thin in northern California, we haven’t found this to be the case. Everyone must be having a good hike because there are still plenty of hikers on trail. We’ve actually only heard of a couple hikers that we actually know getting off trail.

The rain has stopped. And now it’s time for sleep.

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