9/22 Misty Mountain Hop

by sedona maniak


Miles hiked: 19.32 (2360.18 to 2379.5)
Elevation: +4408/-4850
Number of other hikers seen today: 0

A peaceful night, save for the drizzle early in the morning. I got a little sleep, and when I unzipped my rain fly, the rain had stopped. It was enough to make things a bit damp, but I was happy that it stopped there. Fog shrouded the mountain just a few hundred feet below. An immediate descent brought me right into it, magical and dark. Everything green and covered in moss, it felt primordial. Kept waiting for the roadie to shut off the fog machine.
Though the whole day was one long intense climb after another, the cool dampness and occasional mist of rain kept me moving. I wrote stories in my head, even wrote a song about the end of the PCT, having experienced every type of pain the trail has to offer ("You Don't Have to Hurt Me Anymore"). Like most days, this one's distance was governed by proximity to water. After all that climb, the trickle which Any Minute Now had to collect with a ziploc baggie and I had to strain with a bandanna to remove the flagellating creatures was a bit of a let down. Luckily, I found an old decommissioned road just up from the spring with lots of flat tent space. Truly prime real estate on this trail.

20140922_104452.jpg
20140922_110604.jpg
20140922_114636.jpg