Day 17 – Doolittle

The day started with promise at 4:45. My ride to the trail is coming at 6am, and I want to be ready. I go down to kitchen and eat whatever I can find in the fridge – milk, juice, ham, bread and a banana – not bad. I leave my loaner clothes on the bed. My pack is by the front door. C’mon, let’s do this!

The two days of rest in town have been wonderful for my body. However, I found myself apprehensive before bed last night. Since there was no obvious explanation, I decided a distraction would be good. My hotel has a movie room(!) With about 200 movies to choose from. Lord of the Rings jumped out at me. The third one was available, but I felt like the second one would be best for my situation – Frodo and Sam are trying to get to Mordor to destroy the ring, and the rest of middle Earth is preparing for war. Nothing is clear and there is danger all around. The movie ends with the main story arc unresolved.

I related more to that situation. Yes, I am having a great time, but this is still hard work. (See my legs at the bottom of this post.) And how it will turn out is unclear, too. But, it has certainly been an adventure!

To the trail!

The car arrives and there are already 5 hikers in the car: the Wander Women and two other hikers heading south over the route we came from. We unload, take a quick group photo and head down the trail to Seiad Valley and then Oregon. The beautiful Marble Mountains will be our thoroughfare today.

Why I can’t keep up

I fall behind the ladies because I take a lot of pictures and also because I need to go to the bathroom. Among hikers, there is a class of photos called “toilet views”, “bathroom vistas”, etc. These photos are taken from the vantage point of you potty spot. Sometimes, they can be quite spectacular. Here is mine:

I am also slower than most because I tend to talk to everyone. (My running buddies will verify this.) This old boy scared the wits out of me because he was leaning back into the bush as I approached him, then quickly leaned forward when I was next to him. It was a PCT jump scare!He was out for the day and wondering where the next water stop was. I think I would know that before I wandered off. Maybe he was testing me.

California burn in’

The early part of the day is hot. Temps are supposed to reach 97. Walking through several burn areas does not help because we are more exposed and the transpiration effect offered by live trees is absent.

However, there are some rewards:

This photo gives you an idea of how much forest is burned. It looks this fire happen a couple years ago. The forest floor is now covered mostly with woody shrubs like laurels.

The geology of this area is also fascinating. Within an hour we walk through 4 distinctly different kinds of rocks. This one is the coolest.

A trail name, finally

At lunch there is some loose discussion about a trail name for me. They have witnessed my butterfly super power, bu “Butterfly Magnet” is too long and the shortened version “BM” is something I will not stand for. After some talk about animals and my ranch, Old Mc Donald is offered up, but no one rallies to it. Two hours later, Annette turns to me and says “Doolittle.” I accept it. Thematically it has elements of ranching (my real life) and animal affinity. Strictly speaking, my wife, Patti, is more Doolittle than me. But I can live with it. I am from this point on Doolittle.

Water Wonderland

This mountain still holds snow a lot of snow at elevations above us, and as it melts, it courses across the trail. For an hour we are rock hoppers, trying not to get our shoes wet or slip off the trail.

One of the Women had learned that one of the lakes by the trail was teeming with red-bellied newts. Having never seen even a newt’s eye, I am curious. When we think we find the lake, we don’t see any newts. What are we even looking for? Then I see one. No, it’s two. Wait, what? We are witnessing a kind of courtship. One newt swims upside-down under the other, perfectly synchronized in this alpine pool no bigger than a modest back yard. Whatever else is going on in the world, this moment seems special, and we are here to witness it.

The amount of vertical ascent today is starting to take its toll on us. It seems like the trail designers want us to see it all. We descend again – this time to get a close look at Man Eaten Lake.

Crashing

After the final climb away from the lake, we are exhausted and desperately looking for a place to camp. Our last camping option is a buggy, widow-maker infested graveyard of a site. We spread out to try to find flat places for our tents. I inflate my air mattress, spread my quilt over it and dive under my quilt. I pull the quilt up high so that only a tiny part of my Deet-covered face is exposed to the bugs. I am scratched up and filthy and I don’t even care.

Yet even in this terrible campsite, it is good to be with friends. Understandably, they want to start early early tomorrow. I will do my best to get out of camp when they do, but it is not what I prefer. Let’s see what happens.

Sleep comes slowly. I doze as I look at the stars. The bugs pull back a bit as the bats appear, swooping like untracked roller coaster cars through the trees. Eat well, my furry friends. Eat well.

• June 18
• Starting mile: 1599
• Ending mile: 1620
• Daily PCT miles: 21
• Total PCT miles: 248
• Animals: 2 newts (mating!)