PCT Day 51 – Penultimate

Last night was among the quietest trail nights I have experienced …ever. No wind, very few birds, no stick breakers. Nada. It’s eerie. But I am not complaining. By all rights, our campsite on the saddle should have been very windy, my tent snapping like a pillow case on a clothesline. But it was calm. What strange decree orders these nights? In the morning I thank the gods of this saddle for holding the elements at bay as three vagrants sheltered here.

In the morning, two very good friends are waiting patiently for me to fetch them. Yes, meet water bottle 1 and water bottle 2. These two bottles fit in a pocket on the right side of my pack as I hike. They are within easy reaching distance all day long. One is a Smart Water bottle. The other is a Life Water bottle. (Plucked from two conspicuous trees in the Garden of Eden?)

I have used these same two bottles the whole hike. One of them accompanied me through the Sierras last year! I keep them under my rain fly just outside the door of my tent. When I cowboy camp, they are right by my head. They guard me while I sleep. The are available at any moment to offer me a sip, to hydrate my ramen, or to squirt off my behind! I love these guys. I doubt that I will ever throw them away.

OK, that was kind of silly, but the desert has given me a whole new appreciation for water. Just the idea of pouring water on the ground makes me uncomfortable.

The plan

Kennedy Meadows South is the end point for my hike. It is 36 miles away. Ideally we would like to arrive there tomorrow as early in the day as possible. Seven is floating this idea that we should do 21 miles today. I am skeptical. Dealer is always skeptical so that makes two of us. To make matters worse, our destination lies at the end of a 6-mile 2600-ft climb. But this is what you get with Seven. He can’t help himself. Let’s see if we can make his dreams come true.

The early hike

The morning sky is showing off today. The sunrise in the east is obscured by a mountain. What? No sunrise photos? No problem. Let’s just move the sunrise to the west. It’s a reverse sunrise as the sun embellishes the clouds in the west!

When the Sun finally peaks over the eastern horizon, it imparts a silvery patina to everything it touches.

One of the big disappointments of this hike so far is that I have not seen even one rattlesnake. Dealer and Seven saw three in one day! Instead, I have been getting a lot of these long striped snakes. They are fun and I want to pick them up, but they don’t excite me like rattlesnakes do.

Now this little fella is about two feet long. He is not the least bit shy. I walk right up to him and he doesn’t move. I step over him, nothing. Seven steps over him, too. The final test is Dealer, who hates snakes. She leaps over the snake like Jesse Owens over a hurdle at the Olympic Games. We all cheer. The snake, bored with us, slithers off.

Eventually, I reach the top of the early climb and am rewarded with a spectacular view to the west. That valley in the distance is close to the valley that is part of Walker Pass.

To the west are these jagged peaks.

Flowers

The flowers are great today although there are no new varieties. This cactus has more pups than the AKC French bulldog registry.

This Indian Paintbrush is about to catch fire!

This Flannel Bush have just about run their course. Many up here are browning. This one is still vibrant.

God on the trail

As a Christian, I am a religious person. Some of my Christian friends think that the trail is the perfect place to experience God. I can’t disagree with them. Certainly there are numinous moments when the spiritual seems to invade the physical. There is the beauty of creation and the lack of “worldly” distractions.

However, I have found that for me the experience of God is more closely related to people. While it is true that God is the source and sustainer of all, it is really impossible to understand what God might be doing with all of that. We have a better idea of what God might be doing with us. Our religious traditions point the way. Some our best non-religious ethical traditions also can guide us.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that while the trail offers moments for reflection, the true expression of God, as far as we can comprehend it, is among people. This does not diminish God; it enlarges people. Getting away from people does not help us find God, because God is among us.

The late hike

It’s the time of day when we start thinking about camp. It looks like we will not meet the 21-mile goal that Dealer had envisioned. Still, we did well despite the late day climb.

There are supposed to be some campsites nearby, but the trail is steep and there are no flat spots off to the side.

Eventually Dealer sniffs out a lightly-used side trail that leads to a wonderful camp.

Thoughts

Tonight is my last night on the trail. I try not to dwell on it, because it makes me emotional. There will be time for that tomorrow.

• June 24, 2023
• Starting marker: 667.7
• Ending marker: 686.2
• Miles hiked today: 19
• Total PCT miles: 656