I slept really well last night in my cozy tent. As with the night before at the Middle Fork of the Feather River. The temperature stayed warm most of the night. It had fallen into the 60s by morning when I finally covered myself with the quilt.
The goal today is to get closer to Sierra Buttes. It is also a goal to survive. It seems like we have been having a little heat wave here. High temperatures are predicted in the 90s again. This makes the hiking sort of a plodfest on the uphills. But the forecast also predicted declining temperatures for at least a week. I am really looking forward to that.
Early Hiking
Right off the bat the trail goes up to 7000 feet and I can see other mountains around me.
I have an app called PeakFinder on my phone. It allows you to identify mountains on the horizon when you point your phone at them. The mountains appear in silhouette on the screen. I whip out my phone and learn the flat-topped mountain on the right is Table Rock (not a stretch).
I walk around the corner and don’t even need my app to tell me what I see: Sierra Buttes. They have an unmistakable Sierra scraggle to them. When I get to the Sierras you will see what I am talking about.
Not long after that I stumble into these guys as they are breaking camp. They started in Campo ( the southern beginning point and are here now). Honestly, they are behind most Nobos, but they look fast. I think they could catch up. I forgot their trail names, but here.
Here are a few other shots from this morning.
Focus time
I have two long climbs today. The first one is 1600 feet over 4 miles. The second one is 800 feet over two miles. Not bad really except for the heat and altitude. While climbing I focus only on them, my breathing and my legs. No photos, sorry. But I can show you what came between them.
This spring offered some of the coldest, tastiest water I have ever experienced…ever. There was a similar spring at the end of the day. These pipes forced into the ground allow the water to be collected so easily and they really revive you. I soak my hat and my bandana before continuing.
On my second climb I get another shot of Sierra Buttes.
Relief
I seldom ask God for favors for myself. I figure God is always watching over me. Why beg? Today I begged. The heat was pretty intense. I saw a couple clouds up there. I asked God to make some more of those for me. You know, something not so flashy. That did not happen. What did happen, I swear within five minutes, came this cool breeze running up the mountain from the valley below.
Whelp. I was not surprised that God responded, but I had to smile. God had a better idea for me. That breeze stayed with me the rest of the day, but it didn’t show up until I asked for help. Free sermon. Yes, Rob, you can use it.
Camp
A mile from camp I entered the forest through these majestic sentinels. Any of these trees would be impressive by themselves. But the group of them like that – spectacular. I walk between them respectfully.
Here is my tent setup. There are a lot of dear around here. I do not fear the deer (sorry Milwaukee fans) but I don’t like it when they trip over my tent lines. This should do the trick.
If you are following me on a PCT map, I am at mile 1233.5 near Pauley Seep.
Miles hikes today: 18-ish
New trail name for God: Wind Giver