Days 92
Start: Frog Mountain
Finish: Soldier Creek
Daily Mileage: 27.5
PCT Mile: 1329.1
Soon after I started, I passed a great spring which was the last on-trail water source for the next 23 miles. I was planning to go to the next water source to camp for the day, but this was the first time I really had to decide how much water to take on this trail. There were some off-trail water sources, but who wants to do bonus miles? I grabbed 3 liters and continued on.
The trail followed a ridge for the most part the entire day. It wasn’t always on the top, but it stayed up there.
But the forest was already regrowing. There were carpets of new shrubs, and areas where there was solid ground cover of new trees quickly springing up. It is just a cycle of nature.
The views and outcrops there were highlighted the volcanic nature of the terrain, with jagged upthrusts that seemed out of place high on ridges.
Overall, the day was fairly mellow and not too challenging, a welcome break from yesterday. In addition, it was cloudy for most of the day which gave welcome relief form the sun, especially since I was traveling through large burn areas. The clouds turned grey for part of the day, and there were a couple sporadic sprinkles at times, but they were brief and there was nothing to do about them besides keep hiking.
I’m finding that I’m pushing harder and going longer now that I’m hiking solo. I’m not touching base with anyone, and just hiking however I feel like hiking. My breaks are shorter and less frequent, and I’m doing more miles. Even then, I’m still feeling pretty good considering the distance at the end of the day. I will just have to see how things continue with this new style.
I got to the last off-trail water source, but I still had half of my water thanks to the cloudy day so I skipped it. One last easy climb up Butt Mountain, and I was headed downhill for the day.
Shortly I came to the PCT halfway monument. It’s not exactly in the right spot since trails are living with reroutes, but close enough. Some others were there and handed me a seltzer they didn’t want to celebrate. Honestly, I didn’t feel this milestone much, entering the Cascades yesterday was much more emotional for me.
Then it was just a short downhill to Soldier Creek and the end of the dry section. It was still in the burn area and the campsites were surrounded by burned trees, but there were no other options and there weren’t many trees coming down yet so it seemed safe enough.
I settled in, and later Bags, Prick, Kanga, El Chaski, Ultra, and Old Yeller showed up, cramming in. A good night of conversation.