As I hiked into Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) two days ago I was excited to visit this place I had read about in so many accounts of PCT hikers, but I was loath to take an entire day just to let my body rest. I had positioned myself within 10 miles of the resort and planned to get there before noon on Wednesday the 25 with the idea that taking the afternoon off would give me sufficient rest to regain my strength and move on. I refrained from following that line of thought and forced myself to stay Thursday, stating to Rolling Stone and Click Click that I had better be really strong come Friday after "wasting" Thursday laying around doing nothing. If you read the previous day's account you will see Thursday was one of my best days on the PCT due to the kids I spent the day with, so it certainly was not wasted. The question still remained, did I gain back strength to merit an entire day?
The answer is an emphatic yes! This morning I said goodbye and loaded into the van that was to drive us to the water's edge. It was a very beat up white Ford van with milk crates to sit on as the seats had been removed. The ill fit doors leaked the lake bottom dust in as we crawled along, causing much coughing from us four riders. We boarded the "ferry", a 14' open aluminum boat and cruised to the inlet end of the lake where the "captain" rammed the shore in an attempt to run the boat up the steep shore, but with packs and people in the bow we abruptly stopped upon impact, toppling us all off our seats into the bottom of the boat. The red faced "captain" apologized and we disembarked.
With four bars of service I used the opportunity to call home and say hi to Sally and Jeff. It was now ten o'clock. On a typical hiking day I like to have about 7 or 8 miles done by this time, but the boat did not set sail until well after 8:30 making an early start impossible.
There was about a half a mile of beach to walk to reach the trail head and then about two miles of trail to reach the PCT. 7 miles and 3000' of climbing were required to gain Silver Pass. I found the rest day did wonders! Where I had struggled up Seldon Pass Tuesday I flew up Silver and felt strong the whole way. The extra day's rest was worth it.
From the top of the pass a descent of 1500' to Fish Creek is followed by a 1000' climb up to Virginia Lake. From here an up and down traverse of the ridge for approximately 7 miles brought me past Purple Lake and over to the Duck Lake drainage. It was beginning to get dark as I found a place to camp, 17 miles up the PCT and 20 miles overall. The nightly routine of foot soaking, dinner and blogging were performed.
The value of the zero day was apparent. Although still tired at the end of the day, overall I felt stronger. I hope my short time left before I fly home on July 8 and the long trail distance to Lake Tahoe allow me another zero day. I now see their benefit.
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