17.64 miles - 3333 ft gain - 2312 ft descent - Hwy 50 ( 1089.98) to Dick Lake (1107.62)
Okay. Okay. I have forgotten how total exhaustion feels. Every step is an effort. Not just tired legs. Overall body fatigue. Like, do I have the strength to set up the tent, poop, cook dinner and eat it? Wow, am I tired. It has stepped over the border from a good tired to a painful tired. Unfortunately, first days out are often like this, at least for me.
I woke this morning about 5:00 am in Sheryl’s living room and wrote my first blog entry of this trip. The air bed was comfy and I slept wonderfully well. I took a shower, my last for 6 weeks?, and ate my chicken breast sandwich and an apple for breakfast. About 8:00 am, Sheryl poked her head out of her upstairs bedroom to ask I I need anything, then showered and got ready for her day of cleaning VRBO houses. She has a 16 year old boy, Zeb, that helps her and he arrived about 8:30. We got on the road at about 9:00 am. Sheryl drove me to the “Y”, where Hwy 89 meets Hwy 50 and dropped me off. She left for work and I exercised my thumb to procure a ride. Within five minutes Robin in a nice BMW pulled over. Robin was in her late 50s-early 60’s and apologized for picking me up, saying she doesn’t usually do this kind of thing but she is a hiker and understands the need to get to a trailhead. The ride was only about 10 minutes. We had a chance to talk. I was wishing the ride was longer. She was a pleasant person.
She dropped me where the PCT crosses Hwy 50 and at 9:30 am I was back on the PCT where I left off July 5, 2014.
The trail paralleled the highway for about half a mile, then crossed it and in two miles arrived at Echo Lake. Here is a boat ramp, a dock for open power boats and most importantly, a store.
While packing this morning I noticed that two boxes of Tricuits that were supposed to be in my food bag were not there, depriving me of about 2500 calories for the first five days. I wanted to lose some weight and my calorie count was already low, but this tipped the scales to extreme. Luckily this little resort store had an assortment of crackers, so I picked up 3000 calories in the form of a box of Ritz.
The trail spends the first 3 miles traversing the shore of the lake. For $10 I could have ridden a lake shuttle to the far end and saved three miles of walking, but I wanted to walk the whole distance to Oregon so I walked the trail. It felt good, and the houses along the shore, accessible only by boat were interesting. I was hoping for 20 miles today, but as soon as the trail started going uphill I noticed I was lacking energy. I had to set a slow pace. At Aloha Lake, about 9 miles in, I stripped and took a swim. It was amazing! The water was warm, no gasping to get in. I scrubbed off the collected trail dirt, fought a chipmunk for one of my Snickers bars, dressed and was back on the road in no time.
This Desolation Wilderness is SPECTACULAR!! Beautiful lakes every mile or so on the trail, tucked into mountain bowls. I was lamenting hiking the whole beautiful thing in one day. It would be a great place to explore and swim in for a week. Its proximity to SLT and the Bay Area means lots and lots of people share the same opinion. I saw hundreds of day hikers and backpackers.
Mile 12 to 15 was a 1700’ gain. It was late in the day and I was struggling. I staggered to the top, then descended 1200’ down to Dicks Lake. It is a beautiful lake nestled into the north side of the ridge. There were at least 40 people already there camping. It took a bit of additional staggering to find a place to pitch my tent. I treated water from the lake, set up my tent, collapsed inside, cooked my chicken and rice dinner, ate and then lie there wondering at how totally exhausted I felt. It was getting dark.
I fell asleep about 9:00 pm and woke up in the dark. I checked the clock. Yes! 12:30 am. 4 hours of more sleep in my future and already the overpowering fatigue was gone.
When I put all my stuff in the tent, I made note of the mouth piece on my water bladder. Because of the way my pack was laying, the hose had a tendency to slide under sleeping pad. If it gets compressed it will leak water. I thought I had it twisted and secured, well out of harms way, but when I woke again at 2:00 am I found a liter of water in the bottom of my tent, wetting articles of clothing and some gear. I mopped up most of the puddles with my shirt, which was already hopelessly wet, rung it out and hung it on the branches just outside the tent, then went back to sleep. By 5:00 am when I started breakfast, everything was dry. You gotta love California climate!!
No comments:
Post a Comment