Thursday, July 4, 2019 - A Question of Trail Etiquette, 11.1 miles, Spring (1731) to Hyatt Reservoir (1741.2) Ascent 1228.7ft, Descent 2110.6 ft

Resourceful or deviant?  That question was bantered about this morning as Ed and I made a route decision. What are the ethics of the trail? Do you have to walk every step on the trail? Can you take an alternate route and still count it as hiking the PCT? What is a purest and when does purest turn to annoying OCD? You can enter the discussion and express your opinions later, when I present the facts of the situation.

I slept well last night, at least by my standards. I was unconscious from 8:30pm until 12:30am when I was awakened by Ed as he crawled out of the tent to relieve himself. I was quickly back asleep, but as is my sleep pattern, it was more dozing and cat napping than full on lights out. 

About 3:30am nature placed a call to me.  Unfortunately, this call can only be answered outside the tent, away from my warm quilt. Ed received a similar call. We both exited to take the call. Once back inside, I found sleep hard to catch again, so I put in my earbuds and listened to music, drifting in and out of sleep. Jimi Hendrix was filling my ears when I felt a rustling next to me. I opened an eye to see Ed fully dressed, acting as if he were getting up. 

“What time is it?”, I groggily asked. 

“5:20.”, came the reply. 

I slowly came to, then began munching my leftover dinner from last night as I dressed, collapsed my sleeping pad, stuffed my quilt and generally made ready for departure. 

We were on the trail by 6:05am. We counted 8 other tents in the area as we pulled away. 

It was a beautiful morning. Not a cloud in sight. Lite breeze. Sun beginning to peak above the horizon. The trail was nearly level, just gently rising and falling as it stayed close to the rounded ridge top. We chatted as we sauntered along. Quickly, two hours and four miles had passed. “Really?  It’s eight o’clock?”  We stopped for Ed to adjust his shoe. I took the opportunity to drop the kids off at the pool. Once moving again, we came to a road crossing in about 100 yards, complete with a bathroom. Darn. Wish I would have known 100 yards earlier. 

At 5.5 miles we walked above Keene Resevoir and soon crossed the Green Spring Highway. The pipe gate on the south side of the highway had a busted latch. We fooled around with it for 10 minutes, then crossed the highway and sat down in the shade of the pines on the northside for a break. Looking at the map we noticed the PCT turned south again about 2 miles up the trail. What? Why?  Closer inspection found a gravel road, Old Hyatt Prairie Road, that ran directly north to our destination, cutting about 2.5 miles from today’s hike. 

So. The question. When is hiking the PCT not hiking the PCT? If you hike a road that has a more direct route than the trail, without hitching a ride, are you still hiking the PCT or have you “cheated”?  Ed and I discussed this issue for a bit and decided it depends on what your goals and aspirations are (A version of the “hike your own hike” (HYOH) mantra.). I want to be able to tell myself I walked from Mexico to Canada, every step. But whether every step is on the trail is not important, especially when the trail makes wild gyrations around private property. Ed shared that philosophy. Decision made. We’ll hike the road. 

We continued up the trail 1.4 miles to where it crossed the road, turned right and followed it 1.5 miles to the Little Hyatt Resevoir, our destination, instead of following the trail for 4.5 miles to reach the same location. 

Once at the lake we noticed a flat area on the west shore. The road continues along the east shore where a couple cars and trucks were dispersal camping. The west shore was isolated and unoccupied. We clambered up the hill by the small dam holding this Resevoir in place and soon found an excellent place to plant ourselves for Independence Day. Lunch, a swim in the lake, a nap and blogging followed.