Day 65 – The Climb
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 32
After snoozing my alarm a few times this morning, I saw some hikers that I knew pass me, so it was time to get up and start my day. Some people get up so early! I threw my stuff in my bag, at a huge breakfast of snack foods, and was on my way towards Belden. Only 60 miles to go!
Since we’ve been out of the Sierras, the trail is far less scenic because we’re less on top of the world and far more down in the forests. As such, we see a lot of trees.
The scenery was fairly monotonous this morning and it was starting to get hot, so I was hankering for a swim. Conveniently, right before the giant climb of the day, there was an awesome river that I spent about an hour exploring and swimming in, eventually joined by a few other hikers I had met camping two nights back. It was a great way to 1) cool down, 2) rinse off, 3) clean my laundry, and 4) relax in the sun on this wonderful day. Unfortunately, I eventually needed to continue hiking.
Immediately after the river, the trail started to climb. 10 miles after the river, the trail was still climbing. I have no idea what laws of physics were being broken by that mountain today, but The Climb kept going up and up and up, even when it seemed like we were already as high as we could possibly get!
For hours, all I did was climb. Climb and climb and climb some more. On the way up, I passed a few people, one of which was Laurel, Dodger’s friend from college that I had met in Bishop! What a small hiker world! I wanted to get the climb over with, so after talking for a bit, I pushed on to Lookout Rock, the gloriously awaited end of the never-ending climb. I still had a few more miles to the campsite I had chosen, but at least it wasn’t directly uphill anymore!
We started in one of those valleys
When I finally reached the campsite I had decided on, I discovered that it was already taken by two other hikers. 😱 Nooooooo! Luckily, Jann and Taylor (Damnit and Front Seat) were pretty cool guys and immediately offered me a hotdog from their fire as well as an additional spot to sleep. Perfect!
We sat by the fire for a long time talking about the trail while I ate three dinners (so hungry AND I’ll be in town tomorrow) and a few snacks after my hotdog was gone.
The good news is that to get out of Belden in the next few days, we would have to climb an even taller hill! Hooray! 🎉