It was a rough one. We got on trail at 6:45 just a few minutes later than we had aimed for. Re-taping blisters and hot spots always takes longer than you think. It was still nice and cool when we started climbing out of the little oasis we were in. By 10 am I needed a break bad. It was a slog all morning until that point, my body just didn’t want to move. We found a shady spot to have a snack and chill only to find out there were two ant hills. Onward we must go. Another spot was found in the tiny bit of shade that was available. It was perfect for a little breakdown and then a boost by a snack and coffee.
Walking on to Mikes Place to get water, we only had 5ish miles more, I put on some music and had a little hiking dance party. Jake was happy to see I had a bit of a mood change and he thrilled to dance along to music he couldn’t hear when I caught up to him. Finally made it to water at Mike’s, it was so so so hot at this point! Filtered some water while chatting with a couple from Washington who were enjoying the bit of shade. It was 90+ degrees today and everyone was feeling it.
We decided to not stay here to eat lunch and push on to find other shade. That may have been a mistake! It was around 2 pm at this point and in the desert that means barely any shade can be found, plus we have an 18 mile water carry so our bags were super heavy. We eventually just wedged ourselves into a bush and made do. We stayed camped out here until around 4:30 when it was just a bit cooler.
There were only 4 or so miles to go from lunch to our campsite so it wasn’t too bad. The sun started its descent behind some of the mountains so it was cooling ever so slightly which also helped. I had to pee badly but there was nowhere to pee except basically in the middle of the trail which you could clearly see from the trail on the other side of the bowl we walked around so eventually Jake just blocked the trail and played lookout while I went barely off trail. Being a girl is hard sometimes.
Made it to the first camp site we had been eyeing to find three other people already there and no spot big enough for our tent. Not a huge deal as there were more spots just a bit up the way. We found a nice flat spot and started setting up. I went to move my bag inside the tent and discovered there were ants crawling all over. I looked at the ground and saw that there were tons of tiny anthills. SIGH. I brushed off as many as I could but I was at my breaking point. I went for a walk to the other side of the trail and just sat out of the sun behind a bush for a few minutes to cool down. It was all a little better and I ate some seriously delicious soy sauce flavored Top Ramen for dinner, courtesy of Jake. Again, he’s the best and I’m so glad we are out here together.
PCT Hike 