<--PREVIOUS NEXT--> PCT Day 31, 12 June 2022 (Sunday)
“Peach Slushy Syndrome”
Start Location:
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Wilderness Campsite
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Destination:
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Wilderness Campsite
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PCT Miles Day 31:
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23.3
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Cum PCT Miles:
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635.3
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Non-PCT Miles Day 31:
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0.2
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Cum All Miles:
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662.9
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PCT Miles Remaining:
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2,017.3
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Elevation Gain Day 31:
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6,058
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Cum Elevation Gain:
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110,578
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So, as it turns out yesterday was kind of a strange day. My overall pace was about 15-20% less than usual. I was trying to figure out why, and I first thought it was because of the terrain. Although there was a decent elevation gain of over 5,000 feet, it wasn’t so much the overall elevation, it’s that most of that elevation gain came in steep ups and downs instead of more gradual ups and downs. But I noticed even on sections where I should be going relatively fast, I would look at my GPS watch and notice my pace was still much slower than it should be.
Then I started thinking maybe it was because I had to conserve water last night and for the first 15 miles of the day. But then that doesn’t explain why I was still going relatively slow after I got water at Robin Bird Spring.
So then I started thinking this morning that maybe there’s something deep in the subconscious that’s trying to draw a long distance hiker back to a trail town. Trail towns are nice and necessary, but they’re also a little bit of a trap in that they remind you of all the things that you’re missing when you’re on trail. Like getting an ice cold, peach-flavored slushy at the minimart. I think it’s possible that peach flavored slushy was trying to pull me back to town and slowing me down.
But today, I am far enough away, and far enough down the trail, that it doesn’t have the same draw, and I am back to my normal speed. I am calling this the Peach Slushy Syndrome. Now, this is just an uneducated theory from a PCT hiker who has nothing better to do but to think random thoughts all day. So there is that.
It seems the water situation in the 50 miles from Tehachapi to the Kelso Road water cache has gotten out of hand. There are three springs in that 50 miles that are really the only natural sources of water, one of which I mentioned a couple days ago.
Well, there is so much fear about what might be in the water that many hikers are actually getting off the trail and re-joining it at Kelso Road. And some hikers are just skipping that entire 50 miles all together and trying to get a ride to Kelso Road or beyond. When I was at that water cache this morning a truck pulled up with five hikers who had done just that. The fear mongering is really out of control.
Interesting though, that the person that dropped them off is also the person that maintains this water cache and another one 15 miles up the trail. His nickname is Devilfish, and he is one of the true all star trail angels. Like some other water sources provided by volunteers in Southern California, these two caches are vitally important. It’s hard to imagine being able to do this hike without those water caches.
Though I was back to normal hiking speed today, I was slowed by the wind. For about the last week, the wind has been blowing hard on and off. But today, it was really fierce. It wasn’t just fighting the wind and leaning into it, it was a real battle. I’m guessing it was gusting to at least 60 to 70 mph. I was blown off balance many times, and in some stretches, I think I took just as many sideways steps as forward steps.
I kept tightening the strap on my hat until it got so tight I was getting a headache. Finally, it was blowing so hard that I had to take my hat off all together. Luckily, I found a nice, semi-sheltered place to set up my tent. But the wind is still whipping around here, it probably will be like that all night.
Kelso Rd cache, there’s another one just like it in 15 miles at Bird Spring Pass
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