PCT Day 38, 19 June 2022 (Sunday)
Start Location: |
Wilderness Campsite |
Destination: |
Wilderness Campsite |
|
PCT Miles Day 38: |
24.9 |
Cum PCT Miles: |
763.9 |
|
Non-PCT Miles Day 38: |
0.6 |
Cum All Miles: |
795.1 |
|
PCT Miles Remaining: |
1,888.7 |
|
|
|
Elevation Gain Day 38: |
4,224 |
Cum Elevation Gain: |
134,300 |
I got another late start due to the cold. In my defense, it’s hard to get going when your fingers are so numb you can’t tie shoelaces. But it was also another bluebird day, with the added bonus of improving scenery, as can be seen in the photos.
It was also another good acclimatizing day with the vast majority of hiking done above 10 and 11,000 feet. I am now 13 miles ahead and should do Mt. Whitney tomorrow, a day earlier than planned. It stayed warmer longer today so I was able to do a few more miles, but in the evening it started getting pretty cold again.
A few well-known things that can affect the difficulty of a hike are the total miles hiked, the total ascent and descent, the elevation at which the hiking is done, and the weather. But, one thing that is rarely talked about, is the surface on which the hiking is done. In my experience, the surface can drastically affect the pace at which one can hike. Today’s surface was mostly ideal, with hard-packed sand and dirt. This helped in getting some good miles done today. Of course, no long stretch is completely ideal. There were several miles of deeper sand and tricky rock.
It’s relatively easy to estimate how many miles you can hike each day based on the well-known factors. But, that added factor of surface can really really trip you up (no pun intended), or speed you up.
My least favorite surface is unorganized and non-uniform talus and scree. You have to be really careful on this stuff, and it’s also hard on the feet and shoes. My second least favorite is deep sand. Not only does it slow you down, but it gets inside your shoes, and can cause blisters if you do not regularly takeoff your shoes and get the sand out. There are a bunch more varieties of surface, obviously, but you get the idea.
I’ve been running into more non-PCT backpackers, as was expected. And, also as expected, seen a lot more PCTers from the Kennedy Meadows Bubble. This should start spreading out more over the next few days as a lot of hikers have very different plans for hiking Mt. Whitney or not, where to exit the trail to go to town and which town to go to.
I’m having maybe my favorite backpacker meal tonight, spaghetti with meat sauce.
Trailmaster Peak
Chicken Spring Lake, the first Sierra lake on the PCT
View from today
Kaweah and Black Kaweah Mts, among others
Rock Creek, best flow of water yet in the Sierra
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