Today was an eventful day at least by PCT standards. Fall Risk's girlfriend, Leslie, was kind enough to drive Mellow and me to the trail head around 9. Tourist and Nugs weren't quite ready yet, but she gave them a ride later in the morning. Fall Risk decided to take a zero to spend time with her.
Mellow and I kicked off the morning wiht a 7+ mile climb of nearly 3,000 feet. We hadn't been looking forward to it but it went quickly. Mellow kept me entertained with lots of good stories.
Once we reached the high point at a saddle, Mellow split off to run up Sierra Butte. I'd thought about tagging the summit as it wasn't too far off the trail but decided to conserve my energy and meet Mellow at Summit Lake, another 7ish miles up the trail. Sometimes the PCT is enough by itself, and it's hard work keeping up with the boys!
I'd expected smooth sailing to Summit Lake but got totally confused near Sierra Butte trail head. A ton of roads and trails all came together at the same spot and I had trouble figuring out where I was on my map. Some day hikers had a bigger map with more detail of the area, and they helped point me in the right direction. My map showed an actual trail, but in reality there wasn't a trail and I just had to road walk to a second trail head. It all worked out. I was definitely glad to see the PCT sign at the second trail head though.
I've always disliked road walking out here. Not only is it less scenic, but you have to be super vigilant so as not to miss the spot where you pick up the trail again. I HATE overshooting the trail. And on paved roads like the one today, it's impossible to see footprints. I am definitely a regular map reader out here, but also a champ at tracking Brooks Cascadia footprints, a sure sign a thru-hiker has passed by. Knock on wood, but the dual map/Cascadia system hasn't led me astray yet!
Anyways, back to the hike. Shortly after I joined the trail again, I caught up with Mr. Pibbs who had escaped town last night. The two of us walked together to Summit Lake where we both needed to get water. Summit Lake was a short walk off the PCT. Long before we even got the road to the lake we started hearing gun shots. As we approached the lake, we could tell the shots were being fired super close by. However, we couldn't see the shooters. It was scary but we really needed water. Finally, I called out at the shooters just to let them know we were in the area. I was so glad I did, as they seemed totally oblivious. Fortunately, we were able to walk past and make our way to the other side of the lake. As we walked away, they warned us that there were more shooters on the other side. We couldn't believe it! Neither of us said anything, but we both felt like they should be watching out for us and not the other way around!
Once we got our water, we hightailed it back to the PCT. I left a note for Mellow (with hearts of course......gotta give that boy a reason to pick it up!) telling him that I would be at the next campsite a short distance away. When Mr. Pibbs and I got to the campsite, we could still hear the shots and it generally felt creepy, so I left Mellow another note saying I'd gone a little farther. A mile or so later, we found a nice spot to hang out and wait.
Shortly after Mellow arrived, I took off. He hung out a little longer in order to eat. Our plan was to make dinner at the A-Tree Spring and then dry camp at a saddle a little over a mile beyond the spring. Mr. Pibbs and I rendezvoused at the spring and quickly decided it made more sense to carry a little extra water and just cook at camp. After all the saddle was only another mile. I left Mellow more trail mail containing the new plan, and then Mr. Pibbs and I took off with Peels in the lead. The saddle came much more quickly than anticipated (and that NEVER happens out here), so I deemed that it wasn't the place we intended to camp and convinced Mr. Pibbs to keep going. Wrong decision! Needless to say, we are now camped in a tiny spot on a very breezy and not flat ridge. I don't know it I could even call it a campsite. Mellow says it is more like a mountain top than a ridge. Mr. Pibbs and I were hoping Mellow would use his better judgment and camp at the actual saddle but he explained that he had to follow me up here since I'd been leaving "love" notes all day. In addition, I'd talked a backpacker I'd met just before the spring into doing the extra mile to camp with us, so he's here as well. We always say "Never trust a day hiker" out here. I'm sure his new motto is going to be "Never trust a thru-hiker!" It's all good though. I couldn't be having more fun!
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