Campsite at mile 1450 to campsite at mile 1434
Total PCT miles hiked: 806
Due to our early start Keith (Starman) and I arrived at the Sierras when there was still a lot of snow, and decided it wasn’t safe to attempt a crossing given my skill level. We elected to flip up to northern California and hike southbound (SoBo) back to where we left off near Lone Pine – giving the snow a chance to melt out. During this flip the PCT milage will be counting down, but I’ll include a tally of our total milage hiked so that you can keep aprised of our progress in a linear fashion.
To my right the world drops into nothing. Only empty white space and angry wind. Only tossing rain and a gaping maw of weather that feels ready to swallow me whole. Grey plate morning skies have broken open and crashed down upon us, the world is a 20 meter white sphere, trees like dark bodies crowding the perimeter. And rain. A thousand kinds of rain from ethereal mist to slapping torrents.
This morning Keith had said “today is one of those days where if we had extra food and time we’d just huddle in the tent all day.” Gods I wish we could, I so wish we could just snuggle down in the tent against this leaden grey day. But we don’t have the gift of food or time. The only way out is through and so we head out into the waiting storm.
Soon it’s raining. Soon the trail is nothing but rain and wet and at a certain point there is nothing we can do but keep walking. Keep moving or else we’ll start to shiver. Breaks are dangerous when it’s too cold to sit still. Filtering water, agony; cold hands like claws squeezing ice water through a filter. Water too cold to drink. The rain is just barely rain, a few degrees colder and it would be snow, which might be better or at least less capable of permeating everything; sinking down down into our packs and clothes. The best we can hope for now is damp.
The only way out is through.
And so we sing. We make up silly lyrics for the Alanis Morissette song “Ironic,” for no other reason than it mentions rain. And, I suppose, if you’re going to trudge through the freezing rain you might as well be doing it with the person you love while making up absurd songs about famous magicians. Again, the trail teaches me that this is not real tragedy, this is something I have chosen, something I can make the best out of. I’m partaking in a vacation for bored affluent folks, this trip only has the value I ascribe to it. I am not a martyr unto myself. Despite the misery, despite the hours spent walking in the cold, despite everything – it is a privilege to choose one’s method of suffering.
It’s like David Blaine at your son’s birth-day
He’s a creepy guy, but he already paid
He did his act and it seems he just wants to stay
Who would’ve thought – it figures!
I love it! What else but sing silly songs can you do on a miserable, rainy day?! I have a question, if you have time. I have been so, so fortunately to heave relatively good weather on every single one of my backpacking trips. Crazy, but true. And when it has rained, it’s been brief or in spurts. So my question is about wet shoes. You can wear rain gear to keep 90% of you dry. But your hiking shoes/boots will be soaked through. And if it rains multiple days on a row, they’ll be soaked through day after day. So-do your feet respond differently to being wet all day or for a couple/few days in a row? Do they blister more readily from the dampness? Does the skin start to sort of fall off? Do you bother trying to put dry socks on mid-day for some reprieve? Or is that useless? And actually, I have another question. Gear. Wet gear. You have to pack up wet gear and you can’t unpack it at lunch to dry it out. So you make camp at night with wet gear. And if it rains multiple days in a row….does the gear start to get mildewy? Moldy? Wet on the inside?
The biggest goal with rain hiking is to keep stuff dry the first time (instead of trying to dry out after the fact). Water proof sacks for sleeping bags are a must, and if I knew it was going to rain I’d throw my tent and clothes in one too. However, after a bit your going to get wet and the best you can do is try and dry out when the some comes back. Also, pro tip – if you throw a damp item into the foot box of your sleeping bag your body heat will dry it overnight.