Saturday September 8, 2012 [26 miles] I slept off and on, but still felt refreshed in the morning. It was a fairly warm night and subsequent morning, and I slept in until 6:15am. I was hiking a few minutes after 7am, retracing a busy section of trail that I knew well from several other trips. At around 9:30am, I got on top of Dick’s Pass, where I had enough cell reception to get out a single text message. I lost a lot of time in this section with obligatory small talk with other hikers, and also just letting large groups by from the opposite direction. I saw the last people for some time at Fontanillis Lake. The trail marker at the Phipps Peak Trail is poorly marked, so I wasn’t completely sure I was on the PCT/TRT for about 5 miles, and was very relieved when I was finally able to confirm my location later. I passed a woman who was thru-hiking a portion of the PCT she had skipped earlier in the year. About 2 miles before Barker Pass, I stopped at a stream to fill up my water and wash my dirty feet/socks. A few guys who were bouldering nearby hiked with me for a few minutes before they reached their truck. I arrived at the Barker Pass trailhead around 5:45pm and talked to my wife on the phone for a bit. I made some couscous after my pepsi stove had some unusual difficulty lighting in the wind. Just after sunset, I setup my shelter in a meadow right next to the parking lot. I didn’t love camping so close to a group of picnic tables where I knew there had been food, but there weren’t many other options around. I sat at one of the picnic benches for a bit before going to sleep around 7:45pm.
|
|
