Cool Runnings, Madalyn, Lucas, and myself woke early in the morning to meet Madalyn’s Uncle Matt, who lived intown and offered to give us a ride at 6am. The day before (Day 34), we all decided to take a full zero and recover. It was well needed. Plus we watched Cool Runnigs and Austin Powers (lil throw back 90s action). So once matt arrived we all piled into the truck and we were off.
The morning was chilly and getting going was like brushing dust off an old tractor that had been sitting in a field for 10 years. The views were great though and we snaked through the landscape quicky until finally finding the start of the uphill to Mt Baden Powell. It wasn’t killer gain, but with 4 days food resupply and water to get me and ther 10 miles, it was energy draining!
It wasn’t as steep as the push to Mt. Baldy just 2 days before, but for some reason my body was still trying to shake off the dust. I pressed on, up the switchbacks one by one. About 3/4 of the way up, I ran out of gas and had to start pushing will my will alone. After some good grunts and groans, I topped the windy peek to find and american flag, gorgeous views, and Luke playing the Ukulele.
I sat and took it in, looking back to where we were days before. Really stellar views! We chatted on as everyone arrived, and dispersed just the same. It seemed it was a day of every man for himself, and I was alright with that.
I hiked the next miles through the landscape, glacing on to the distance and really enjoying it. At one point I met Luke on a stellar trailside rest stop overlooking a cloud covered valley. I joined him, and we chatted about all kinds of things.
It was time to push on, and the next few miles melted away. I finally was stopped when we came to an endagered species trail closure and had to road walk. Bones joined me for a bit and we chatted before making it to Buckhorn Campground where there was a big group of PCTers and a couple of trail angels cooking up hotdogs for everyone. Man what a nice treat!
We chowed down and decided to walk on a bit further down the trail and not to get sucked into the camp. Sometimes its nice to be in a big group, but sometimes a smaller group on a backcountry campsite with a gurgling creek is whats needed. Thats just what we found, just 2 miles ahead. Luke was sitting in camp, chilling. Bones and I, and eventually Amanda, Hannah, Cameron, Madalyn, and Cool Runnings trickled in. We all hung out, ate dinner, did stretches, and hit the bed. A good day indeed!
