5.13.18
There was frost covering my tent. I woke cold and with the hood of my sleeping bag sintched down around my face. It was time to move. I kicked my Jetboil on, boiling water for coffee and started packing up.
I was soon on my feet trekking down the trail, blowing into my hands, hoping that the feeling would return to my numb fingers. Finally the sunlight warmed me and thawed me out as I winded through the pines.
I came to the Holcomb creek and took a break, snacking and filtering water. Soon, to my surprise, Madalyn and Jelly Bones rounded the corner. We chatted about the miles to come and the water resupply. Soon I was back on my feet saying goodbye.
After a few miles I came across a Canadian couple who I had met the day before. Soon madalyn came screaming by, she had a good pace! I said goodbye after snapping their picture and took off. For the next miles Madalyn, Jelly Bones, and I leap frogged as we hiked out of the pines into the granite boulder speckled landscape.
We pressed on together until finding a bridge with a nice creek below. I walked down, pulled off my shoes, and sat on a log in the middle of the creek, feet plunged in. Once lunch and the break was over, I said goodbye to the girls and headed out.
The trail hugged the side of a canyon with Deep Creek at the bottom cascading down as it dropped. After snaking through the valley I took another break. The girls soon turned the corner and we resumed the leapfrogging.
We hiked past the hot springs, where there was an overwhelming crowd of nude guys hanging out in the pools. Welp I could have done without that mental image!
We trekked further down the canyon, until finally, as the sun set, we came to a trailside camp.
Hiker Profile:
Madalyn & Jelly Bones
They met in Frezno, both from Santa Cruz. Madalyn went to college at NYU for Environmental Science and Jelly Bones went to a college in Vermont studying Film and Biology. They both dabbled in climbing and hiking. They had both recently graduated and saved up deciding to hike the PCT together.
