Skip to main content

More trail magic and a lesson learned (D-5)

 
The day was pleasant with lots of wind again, but the trail was mostly flat or gently uphill.  It also went through a very large meadow with only grass and cows for miles around 🙂.  My goal was to reach Warner Springs since I had seen this sign yesterday at Scissors Crossing.
The shower, recharging & WiFi along with possible cold/hot drinks was very tempting.  BTW, this is the first time I found out that there was a name - "bucket shower" & "bucket laundry" - for what I had thought was normal bathing and washing clothes all during my childhood in India 😀.

Made it to Warner Springs after 23 miles, well before the 7 pm closing time.  The Community Resource Center provides all these services for PCT hikers.  Though the Center itself was closed (no cold/hot drinks alas), their grounds were open and showers/laundry/recharging were all available and I made full use of it. Very thankful to the Center!

Sinks for laundry and then shower stalls on the back porch

Before I forget, had trail magic lunch thanks to a San Diego-based couple whose son had completed the PCT a few years ago & had been a beneficiary of trail angels. They were doing this now as a way of "pay-it-forward".  Respect! 🙏

Post-laundry, some of my clothes were still slightly wet and I figured I would hang them up in the tent overnight to dry. I kept the tent fly (the outer "door") open to facilitate some wind.  In the middle of the night, I woke up cold assuming it was cos of the open fly, but as soon as I got up, my head hit wet tent walls! Condensation inside the tent 🤦🏽‍♂️, thanks to wet clothes. Duh me!  Then I had the brilliant idea of keeping the tent mesh door open while keeping the fly closed. However, within a few minutes, I had some scraping noises and turning on the headlamp revealed a 2-inch long ant strolling next to the tent.  There went my idea of keeping the door open!  Lesson learned: never dry your clothes inside the tent. Leave them outside.

It was cold wind which meant hiking with the fleece on the whole day

The famous 3rd Gate water cache which has 4 pallets of gallon jugs of water and is the most reliable water cache in the desert

Today:




Comments

Kusum said…
Wow Ravi, you are clocking more and more every day! Trail angles, bucket laundry, bucket shower- learning new phrases every day. Your blogging is great. Keep it up.
LisaB said…
I would have made the same clothes drying error that you did. Keep having fun! I’m having fun watching your journey.
Kavitha said…
Wonderful to read about your hike, Ravi!! So inspirational! 😍
Vipul said…
I am late but as I read through it in sequence I am now amazed with what you are doing, that world you are experiencing, can't explain enough.. Thanks Ravi for sharing

Popular posts from this blog

Pleasures of being on PCT (D-16; 303.7 - 328.8 miles)

Heading out from the cowboy camping experience last night, I was looking forward to Deer Creek Hot Springs that is apparently very popular among the locals too & tended to get crowded during the weekends, even though one has to hike in a mile or so from the trailhead parking (or hike 308 miles on PCT 🙂). Reached it early enough, but still it was chock full of people - locals & thru-hikers both - most of whom had camped there overnight in spite of it being a No Camping zone. People were lazing around in some of the pools in various states of undress, as it was a clothing optional area. It was way too crowded for me and I decided to head out. But, as I was heading out, I saw a small pool of water with nobody in it and the water was pleasantly hot (not just warm). Pool I "discovered" away from the crowds Close-up of the pool Me in the pool 😋 What a lovely feeling to be in a hot pool, especially after not having had a hot

Why you shouldn't (or should) thru-hike the PCT? (D-115: 2592.1 - 2613.1 - Nero @ Mazama, D-116: 2613.1 - 2642.6)

Over the last 116 days, I have had plenty of time to think about what's good or bad about this thru-hike and just in case, one of you is thinking about doing a PCT thru-hike, here are my thoughts about why you shouldn't or should do it.   Why you shouldn't do a PCT thru-hike - It is very tough physically and mentally - There is less than 50% chance that anyone starting it will finish - Almost everyone seems to have negative physical effects including weight loss, muscle loss, days & days of tired legs & feet etc - You will definitely get scratches, bruises and cuts, if you are lucky. If you are unlucky, major sprains, muscle tears & other hike-ending injuries. Btw, most people who stop do so 'cos of injuries. - You will trip & fall down multiple times (when the avg number of steps is 50000 - 70000/day over uneven paths, the law of large numbers takes over and some of those steps will lead to falls) - It is an expensive activity, with a bulk o

A thru-hike attempt... successful! (D-117: 2642.6 - 2653.6, D-117S (SOBO): 0 - 17.1, D-118S (SOBO): 17.1-30.6)

It is done! Finally, on August 10th, 2022, 117 days after I started at the US-Mexico border on April 16th, 2022, I reached the US-Canada border.  Walked 2653.6 miles (4270.6 km) south-to-north through the states of California, Oregon and Washington. No bittersweet moments...just sweet relief to be done 😀. We were few of the lucky thru-hikers this year who were able to go south-to-north continuously without any interruptions.  People who started even a couple of weeks earlier and maintained this pace hit a lot more snow in Seirras and a hell lot more in Washington, the latter being almost hike-stopping.  By the time we got to Seirras, the snow was much more manageable, and almost all the snow had melted in Washington.  People who started later or were slower have had to skip parts of Northern California due to forest fires. Even Oregon and Southern California have some fires starting already. Anyway, reached the northern terminus of the PCT yesterday morning around 8:40 am