Skip to main content

Stretch Goals (D-30, 600-630.8)

It was 52 miles to the next town (Ridgecrest) where I hoped to take a zero day.  I was thinking I could do 26 miles today and then 26 tomorrow and catch the evening bus at 6 pm from the trailhead to the town.  Then Shalini informed me that the last Eastbound bus to Ridgecrest was at 3:30 pm and the Westbound bus was at 6 pm!!! Darn! Oh well...I figured I could stay at a campground close to the trailhead on Monday night & go to Ridgecrest on Tuesday morning, which was not a big deal except that I would have have to depend on hitchhiking or finding a ride, since the bus ran only on MWF.  Of course, there was a stretch goal that I could go fast and do a long day today, to enable a shorter day tomorrow in time to catch the bus.  It definitely looked unlikely especially after the first couple of hours today, when I had covered only 4 miles due to time to filter & fill water, as well as getting lost for a short while.  Also today was supposed to be a long distance between natural water sources.  Finally there was a bit of elevation and more importantly, the second part of the day was going to be in a very windy region.

However, two things helped...thanks to some extremely generous Trail Angels.  They had kept a huge water cache at 2 points along the way.

This water cache at 613 mile was such a lifesaver for all the hikers! So well maintained and so much water 🙏

Then as the evening came around, I wanted to complete at least 26 miles and then stop at any good campsite. But, as mentioned earlier, the wind was blowing hard and there were hardly any sheltered spots.

These Joshua trees were the only things around. They are funny looking trees, aren't they? 😀

In the middle of nowhere, I saw these giant steps...I call them Steps of the Gods  😋.

Anyway, the next good option for camping in somewhat sheltered spot was the next water cache at Bird Spring Pass and since the Sun sets so late here, I figured I would go on.  I pushed through and reached it after a long day...a stretch goal achieved! Or as my friend, Ritu says, some days on the trail are "self-improvement days" 🙂.

Another huge water cache at Bird Spring Pass.

A reasonably sheltered spot for my tent. The wind was blowing hard all thru the night, but the tent survived 🤞🙂.

Data:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My gear and my tramily (D-97 @ 2148 - Zero day)

Some of you have asked about what gear I am using. Since today is a Zero day (the last Zero day was on D-57) and there is nothing much to report other than the fact that I shipped the last set of resupply boxes to different places in Washington state and ate substantial amounts of food today, I figured I might as well talk about my gear, and also a bit about the other most essential component on the hike - my "tramily" (trail-family).   Tent : 1-person Rainbow Li from Tarptent (bought new). This has worked very well for me and as you know from my earlier posts, Tarptent has given very good customer service too. I haven't had the chance to use the tent in heavy rain or snow (luckily) though and can't comment on it. I use a Tyvek ground sheet (already owned), also from Tarptent. Backpack : Catalyst from ULA (already owned).  I started with Zpack Arc Air Robic 60L (bought new) and used it for 700 miles, but it was not comfortable at...

Monthly Data Update (M-4; Day 91 to 118)

  All data below in italics is for M-1, M-2 & M-3 respectively, for comparison. M-4 is 28 days (all other months were 30 days) Distance traveled on PCT: 702 mi / 1130 km   ( 631 mi / 1015 km; 554 mi / 892 km; 798 mi /1284 km ) Total time: 281 ( 280; 280; 320 ) hours Total ascent:  126,923 ft / 38,686 m ( 117,830 ft/35,915 m; 99,040 ft/30,190 m; 123,951 ft/37,780 m )  Total descent: 128,161 ft / 39,063 m  ( 115,912 ft/35,330 m; 99,730 ft/30,400 m; 123,921 ft/37,771 m ) Highest point: 7174 ft / 2187 m ( 9407 ft/2867 m; 13,120 ft/4000 m; 7580 ft/2310 m ) Average distance/day: 25 mi / 40 km ( 21 mi/34 km; 18.7 mi/30.1 km; 26.6 mi/42.8 km )  Average distance/hiking day: 26 mi / 42 km ( 21.8 mi/35.1 km; 21.3 mi/34.3 km; 26.6 mi/42.8 km ) Average time hiking/day: 10.0 ( 9.3; 9.3;  10.7) hours (incl Nero days) Average pace: 2.6 mph/4.2 kmph ( 2.3 mph/3.6 kmph; 2.0 mph/3.2 kmph; 2.5 mph/4.0 kmph ) Number of Zero days:...

Gratitude (D-114: 2577.8 - 2592.1 - Nero @ Mazama)

As the last town day on the trail ends and a few dozen miles left to the end point, I would like to speak of gratitude. Every so often on the trail, there are moments of "why the heck am I doing this?" and that's when I have to compel myself to remember that this is an option and an opportunity given to me. I am fortunate enough to be able to hike on this trail for a long period, which is essentially a vacation (albeit, a physically & mentally demanding one). Not everybody gets the option of taking such a long vacation from work, family and other commitments. It may be a cliche, but I am full of gratitude for this. I am also deeply grateful to a bunch of people who made this hike possible and I would like to use this post to mention those people. Ravin & Deepika opened their home and hearts so that I could do all the preparatory work before the hike. They were generous to a fault and I used (& perhaps, abused) their generosity. Even during the hik...