Nothing By Noon

Day 90 - Happy Independence Day 

Mile: 1202.4 to 1222.8

up/down: 3000/3800

After our 11 by 11 yesterday, this morning could hardly compare. We struggled to make 10 by noon but were also helped by some of the most awesome trail magic we've seen. To make up for it we hiked till 6pm and got our miles done. Susan calls them mini-miles - the minimum daily average to make sure we don't run out of food. As expected the trail is getting a little easier without snow travel so our miles should go up. There is still plenty of up and down to make us work. 

We finished the climb out of camp to the top of the ridge of the Sierra Buttes. This ridge has road access and is used by hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and campers. As we approached a camp spot we were in for an awesome surprise. Morgan and his friends were wrapping up their third annual 4th of July weekend PCT hiker magic. They had it all and we were swept in for a while. Susan and I split a monster breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, and avocado. It was awesome. They made me French press coffee and poured Susan a big glass of OJ. To top it off we got hot towels to clean up with. It was a fun time and we would have liked to stay longer. But the trail called us back and we said goodbye. Thank you Morgan and all the crew, you are amazing.

 

 

 

We had many miles of yo-yo'ing up and down, in and out with views of the many lakes below. Finally the ridge played out and we moved on to other canyons. We finished up on Nelson Creek near Stafford Mountain and Mt. Etna. Because of our late start yesterday we are mostly out of the hiker bubble seeing only the occasional hiker all day. 

 

 

It's back! But only a little.