Mt. Baden-Powell

Mile: 361.7-383.9

Today was so much better than yesterday. Boy. How to begin.

I hiked 22.2 miles today. What? Ya. I’m in disbelief as well. The first 2 miles I hiked with Sticks and K (after leaving our campsite at about 9… I laid in my warm tent and read a bit this morning and it was wonderful). That is where K and I said our goodbyes for now and went our separate ways. K went to Wrightwood and I continued down the trail. One mile later was the first place to get water. After realizing that I would have to hike back up this steep side trail (I was already halfway down) I decided that I could wait another 6 miles to get water.

I hiked alone for those 6 miles but didn’t feel lonely at all. I knew there were a few grey haired men behind me and I knew somewhere in front of me was DB even if I never saw him again.

I know people think that thru-hikers have these deep meaningful thoughts running through their mind all the time and maybe some do but honestly most of the time my thoughts wander to the fact that my shadow looks like Darth Vader and that the way the PCT is a single track trail and all hikers walk in a single file, we are just like the sand people in star wars who walk in each others footsteps to hide their numbers. I don’t know the exact number of people who have walked in front of me on a certain day nor does the person behind me know etc.

Surprise. Surprise. Guess who was at the visitors center when I got there to get water and eat lunch… DB. After eating and filtering water we both left and started hiking towards Baden-Powell. He got a bit ahead of me but I caught up with him at the trailhead that would lead to the mountain. We talked to a seasoned PCTer for a bit before we started the climb and endless switchbacks that lead to the top. I was extremely surprised that I was keeping pace with DB considering the past climbs that we have done together (I’m usually two or three switchbacks behind). As the top of the mountain neared there was more and more snow to traverse. I put my micro-spikes on and they worked great. At one point we had to walk straight up a snow field and disregard the way the actual trail went completely. That was not my favorite but I made it to the top and didn’t die. That was good.

K and Sticks had skipped a few miles when they were dropped off at a different trailhead than they had originally planned. They ended up being at the campsite DB and I were aiming for! We all had dinner around a campfire and Sticks even gave me Brussels Sprouts to roast!

Though it was a tough day it ended up being absolutely worth every uncertainty.