Being able to do 25+ mile days again felt wonderful. The combination of slow movement on the snow and intentionally taking shorter days to allow Waffles to recover from her altitude sickness left me frustrated, feeling like a dog pulling on his leash begging to go further. The days became easier and the miles passed by quicker. Snowfields gave way to burn areas and sketchy traverses became gentle dirt trails. The closer we got to Chester, the less snow (and more hikers) we saw. Still, shoutout to Eleven, Stewie, Waterboy, and Cowboyboy (I’ll give you one guess who’s been writing the cowboy erotica) for keeping us sane in an area truly devoid of hikers. It was in this section that Waffle and I met the closest thing we’ve had to a tramily thus far, although it seems by now we’ve left them behind. Everyone else seemed to have flipped significantly further north. For days at a time we completely abandoned trail, instead choosing to follow the easier to navigate ridge lines and buried forest service roads.īy the time I reached the PCT Midpoint, still over 100 miles north of here, I was only the 21st hiker to sign the register this year. Following the trail was impossible, and there was no boot pack. I’d estimate 95% trail coverage in this section, which once again proved to be a “choose your own adventure” style hike. The snowpack was still immensely deep, at least 15-20 feet judging by the tree wells, and seemingly never ending. The first day, I deeply regretted sending away my snowshoes as we began our trek towards Sierra City. Snow Hell! I flipped to Truckee with the intention of finding a snowy section at lower elevation than the Sierra, but the amount of snow here exceeded my expectations. That said, a lot has happened since Truckee, so please forgive me. Without fail, whenever I sit down to write, no matter what it is, I think of the oft misattributed quote “I apologize for the length of this letter, I did not have the time to write one shorter.” History may have forgotten who said it first (Twain? Lincoln? Pascal?) but it’s still the best piece of writing advice ever given.
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