Another Flat-Footed Adventure: June 18, 2012

Crabtree Meadows, below Mt. Whitney
Elevation: 10,500 ft
Today's Miles: 16
Trip Mileage: 62

Today felt good. We had mostly easy miles, with some very steep but short stretches then a steep drop into this meadow with a ridiculously picturesque creek winding through it, Mt. Whitney looming over all. The boulder pile I'm sitting on now is warm from the sun and looks down on a little waterfall pool where fish dart around. Not bad for a Monday.

I am disappointed to be so close to the highest peak in the lower 48 states, and not climbing it. I could pull it off, all 18 miles and 4,000 feet of elevation gain, but the aftereffects would be unknown, likely unpleasant. Just a few miles of downhill today made my arches ache - Whitney's switchbacks make them quiver in fear! If only the whole PCT could be uphill, I know I"d be fine.

We've met more of the full-distance (started at Mexico) thru-hikers here. Just-A-Test stopped at Chicken Spring Lake just as we were leaving it and then we met formally here at Crabtree Meadows, where we're all camped for the night. She commented on Chicken Spring's obvious beauty and lamented not camping there last night. There was definitely beauty, and cold water for swimming and frogs for singing you to sleep, but there was also a major wind situation at night. Out tent kept us up with its constant flapping and the wind with its loud howling. Then around 3am the tent collapsed, and we slept peacefully with ti over us like a blanket, thankful for the quiet, while the wind howled itself to sleep.

Anyway, I didn't relay any of this to Test, because I was too distracted by mosquitoes. They've finally made an appearance (even though there is still NO snow to melt into puddles for them) although they don't seem very motivated to fight for our blood. Challenger (another PCTer) came down from Whitet just then, glowing from a day of powering up and down the 14,504 foot peak. His was the funniest reason I've ever heard for summitting a peak: he needed cell reception to pay a bill that would be due before his next town stop. Just one more way technology is changing the way we hike.

Just-A-Test had an even better trail-meets-technology story. She accidentally (and unknowingly) set off the 911 function of her Spot GPS emergency beacon. For those who don't know, a Spot is one way a hiker can call in the cavalry when far from roads or phones. And the cavalry did come for Just-A-Test. She said she could see a helicopter circling for a while before she got suspicious, check her Spot and sheepishly called off the search (she was actually at a campground which had cell reception). She was only three days in the PCT, so of course she immediately received her trail name: Just-A-Test. I'm still waiting on mine, and any story that might come with it.

Shaggy says:

Woke up many times last night to the wind flapping the tent around. Finally it was so strong it pulled a stake out of the sandy soil, and the tent collapsed on us. It took us awhile to give in, but we finally decided to take the tent down and sleep under the stars. They were beautiful too. Not sure why we didnt do that at first!
We started late due to the lack of sleep. The trail was beautiful today. I was really surprised that we didnt see anyone else while hiking today. It seems like the PCTers are really spread out this year, likely because of the lack of snow.
We made it to Crabtree Meadows by 430. Camping really early to let Laurens foot rest. It is beautiful here, I love the Sierras. The view from my tent yields a meadow with stream running through it. Deer are in the meadow, chowing down. The mountains in the background are huge slabs of granite jutting up from the ground. Whitney is one of them. Right now we are considering an easy day tomorrow, give Lauren time to rest her foot. I may opt to climb Whitney, unsure right now.

"The tragedy of life is not what we suffer but rather what we miss."