Goal for the Day: Somewhere near Tinker Knob (again)

I awoke to overcast skies and worried that the day would be rainy again. As much as my body wanted to, I couldn’t stay were I was. So, as I had breakfast and packed up my gear I was treated to some nice light through the clouds to the east.

After that, the skies started to clear up rapidly so by the time I was a mile down the trail, it was looking like it would be a gorgeous day.

The hike to Tinker Knob took me down to the North Fork of the American River, then up towards Tinker Knob. It did look like a knob during the climb up to the ridge it was on.

I filled up on water (3 liters + 20oz for my Gatorade bottle) at the last water source before the ridge. I’d need it to cook dinner, breakfast, and possibly make it all the way to Donner Pass the next day. That would be a long stretch without any confirmed water sources to rely on.

As I neared Tinker Knob, I had to decide if I was going to scramble to the top of Tinker Knob or not.

Even though it looked like a manageable class 2 scramble to the top, I decided that I’d enjoy the view from the sides of it as I continued north on the PCT. Mostly since the climb up to the ridge had done a pretty good job of exhausting me.

As I continued along the ridge that I now found myself on, I started to look for a spot to camp on. My info showed several sites along the trail before Anderson Peak, so that became my new target for the day.

I found one group of campsites near the trail and a bigger group of spaces for 5-6 tents further to the east of the trail. I decided to take a single site nearer the trail. It had some protection from the wind, but was a quick hike to where I could see the sunset. The walk to see the sunrise on the other side of the ridge line would be longer, but not too far.

After setting up my tent and having dinner, I walked a few steps to my sunset viewing spot and enjoyed the best light show of this particular trek.

Energized by the great end to the day, I went to sleep confident that I could complete the rest of PCT section K the next day. My mileage that day was pretty low, but the great sunset more than made up for that.

Miles hiked on PCT section K: 6

Goal: Success! (second time’s the charm)