{"id":4516,"date":"2022-08-28T19:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T02:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wandering.earth\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2022-08-31T07:11:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T14:11:26","slug":"pct-section-hike-2022-day-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wandering.earth\/index.php\/2022\/08\/28\/pct-section-hike-2022-day-17\/","title":{"rendered":"PCT Section Hike 2022 \u2013 Day 17"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Goal for the Day: Somewhere before Carson Pass<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a great night, I awoke to a great morning. From the initial glow of the sun peaking over the eastern mountains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To the first splash of light against the mountains to the west:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To the first glimpse of the sun:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The morning’s sunrise was a great way to start the day. I’m glad I didn’t make it to Lost Lakes now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After sunrise, I packed my gear and then made my way back to the PCT and started heading north once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The maps showed that I’d be passing something called the ‘The Nipple’, but I never saw what they were referring to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Really, I never saw a nipple on this part of the trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I got some more views of the Blue Lakes before finding the Lost Lakes tucked behind the mountain ridge I had been crossing that morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lost Lakes was nice and may have been a good stopping point, but since it’s accessible from a Jeep trail, there were non-hikers around the lake and staying overnight might have been more of a party than an quiet evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I filled up my water first, then waded into the lake and took a nice long swim. It was very refreshing and enjoyable way to send some time in the middle of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since I now considered myself to be 2 days behind my original schedule, I knew I had to continue towards Carson Pass. I know I couldn’t make it to the pass and have enough daylight to hike up from the other side of the pass now, but I had to try to get as close as my legs would let me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I headed back to the PCT and once again headed north. As I climbed up a gentle slopped trail, I was amazed at how quickly the environment changed from the wet, marshy area I had hiked through yesterday into the very arid terrain I now found myself in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not too soon after that, I realized I should have asked some of the car campers around the lake if they had any Diet Coke. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I crossed the Jeep trail near the crest of the PCT and thought to myself that I should try driving up this way in my Jeep sometime. There were a number of Jeep trails, including one that ran all the way north to highway 88. It might be worth a ride sometime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I started a descent into another basin, I found it to be full of trees and other greenery. Several ponds and streams greeted me. I took time to refill my water to it’s full 3 liter capacity since I was uncertain where I’d be camping and what the water situation would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s when I saw what looked like switchbacks up a rock formation called ‘Elephants Back’. That didn’t look good. But as I got closer, I could see that the trail actually wound up a grass covered slope on the other side of the Elephants Back. That looked better. The ‘switchbacks’ I had seen were just a natural part of the rock formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As I reached the last water source before the climb up, I surveyed the area and found a campsite. If I continued the climb up towards Carson Pass, there weren’t any campsites indicated on my maps before I reached a no camping zone that continued all the way down to the pass. I might find something, but my legs voted to stop for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I made that choice, I noticed a use trail behind the campsite near the trail. It lead to another small campsite with a big bolder that I could climb and get a good view of the area. That was a bonus, so I setup my tent, had dinner, and enjoyed some light at sunset. Although, I have to admit I was so tired I didn’t spend a lot of time that evening outside of the tent. I needed the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering I was 2 days over my schedule and heading into the NINTH day of this particular trek, that was to be expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Goal achieved!! Granted, it was a pretty vague goal. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 miles total hiked (6.5 miles on PCT)
7.5 hours on the trail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

56 total miles hiked on this section of the PCT
19 miles to go until Echo Lake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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