PCT day 39, I WOULD WALK 500 MILES….

492.9 to 508.2, 15.3 miles.  Elevation start 4670, end 4852.  Total elevation gain 2944, total elevation loss 2754.  Average grade 373 feet per mile change.  Sunny, high 71, low 48, calm to slight breeze. 

Today is a huge milestone. I’ve passed the 500 mile mark. Unbelievable. I’ve actually walked 500 miles!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever do something like that!!

Today was a rather uneventful day, hiking through more beautiful forest with picture perfect temperatures, sunny and low 70’s.

Today’s hike was a walk up an immediate 700 foot incline, down a bit, then up a very steep 1,600 foot climb up to around 5,600 feet. The trail was in great shape and I immensely enjoyed walking through tall pines and tall oaks. This is a rare forest that hasn’t been burned down in the last 10 years.

Once I created the top of the hill/mountain I could see the Mojave Desert below. What a site!

The Mojave looms in the distance and I have to cross it via the L.A. aqueduct in 2 days. This is a 24 mile waterless stretch right through the desert! The group I’m currently hiking with had a dinner discussion and we have decided to take an easy day getting to “Hikertown” tomorrow. This will only be a 10 mile mostly downhill hike. We will leave the following day in the evening to night hike across this portion of the PCT. Temperatures are only supposed to be in the upper 70s, maybe touching 80, but the idea of a night hike sounds fun, and will probably conserve water. A cold front will pass sometime tomorrow night, and the next 2 days after tomorrow are forecasted to have highs in the 60s in the Mojave, possibly 50s for our 4,000 foot climb up into the next mountain range, to the town of Tehachapi! What crazy luck!

There are still butterflies everywhere. I can’t believe how many there are! There’s a new type of bird now nest camp. It actually sounds like a monkey screeching! An owl currently hoots off in the distance and another bird is giving a shrill one-whistle at a time call to whoever will listen. As I type this after sunset, the winds are picking up. I love the powerful sound of wind gusts in the trees.

On another note, hiker hunger has officially kicked in. This is where a hiker feels permanently hungry. I ate a double dinner, and that only staved off hunger for an hour. I don’t get full, just temporarily not hungry.

A hiker with a skull passed me today. Talk about a trail surprise!! I was not expecting that!