PCT day 36, a cold, wet, windy, fascinating hike

Start mile 454.4, end mile 465.6, 13.2 miles (2 miles off trail). Start 2536 feet, end 3363, total elevation gain 2571, elevation loss 1734, average grade 381 feet per mile.  High 56, low 52, cloudy and some light drizzle/rain high winds on the ridge. 

I started my day preparing for a cold, possible rainy hike. I was getting ready to leave when I was called up to the garage. There was an owl nest in the yard and one of the 4 baby owls fell out!! He was ok but wouldn’t survive for long on the ground. A forest ranger came out and took him. He explained that owls don’t build their own nests, they just “commandeer” other nests. The nests are often too small, and the owls can fall out because of this.

I took off on my hike, climbing up to a ridge line. The temperature kept dropping as I climbed. I began to see my breath and had to put gloves on when my fingers started to go numb. Walking the ridge line was amazing. It currently stands out as the #2 most memorable experience on trail so far.

I crested the ridge line and saw the clouds bringing blown right over the ridge at crazy fast speeds!! It was simply amazing to be walking into the clouds and see clouds being blown into me!!

I walked the ridge and began the descent on the north (away from sun) side of the mountain and was again amazed by the change of scenery. It was also dead calm, being shielded from the high winds and fog, and an amazing amount of birds singing!! The air smelled of wet Manzanita bloom and sage.

I descended down again to what would be my campsite this cold night. There was trail magic in the form of water, cola, Gatorade, and beer!! I had a Gatorade and a soda. I’ll let my cell phone pictures paint a picture of my day.