Day 5: Say Hi to Chris and Debbie
May 20, 2023
Russell Tank to Campsite
16.1 miles
There's a family with three young kids that hiked the PCT last year. Well, most of it. This year they planned on hiking the Continental Divide Trail but after a week bailed and went to Georgia to hike the Appalachian Trail instead. Seeing their posts (@daleywalk on Instagram) of them hiking in the rain and muck reminded me why I opted against hiking the AT and chose the Pacific Crest Trail instead: I hate rain. A short walk in the rain when you can go inside and warm up? Sure. Cozied up in a quilt with a mug of hot tea on a rainy day? Hell yeah. Waking up in a wet tent only to put on wet clothes and hike in the rain all day and end the day wet again? Fuck no. I hate rain.
We woke up to our tent wet on the inside from our body heat evaporating and wet on the outside from morning dew. Our shoes and socks still wet from yesterday's rain had to be put on again in the cool morning air. The mornings have usually been clear skies and sunny, but not today. Overcast clouds with rain forecasted between noon and 4:00 are what we wake up to today.
Solemnly we packed up camp, forgetting to brush our teeth in our misery and trudged out of camp. On our hike out a mountain biker passes us. I say, "mornin'" and he replied, "say hi to Chris and Debbie." Nothing else. No context, nothin'. Just rode away leaving us perplexed. Who were Chris and Debbie? Where were Chris and Debbie? What is Chris and Debbie. We accepted our side quest.
We hiked for about three miles before getting to Russell Tank (a different tank by the same name, except this one is an actual tank) to fill up on water and have breakfast. This will likely be the last water of the day unless we make it an 18 mile day to the next.
While we filtered water and made our morning tea and coffee the rain started to fall. It clearly wasn't going to let up so we abandoned our breaks plans and packed up. Better to move and stay warm than sit cold and wet.
It rained for a couple hours before slowly letting up. We finally took a break to have breakfast. The Ponderosa forest has transitioned to primarily large grasslands dotted with Pinion Pines, with thicker groves of Pinions lining the valley.
The sun was trying so hard to break through the clouds but just couldn't quite make it. We hiked on, waiting for the sun ttso come out to explode our packs again and dry out our soaked tent and wet socks. Finally after a few more hours the sun broke through and we immediately took the opportunity to dry out our gear and eat some lunch. I was able to get some service to check in on Indy 500 qualifying and let my feet air out after being trapped in my wet shoes and socks all morning.
We packed up and headed out for the afternoon with looming dark clouds slowly creeping towards us. Rain seemed inevitable. Shortly thereafter we saw another hiker having a break in the side of the trail. We said he and I asked if he happened to be Chris. Surprised and confused he nodded. Bingo. Side quest halfway complete.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty mundane. The forest transitioned to a mix of craggy Pinion Pines and scrubby Utah Junipers with lots of desert grasses. Glowworm's left foot started to hurt late in the day, probably due to the sprained ankle she had earlier in the year that nearly derailed our whole plan for this trip. She was a badass, though, and did all she could with her physio.
As we hiked, though, the storm clouds almost seemed stationary. We were hiking perpendicular to them so it almost looked like we could outrun it but then the trail would turn back and pass the other way. Aside from some sprinkles, the rain never came and by the time we made camp in a grassy valley next to a gnarled juniper tree, the storm clouds had dissipated entirely, leaving far less threatening clouds dotting the sky.
Right before camp, we encountered another hiker hiking NOBO (northbound for you non-hiker folk). Debbie? Debbie. Side quest complete.
As we were setting up our tent, something poked me through the tent floor. At first I thought it was a small cactus we overlooked when setting up the tent, but it was just little patches of grass. The blades were stuff and sharp, enough to poke through the nylon floor of our tent. The last thing we wanted was to puncture our sleeping pads in the middle of the night. It was quite breezy as we approached camp so we had looked for a spot that was sheltered by a tree, but also free of rocks and dead trees. Despite the open landscape it was kind of hard to find all that. So I didn't really want to move sites. We ended up using a combination of our rain jackets, trash bags that lined our backpacks, and backrest pads from our backpacks to make a barrier for our sleeping pads. Hopefully that works!
