Day 126: Famousish Hikers
August 14, 2017
Mile 1863.44 Maidu Lake Junction to Mile 1886.87 Summit Lake
Well, back down to reality. Today wasn’t all that hot. I mean, I personally didn’t have too bad of a day, but Glowworm struggled from the moment we woke up. You live and die as a team out here, not just with the people you’re hiking with, but with other hikers too. When they’re struggling or having a bad day, you empathize with them because we’ve all been through it ourselves as well. The morning was frigid and the tent was covered in condensation which made getting ready a challenge and then we had to hike a mile round trip to get water at a nearby lake (which was beautiful, by the way, with steam rising from the warm lake into the cold air). So we didn’t actually leave until 8:00 which was frustrating.
I think yesterday just took it out of is today, though, especially Glowworm. She (and I) was pretty tired all morning. Eventually we wound our rhythm and were able to start making miles again. After a while another hiker passed me going southbound and I thought I recognized him. I checked Instagram to confirm to assertions and sure enough, it was Zach Davis who wrote Appalachian Trials and Pacific Crest Trial (which I read in prep for this hike) and also runs the thru hiking website/blog, TheTrek.com. And a few minutes later a guy by the name, The Real Hiking Viking passed us too. He’s a sponsored hiker with a massive beard that I’ve been following on social media for a few years now. I knew that the two of them were hiking the PCT sobo this year and that they had recently crossed into Oregon, but it was a surprise and so cool to actually meet them on trail! Well, when I saw meet them I mean say hello and let them hike.
The rest of the day is kind of a blur. The mosquitos increased as the day led into the evening and was a pain in the ass, but other than that, nothing much occurred. We camped a beautiful large lake with spectacular views so that at least sorta made up for the mosquitoes. Tomorrow we get into Shelter Cove where we both have resupply boxes and where we’ll need to learn more about a new fire just before Bend that we’ll need to get around. Ugh. I just want to hike Oregon! Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.
