PCT Day 14: Sweet Dessert

Day 14 6-1-2015  Sleep 100-230
Miles 626-671

Cold Good Morning!
            I woke up to the wind howling.  I even threw my jacket on to stay warm.  Sweet!  Again, I got the speed walking legs going and thought, man I am going to get this done in no time.  Sure enough, all good things come to an end.  The trail didn’t end, it just kicked up into a massive climb.  Suddenly, I was more power hiking and struggling up the hill.  I drink and drink, because I will have to carry less weight on my back.  The pro cyclist do it on the big climbs, I will too.  Worked great.  Except now I am reaching the top and I have all this extra water in me, that is cooling me down.  At the top, it is exposed and quite windy.  I am cold.  I repeat again…to myself, I am cold.  Well that is actually a nice feeling.  The sun was rising and I didn’t mind.  One I finally wasn’t hot and two it was absolutely gorgeous from the top of this mountain.  I wove along until I saw Highway 178, Walker Pass, the “official” end of the desert as some hikers call it.  It was a nice smooth descent and I let the legs roll out, it felt so good.  I felt like I hadn’t run in forever.  Except I was running just last night.  Sleep deprivation messes with your ability to track time.  Ah just another part of the trip.
A view? Means I am up high!
I grabbed water in a hurry, as there was about ten hikers sitting there killing time and I was on my way.  Except now, climbing uphill in the afternoon sun, not only was I getting a bit fried, I was also starting to head bob…in the middle of the day? Grrr.  I found a shady and breezy spot and set the alarm for thirty minutes.  I passed out, woke up to the alarm on full blast.  Apparently I picked a popular spot, as I disturbed five or so people who were taking in the view very close by.  I muttered an apology and got moving.  I finished up the climb and had a nice fun descent into the next valley.  When I started walking uphill again, I had no power, no energy.  I was dead tired.  Damn I thought, here it is 1800, nice and cool and I can’t even hike.  Well, I shouldn’t say can’t.  I struggled to the top of another climb then ran down the backside.  This time when the trail kicked up, I decided to get water and quit for the day.  I was just wasting time struggling at this point.  But it wasn’t even dark.  So I set up camp and for the first time, watched the sun set from bed.  Passed out cold, like I just died.  
Death



666 miles, feels good, no great!

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