Joey Camps

  Day 17 6-4-2015   Sleep 2130-330 Miles 763 – 809.2 Big; one word to describe it             I wanted an early start to go over the PCT’s highest point, Forrester Pass 13,200 feet.  I was excited to go up a big mountain pass and see this high point , but more to feel it.  I was cheery because it was overcast keeping things cool, not too breezy which kept it from being cold, but also provided some pretty nice reflections in the ponds/lakes along the way.  It was quite the mellow climb, until about the last 500 feet.  Where the trail was cut onto a ledge along the rock face.  It was so magnificent.  Lord of the Rings style.  From the top, the view was inspiring, but I didn’t stay long.  I made my way down the other side.  There was only patches of snow which made footing awkward at times, but all in all pretty easy passage compared to what it could be.  Finally, down onto the trail ...

Day 16  6-3-2015   Sleep 2130-330 Miles 718 – 763 Good Morning!             There was fog all around and I was cold.  I started moving fast and the uphill got my body warm in no time.  As I cruised along a ridge, the sun started to rise and the moon set.  There was a fog settled in the valley’s.   Surely, I have died and gone to heaven.  I have thought this numerous times now.  Does heaven have days? Some better and some worse? No way.  Can’t wait to meet God.  No wait, Joey, you are a Buddhist.  At best you have been reincarnated into a hiking machine with a super sense for beauty.  Okay, I’ll accept that too.  So the machine was doing all the work and I was enjoying the ride.  Until the sun got higher in the sky.  I entered a fog, my mind was just a haze.  Could I still be sleep deprived?  I had two good nights of sleep though.  I trudged on for ...

Day 15 6-2-2015  Sleep 2000 - 330 Miles 671 – 718             It was breezy and cold when I first started.  I knew I was in the mountains and this would become more the norm.  What a relief.  Being too hot to hike midday, trying to sleep during the day and hike all night was really wearing on me.  Sleep is import, to me.  I don’t think more is better.  You want to sleep efficiently.  I believe in the ~90 minute sleep cycles.  I think mine are closer to 86 minutes, they all vary and person to person there will be huge variation.  90 minutes is easy to calculate.  So when I am falling asleep I set my alarm at four hours and thirty minutes or a full six hours later.  I figure it takes me a few more minutes to fall asleep therefore less than 90 minute sleep cycles.  But this is all guesstimation and I have not perfected sleep.  That being said, 90 minutes of sl...

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 i...

Day 13 5-31-2015  Sleep 130-300 Miles 575 – 626              Still dark, kind of cool.  Lets do this!  Yea, I am the kind of person that jumps out of bed half the days.  Sure it was only a 90 minute nap, but that is enough for my battery.  I was flying along a smooth road enjoying the cool breeze.  The twilight and sunrise was pretty, but I would have taken another eight hours of darkness.  I got water at the Golden Oaks spring and knew, twenty miles until Robin Bird Spring.  Just get to Robin Bird spring then you can nap with water.  It was so hot, there were trees, but most were burnt dead wood and provided no shade.  Time slowed down.  My legs slowed down.  My thoughts raced.  I thought it was only twenty miles, haven’t I gone farther.  Geez.  Slurp slurp.  Wait what? I am out of water?  I check my bag.  Sure enough there is just...

Day 12 5-30-2015  Sleep 200-330 Miles 536.7 – 575             It was still hot when I woke up and the sun was not even rising yet.  I got up to Tyler Horse canyon and got water.  I hiked until about 1100 but I was slowing a ton, as it was hot, there was not a square foot of shade and I was carrying a lot of extra weight in the form of water.  I finally found a few trees near a ridge that seemed breezy.  Without too much extra work I was able to make a spot in the shade with my legs up.  Sweet, I will just nap until it starts cooling off.  I was tired, I should sleep no problem.  Then the ants crawl all over you and the flies land on you.  It is over 100 degrees, do I climb in my mummy sack and hide from the insects and sweat it out?  Or do I try to stay cool and not let the little buggers bug me?  Didn’t really matter I realized trying both.  I was going to be misera...

Day 11 5-29-2015  Sleep 2200-400 Miles 494-536.7 Today was all about strategy.  I was coming into the low elevation desert crossing before returning back up into the mountains.  The plan was to get to Hikertown mile 518, get my resupply box, nap for a bit then tackle the flat hot aquaduct portion at night.  Well things went to plan, sort of.  I got my hustle on and got the 24 miles to Hikertown done by about 1130.  It was already brutally hot and I was glad to reach the oasis of Hikertown. Kind of a funky place, I dig it.  It was like a fake western town as you might see at an amusement park for kids.  Different little buildings named “town store” “post office” “jail”  each was about the size of a bed room and about half of them were exactly that.  I posted up at one off by myself.  I opened my resupply box and repacked my pack.  Then I napped in the shade the best I could.  When my alarm went off at 1800, I felt res...