Mt. Baden-Powel to Cooper Canton Trail Camp (PCT mile 395.2)
Miles hiked: 13.3 on PCT. 4.9 on old endangered species detour. 18.2 total.
Hmmm, now that I add it all up, it looks like I went farther than I was planning today.
A bunch of medium sized moths were flying all around he peak all last night, showing up well in the bright moon light. I woke up for good a bit before 5 again, but had an even more leisurely morning than yesterday. Did he same coffee in bed and stretching and massaging as yesterday, but also jus did a bunch of sitting and watching more and more detail in the landscape become visible in the growing light.
Finally got walking about 7:25 after saying good morning to Chatty and Sacagawea. They and Slumber Kitty and Maestro passed me pretty quickly as I eased m way down off the peak, and after that I didn't see any other hikers for 6 miles, which at my pace took until about 11.
Today was classic Crest walking, with the trail continuing to follow the main ridge of the mountains. It was a long 8 mile descent to the next pass where the trail crosses Hwy 2, but in a few places the trail was level for a quarter mile or so and I could pick up the pace a little. At around 5 miles in I smelled the strong scent of an ungulate, and scanned all the hillsides in view hoping it might be a Desert Bighorn Sheep, but never saw anything. One dead tree appeared to have 2 or 3 Violet-green Swallow nests, with parents swirling all around in and out of the trees. Just before I made it to Islip Saddle at PCT mile 386, I passed a young couple who were apparently out for an overnighter; the guy had a big backpacking pack, but the woman had a daypack with a rolled up blanket tied on back and she was also carrying a full 3 gallon jug of water in her hands. I'm not sure where they were headed, but they were almost to the Little Jimmy Spring which was flowing great with amazing cold water.
At Islip Saddle, where the trail crosses Hwy 2 again, there are a couple of different routes thru hikers can take. The PCT between miles 390 and 394 is closed to protect habitat for the endangered Mountain Yellow-legged Frog. The official detour around this closure begins at Islip Saddle (mile 386), and goes way around a sub ridge of the mountains for a bit over 19 miles before rejoining the PCT just before mile 394. Before this detour became the official one, hikers would in stead continue to Eagle's Roost where the trail closure begins (mile 390), then walk 2.$ mes of Hwy 2 before taking the Burkhart Trail 1.5 miles to rejoin he PCT just after mile 394. I opted to take the old detour. The road didn't seem to busy, and taking this shorter route would allow me to maintain my slower pace and not run out of food. I have a feeling that a lot of people choose the old detour, rather than add another half to whole day to this section with the new official detour, but I haven't seen any data on this.
To put it bluntly, the next 4 miles out of Islip were a bitch. The trail climbs 1200 feet in a bit under 2 miles, and then drops back down that same elevation in only 1.3 miles. This is to go around a big cliffy slope that the highway tunnels right through. The climb wasn't too bad, but it seemed to take forever at my slow trudge. It was going back down that really got too me. My leg was still feeling really good, and I wanted to do everything I could to keep it that way. So I slowed way down, taking baby steps and stopping for baby rests pretty frequently. At this point my attitude tanked. I had slowed to somewhere around a mile an hour, and going this slow the sheer length of the trail seemed impossible to achieve. And then the loneliness crept back in, and the doubt about doing the trail at all. But it was spectacular, dramatic country, and even in my state I had to appreciate it. These are some of the steepest mountains I've walked through, but what sets them apart from places like the Sierra is that it is all just loose scree holding on impossible angles. One really gets a sense for how geologically young and active these mountains are.
Near the next crossing of Hwy 2 I sat down for a little pity party and to chew on my block of cheese and pour peanut butter pretzel crumbs in my mouth. I also stretched a bit and made some adjustments to my pack straps and shoe laces to try to make for more comfortable walking. It turns out these new shoes are too big, and they flex in such a way that it puts a bunch of pressure on the tendon along the top of my big toe. I tried several places along the ridge to phone out and order a smaller size to be sent to Acton, but never got service. In stead at this rest stop I redid the laces so they skipped the toe-most holes, and this seemed to help a bit.
I wasn't feeling too much better as I continued along, the trail crossing the highway then going up and over some small hills right beside it for about a mile. The. Began the road walk portion of the detour. There's a note on the map that says this is a potentially dangerous section to walk, but the road wasn't very busy today and it felt pretty safe to me. It was also just a gradual up then gentle down, and as I got going my leg was feeling good to I eventually worked up to a pretty good pace, completing the 2.7 miles in about an hour. This pace was maybe a bit risky with my leg, but it was really good for my psyche. I finished this walk feeling like a thru hiker again, feeling like I've totally got this trail, feeling like the walking was fun again. I met 2 other hikers AZ and Cobain, who had for some reason decided to down climb part of the cliff that I had such a hard time going up and over. Cobain also told me a bit about communicating with chickens when j told him j study birds. Interesting to guys, I guess, but not sure I'll be going out of my way to home with them.
At the end of he road walk I reviewed the map and water report, and got another liter from the Buckhorn Campground, which was filling up with car campers. At the trailhead for the Burkhart Trail I saw a day hiker and asked if she could send a text to Libby about having smaller shoes sent to Acton. Then I continued the final 3ish miles to Cooper Canyon Camp. The Burkhart Trail descended along a tumbling creek with willows and a few cottonwoods along its banks, then met back up with the PCT and climbed a different creek. Purple lupine with yellow tips in some of the petals covered whole hillsides, and I saw the first White-headed Woodpecker of the trip. It was great to be hiking again!
I'm sharing camp with 2 fathers and their young daughters, and a few other backpackers and one thru hiker named Mark. The father/daughter quartet seem nice and one of the fathers is planning to hike a section of he PCT next month. But they've decided to make a big fire which seems pretty scary in this forest. I'll be ready to pack up and run if things get out of control.
A Common Poor-will and a Western Sreech-owl both called a while once it got dark.
Birds:
Violet-green Swallow - nests
Clark's Nutcracker
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Bluebird
Fox Sparrow
Green-tailed Towhee
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-pewee
Northern Flicker
Oregon Junco
Mountain Chickadee
Cassin's Finch
Stellar's Jay
Red-tailed Hawk
Hammond's Flycatcher
Mountain Quail
Western Tanager
White-headed Woodpecker
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Common Poor-will
Western Screech-owl
Totally the best way to eat cheese!
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