Day 66, Mozzie Madness

Part 2, The Sierra Nevada, Day 66

Mozzie Madness

Miles: 20.24

PCT Mile: 991.78
Day 67 is up and can be found on the middle of the June menu, for some reason...

This section is making me question my sanity. Let's start from when I woke up this morning.

I had vivid dreams about hiking into Yosemite Valley, so when I woke up,that's where I thought I was. I left at 7:15. I felt like I'd gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson. My body is worn down and I have deep bruises on the bottoms of my feet. I'm also just plain tired. Everything hurts. 

I'm waking with limp after the sharp rock jammed into the bone in my left foot yesterday. Unfortunately for me, today's hike had heavy doses of steep downhill. 

I began the day with a 2,000 foot climb. It would be the first of many. Climbs aren't a problem for me. My crap-tastic backpack destroys my back on climbs, but uphill in general doesn't hurt my body. It's the downhills that are a problem.

I went through a lot of lush green thickets on my way up. 

I passed a lady who camped 1 mile from me and she said a bear was crashing around outside her tent last night. Maybe that was a bear I heard last night. I passed 2 more hikers. They all said this was the most difficult section so far. I completely agree with them. To any future thru hikers of the PCT: when you hike section I, make sure you eat your Wheaties, because it's tough. 

I reached the top and found this nifty lake: 

I saw The Spaniard here and he was still lamenting his phone, which he dropped in a lake recently. It's all day about the phone with this guy. Actually, he's adopted a good attitude about it, however, I had business to attend to. There was three 1,500+ foot climbs today, and I wanted to get them over with. 

I walked painfully downhill for an hour and followed this river down canyon for awhile:

I tried to keep a good pace and I don't dare stop. When I stop, I become mosquito food.

I crossed dozens of creeks today. This was the first one that required a plan. 

I forget what these are called, (mules ears?) but I know that some hikers use the leaves for toilet paper. I don't. 

I started the second climb of the day here. This climb was interesting because it reminded me of hiking in the Ventana Wilderness. There was sage and manzanita all around and it smelled like home. 

The other side was more bullshit. Steep downhill covered with sharp, slippery rocks. Several creeks crossed the trail:

My knee started to really bother me on this decline. This section is filled with steep ups followed immediately by steep downs, and the trails are in hideous condition. I've also never had to take as long looking for the trail as I do here. It disappears constantly. 

I ate lunch at the bottom near a creek and was assaulted by Mosquito's. I hate using Deet, but I was forced to bathe in it, and it sort of worked, but then I was swarmed by flies. I miss the Marmots. I crossed the creek barefoot and it was freezing. I began the third big climb of the day. 

Thanks to all of these big climbs and a shit backpack, I have rashes on my back and shoulders. Sorry about all the complaints today, I'm venting. 

I think we should all just relax, and focus on this tiny tree:

I crossed the pass and limped downhill, where the trail finally straightened out a bit. 

There were lots of small lakes and ponds, but for some reason, this one looked disgusting, like dirty dish water. 

I came to Wilma Lake, which is beautiful and big.

Too bad I couldn't stop and enjoy the views for very long. The mosquitoes were hungry. 

My goal was to go 20 miles today, a tough hike considering all the elevation change in this section. I crossed this creek with my shoes on. Stopping meant a mosquito attack. 

I filtered water from this little tarn. I didn't filter any water in the High Sierra, but I'm getting back into filtering, especially if it's still like this source.

The late afternoon hike went through marsh lands that looked like this:

The trail was wet and muddy and I was walking through mosquito hell. 

I couldn't stop of us get swarmed. I tried to out-hike the mozzies and get to a place away from water, but they won. I was forced to camp here, since my body could go no further today. 

I put on more Deet, and cooked dinner, and it was pathetic. Hundreds of mosquitoes swarmed me. I'm offended by the these creatures. The mosquitoes are offensive to me. I feel violated when they attack me. They hurt my morale. I'm trying to rush through this section so I can get away from them. I found myself fantasizing about ways to exterminate them with extreme prejudice. They can take my blood, but it will cost them their life. It's hard because when you backpack 20 miles a day, you just want to sit and relax, but I can't do that with the mosquitoes...okay. Today's rant is over. 

I was forced to retreat to my tent early, but I'm fine with that because I can read. Big surprise tomorrow, and I'm sure some of you can guess what it is.