Day 37: Walking to Walker Pass

Memories from May 27

I got up early to beat the heat and passed Claudia while she was breaking camp was I hit the trail. Despite being desert and largely exposed, the weather has been relatively cool, which has been really nice.

The trail joined a dirt road through a rolling meadow of shoulder high sage and I took a mid-morning break to mix up 2 liters of milk and drink it since I’m well ahead of my one liter of water per five miles supply.

Continuing down the road, I found a missed connection on the sign where the PCT turned off. I wound up meeting the Ramón it mentions at Walker Pass that night.

I saw an rock which looked like it had been sliced by another rock and was going to slide off.

I like these red ground cover plants because they paint the ground red which is so different from then typical greens and browns.

As seen here.

There was a particularly informative trail sign. It’s uncommon but not rare to find signs with their text worn off.

I got to the Walker Pass Camp Ground which marks the end of the 42 mile waterlesss stretch before the heat of the day. There was a water cache and a trail angel had dropped off bread (yes, multiple loafs of plain white bread is a wonderful treat when you’re used to tortillas), donuts, beer, and soda. The actual water source is a short walk away but it was really nice not to have make it.

Sitting on a shaded bench at the Walker Pass water cache, I passed most of the afternoon talking with other hikers as they trickled in. There was a quartet doing a Warrior Hike who were there when I showed up along with Gone With The Wind and Druid. I forget how we got to talking about software engineering but both Gone With The Wind and Druid are a programmer and a software tester respectively.

When I last called home, mom requested more info on my gear so here’s a picture if what it looks like when I cowboy camp. The hiking poles are just holding the sleeping bag down because it’s so light that soft breeze will move it. The orange sleeping pad under is 3.5 inches thick and weighs 17oz. It’s the one piece of gear which I’ve opted for a significantly heavier option for the sake of comfort. I like sleeping. The ground cloth is an 0.7mil painter’s drop cloth. I want to swap it for a piece of Tyvek when I get the chance.