April 23, Day 4: Mile 41.5-56.0
Miles hiked:14.5
Gratitude of the Day: I’m thankful for my health. I’m happy that I have the ability to try to attempt at thru hike of the PCT and don’t take it for granted at all as every day I push my body to the point of mental and physical exhaustion.
Woke up this morning at 4am to another hiker chatting on his phone, like what the hell!! Dozed back off and woke up again at 5:45 and decided time to start packing up and mosey on down the trail. Last nights temps got down into the 30s, I stayed warm in my puffy quilt but my tent being a single walled tent had a lot of condensation collecting on it. Unfortunately, Mr Cellphone was already awake because it would have been nice to stomp around and make a bunch of noise.
The legs now every start the day off a little rough, definitely a hobble from the starting line until they get warmed up and then it’s just a slow shuffling cadence for hours. Today I stopped about 3 hours in, laid my stuff out in the bushes to dry and had a tidy breakfast of mashed potatoes, pepperoni and some jalapeño ruffle potato chips. Would definitely eat again! Then I passed a small milestone of getting 50 miles hiked.
The rest of the day was that of expansive views of the desert valley floor and a lot of downhill. Personally I like to go uphill, seems to be better on my knees, not so jarring. But the legs held up fine today, one of my blisters is better the other two are still sore but I’m diligent in stopping and checking on them and at night at camp doing a thorough cleaning of my feet with wet wipes.
Tonight I’m camped at 5200 feet, nestled behind some granite boulders with expansive views across the valley. Washington state has spoiled me, the desert is beautiful in its own way, but I’ve yet to have a “wow” moment around a turn like you do so many times hiking in the PNW. A couple more days and I’ll be in my first trail town of Julien for a shower, laundry, resupply and a soft bed.
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