PCT Map Miles 240.0
Miles Hiked 175.8
Elevation 7,948 feet
Miles Hiked Today 11.0
The day started off with more white water crossings. My feet are on the second day of being constantly wet. Fortunately, I never came close to falling in the water like I did a week ago. No more rock hopping for me. Just find a solid spot in the creek and step. Repeat until I reach the other side. Wet feet be dammed.
Early in the morning, I came up on three young woman sitting on the trail. They warned me that they saw a brown bear. That’s a Grizzly bear. I told them there are no Grizzlies in this area, so it had to be a black bear. Either way, they were scared and told me to use my emergency whistle if I got attacked. Right. I left them and kept hiking. I saw them later, and I suspect they didn’t leave their spot on the trail until they were sure I made it.
In the afternoon, the trail started going up big time. Ultimately, there was an elevation gain of over 4,000 feet. That was a real slog. The good news is the temperature at the altitude was much cooler. No more desert heat – for now at least.
I arrived at Mission Campground about 4:30 PM and setup camp. There were quite a few hikers here and more came in. This area is a forest with real trees. No more desert terrain at least while I’m up this high on the mountain.
