IAT Map Miles 877.4
Miles Hiked 25.2
Elevation 888 feet
Elevation Gains 1,780 feet
Miles Hiked Today 15.9
My daily statistics are going to be a little confusing. The furthest I went today was a second shelter on the trail. The “IAT Map Miles” figure shows miles to that location. Going forward, I’ll report only the daily and total miles hiked. Once I reached the shelter, I turned around to head back to the trailhead where I started Sunday. The mileage is from my Samsung Ultra Smartwatch as is the total elevation gain I climbed today.
Last night was cold! I only had shorts and a T-shirt on, but I was okay for most of the night. At 2:40 AM I woke to “take care of business” and nearly froze. That’s when I put on my fleece before I got back in my sleeping bag. I don’t know what the temperature was in the middle of the night, but at 7:30 it was 41 degrees.
I was slow getting underway. First I wanted to wait until daylight, which is around 7:00 AM, and of course I moved slow because of the cold. I didn’t start hiking until almost 9:00 AM.
The trail proved to be similar to what I encountered yesterday. A lot of small elevation gains. It was more like a roller coaster. In that way, it is similar to the Appalachian Trail.
Early is the day’s hike, I came across a sign for Pioneer Lime Kiln. It is a crude, circular lime kiln which was constructed by digging into a ridge and lining the pit with granite boulders. It is about 10 feet deep with granite walls and a clay floor. A lime kiln is an oven used to produce quicklime by the “calcination” of limestone. I thought it would be interesting, but as I continued to walk toward it, I realized it may be quite a walk. I checked and, yes, in total it was almost a mile from the trail. I was unwilling to go that far, so I picked up a connecting trail and headed back to the IAT. Before I reached the main trail, I came across this field (picture). Wow! That’s enough for a hundred tents. I made a note of it in case I had trouble finding a campsite on my return to the Clover Valley trailhead.
I walked into the KMSF Horse Rider’s Campground at 12:30 PM and had lunch. The campground is huge. It has pit toilets and running, potable water. I took a break to eat lunch here. As I was eating lunch, I hatched a plan to hike on, but then turn around later and return to this campground for the night. I’m not supposed to camp here, but I’m going to take that chance.
After lunch, I continued hiking with the second shelter as a goal. I reached the shelter a little before 3 PM and then turned around. I picked up my pace in an attempt to arrive at the Horse Rider’s Campground by 4:30, which I did. There is only one other couple here with their horse. I found a far off corner of the campground and setup my tent. A trail runner who had passed me in the opposite direction earlier in the day came in later. His car was across from my campsite. We talked for a moment and exchange a short acknowledgement of the Pacific Crest Trail, which we both had hiked. He later left the campground and that corner of it was left to just myself.
It’s 7 PM and so far no one has kicked me out. It’s dark out, so I should be good for the night.
