| PCT Section I, Thursday, August 24th 2006 Day 1 Thursday morning we woke up at 6 am and were on the road half an hour later. Poobie worked the previous night so she slept most of the way up. Our only stop was at the ranger station where I got a wilderness permit. We made good time and began the hike at 10:30 am, 193 miles from Berkeley. Poobie hiked the first half hour with me, until we could no longer postpone a tearful goodbye, and then I was off.
Although the first 2.4 miles were uphill I covered them quickly, arriving at the 10,870-foot pass at 11:40 am. This surprised me very much since I expected to suffer due to the altitude since I was not allowing myself time to acclimate. Reddish crushed volcanic rock dominated the landscape and resulted in straight, smooth trails and a desolated landscape. Walking was easy, the sky was a perfect blue, my pack was light, and the trail was easy to follow. However, it was quite windy. So windy in fact that I could hardly hear myself think and couldn't really walk without compensating for the wind pressure on my body and pack.
A little before 12:30 pm I crossed another pass which opened onto a spectacular view of Leavitt Lake with a small glacier behind it. As I proceeded along it became apparent that the trail went straight through the glacier, or vice versa. I could have climbed around and over the snow but instead crossed right through it. It was long enough that I couldn't see the trail on the other side, and steep enough that both of my trekking poles were required, but fun nonetheless. It was the only significant snow crossing of the entire trip.
10 miles into the trip, at 1:50 pm, I reached a poorly marked junction that confused me terribly. It seemed to be indicating that I should go the opposite direction that my map dictated. Prior to the trip I wasn't worried about bears or breaking an ankle but I did worry about this. Making decisions with incomplete information is much easier if you can discuss it with someone else. I scratched my head, studied the map, and repeated several times; it didn't help.
I wanted, rather I needed to follow the PCT down into Kennedy Canyon whereas the crappy sign seemed to want to send me towards Emigrant Pass. I say I needed to follow my route since I started almost 4 hours ago by: dumping out a liter of water (saving 2.2 pounds off my back) and drinking half of my other full 1 liter bottle at the trailhead. Needless to say, I had run out of water a while back and was now quite thirsty. Streams bounded in the canyon but the pass looked very high and very dry. If I did go over the pass it would eventually rejoin the PCT but I really didn't want to go that way.
But I did head that way, and it all worked out OK. The junction that confused me so much was not marked on my map but when I reached the real junction half an hour later everything was OK. 10 minutes later, at 2:30 pm, I refilled my water for the first time and suddenly I was out of the desolate volcanic rock and below the tree line. For the rest of the day I cruised along, drinking directly from streams and making good time. Most junctions were about 2 miles apart so it was easy to track my progress.
At 5:55 pm I had a huge shock when I reached Dorothy Lake Pass, elevation 9520 feet. The sign stated that I was entering Yosemite National Park, meaning that I had already gone 20.2 miles in 7.5 hours! How was this possible? I wasn't the least bit tired and didn't appear to be suffering at all from not acclimating to the altitude. So on I went, south in Jack Main Canyon until 8:00 pm, at which point I had walked off of my first of two maps. I didn't stop for the night because I was tired but because it was dark. I'm not exactly sure where I camped that night but I think it was about 1 mile north of the junction to Bond Pass. If that was the case I tramped 27.5 miles in 10.5 hours on my first day.
Camp that night was in an open meadow next to a babbling stream with fantastic views of Keyes Peak, beyond the water to the east. It was far too cold for a proper bath in the stream but I did rinse my shirt and scrubbed my face and torso with the bandana that had hitched a ride under my hat, sheltering my ears and neck from the sun, all day. After ringing out my shirt as best I could I put it back on knowing that my body would dry it in several hours. I was ecstatic to find that my access to the water was via a flat slab of glacially polished granite, with the water surface just inches below the slab.
About half an hour after stopping I was snug in my down quilt, having cleaned myself, erected my shelter (Tarptent Rainbow), and made and chugged a super rich chocolate milk drink (1 Milkman packet with 4 tablespoons of Ovaltine mixed with 0.5 liter water instead of the recommended 1 liter). As I didn't clean my feet I put my sleep socks over my dirty hiking socks to protect my quilt. As I drifted off to sleep I had fantastic views of the stars and granite wall since I had intentionally left the fly open. |
