| PCT Section I, Saturday, August 26th 2006 Day 3 At 6:00 am I began to pack up my gear, all of which was bone dry, and was on the trail 15 minutes later. After being horizontal for the past 11 hours I felt much better and looked forward to reaching Tuolumne Meadows in the early afternoon. Additionally, I felt the urge to make a #2 which relieved me, no pun intended, since I had not done so since Wednesday morning owing to my high fat diet and forgoing a morning cup of coffee. To wipe I used, for the first time, paper towels (one sheet cut into 4 pieces) instead of toilet paper and found this to be quite satisfactory (it is certainly easier to determine how much to bring). To complete the transaction I burned the paper, also for the first time, before burying the poo in the hole.
At 7:30 am I reached Benson Pass and began a 90-minute descent into Matterhorn Canyon where I was careless and stepped into the creek, soaking my shoe and sock. This hardly mattered, but was chastised myself nonetheless.
Next I climbed up another ridge to Miller Lake and then dropped back down to Virginia Canyon, arriving a few minutes after noon. Would it be better to write 12:05 pm than a few minutes after noon? Regardless, Miller Lake was quite nice but I was tired, mentally but not physically, of going up and down.
Another short climb of 1 mile followed and soon I reached the junction that was 7 miles from the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp. Based on the map, this appeared to be an easy stretch, generally straight and flat, and it was. For the first few miles I followed a dusty trail through the trees and once I began to feel the trail builders had picked an easy but ugly route the trail opened into a spectacular wide open meadow that went on and on for miles.
At 3:00 pm, after a short descent, I arrived at Glen Aulin. Mentally, this marked the end of PCT section I for me since I had previously hiked from Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin (see the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne trip here) so I was now on familiar ground and knew that the remaining 5.7 miles were fairly easy. However, in my haste to reach Glen Aulin I had neglected my body and was now suffering in many ways. As was the case yesterday, I had no energy whatsoever, I was not hungry, I was very thirsty (the last 7 miles were dry), and my feet really hurt. I began to climb the switchbacks at Tuolumne Falls with the intention of cutting over to river at the first water close to the trail. As I moved like a slug up I was passed by clean, happy, and peppy people in day packs who would be staying at the Glen Aulin tent cabins that night.
After finding a spot next to the water I first gulped down a half liter then submerged myself. Next, as I sat with my feet soaking in the water I decided to clean my socks for the first time. Usually I do this a few times a day, alternating between two sets of socks so they can dry, but for some reason I didn't on this trip. As I scrubbed and squeezed the socks I was alarmed at how inky the water became and how long it took for the water to clear. With my socks drying in the sun I inspected my feet and found that my foot pain was due to blisters that had formed under thick skin on the balls of my feet. Actually, I'm not sure what they were as they didn't look like much more than calloused skin and certainly didn't look like conventional blisters. They certainly hurt and made me walk funny, but only when I was feeling sorry for myself. With my body and clothes cleaned the next order of business was nourishment. I forced down a Trader Joe's chocolate chip granola bar (it seemed especially dry) and then made another rich chocolate milk drink. Surprise, surprise, just like the previous night, after drinking it I felt like throwing up. However, my destination of Tuolumne Meadows loomed large so after a few more minutes I struggled to my feet and began the hike out. The remaining miles were some of the most spectacular of the entire trip, and despite my sorry state I was able to enjoy the scenery. It was easy to take in since I was going so slow. After a few hours I came to a sign which indicated that the meadows were still 2.2 miles away at which point I mutter "fuckin ay" to no one in particular, however, as those words crossed my lips I was passed by a day hiker. Paul was his name, and Julie, his wife, was about 20 feet behind him. Julie and I chatted on the way back and thanks to the interaction I was able to cover the remaining distance in half the time I would have taken had I been moping along by myself. Julie and Paul, along with about 5 others who went on shorter day hikes, were visiting from North Carolina and packed quite a lot into their trip. In their weeklong adventure they took a 4-day backpacking trip culminating with a summit of Mount Whitney, then they drove north and day hiked Half Dome, then went up Yosemite Falls the next day, and today they finished off with a long day hike to Waterwheel Falls. Tomorrow they would drive back to Reno for their flight home. Once we reached the parking lot, at 6:00 pm, their friends were waiting with a rented minivan and they gave me a ride to the Tuolumne Meadows Campground where they where staying, dropping me off at the backpacker sites. Thanks! At the campground I pondered my options and decided to take a shuttle to the valley the following morning, after which I would catch a bus to Modesto (or Merced?, both are available but they leave at different times) then ride the train to Emeryville. Once again, I went to bed with a clean but wet shirt and and empty stomach in accordance with my appetite.
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