Day 166: another glorious day! :)

Monday 10/1/12
Miles 2346-2373 (27 miles)
Elevation 3,476'

Oh man. I didn't get to camp today til after 9pm. It was dark. That was a lot of night hiking. It gets dark by about 7pm. It wasn't really by choice. There was a 12 mile stretch with no water so we wanted to get to the next water source. That would have put us at 25 miles. But the water source was on the side of a hill on a series of switchbacks, so there wasn't anywhere flat to camp. :(

Today was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny and clear skies and we got amazing views of Mt.Ranier. We also passed a cool Hut today! It was built by volunteers from a local snowmobile club. I took a pic of it. I'll post my pics when I can get to a computer. The hut has a wood burning stove and benches and a table and a loft inside. There was an outhouse out back. There are several huts we've passed by on the trail. They are used a lot by cross country skiiers and snowshoers. This one is by a dirt road so its used by 4x4 people as well as snowmobilers in the winter. We saw Doe Eyes and Scrub Rat there. That was cool, I like those two. :). They're from San Diego, inland of Torrey Pines. Scrub Rat brews his own beer and is quite passionate about beer. Every time we talk about town stops and stuff, he asks, is there a brewery there? Lol!

The views were pretty nice today. It seems like day after day, the leaves are getting more and more red. Fall is here! We also went through a bunch of clear cut logged areas. Since northern California we've been through a lot of logged areas. This one was an old logged area so it wasn't all gnarly and torn up like some of the newer ones are. Looking from a distance, it looks like bare patches of trees in interesting geometric shapes all along the mountain. :( I wonder why timber companies don't reforest the clear cutted areas. I wonder if they buy the land or just lease it. Because, if they own the land, and they reforest it, then they could harvest the trees again in x amount of years. Plus it would be visually a lot better, prevent erosion, and would be a lot healthier overall for the forest. Bleh. Clear cut areas are kinda depressing to walk through. Even more so than burn areas. Definitely makes me think twice about my paper and wood consumption. :)

Oh. Speaking of paper. For you aspiring 2013 hikers, if you haven't already, get Yogi's Guide to the PCT. it is absolutely *invaluable*. Especially if you don't know what you're doing. Lol. I've never backpacked before going on this trip. Neither has Kyle. So we literally had no idea what we were doing. Both of us had Yogi's book, and it really helped a LOT. There's the PCT handbook and also the town and trail guide. Get both. I didn't get the data book. You won't need it if you're using Halfmile's maps. Anyhow, start reading yogi's handbook, it has a lot of great information about preparation, etc.

So we're right next to Tacoma Pass right now. I guess there's a dirt road nearby because I hear cars. Ah well, nap time! My feet are tired. O.o lol!