Cougar Crest Trailhead to Campsite on Crest
Waking up in a cabin is always nice. Even when the 7:00 AM alarm wakes me from a deep sleep. I get out of bed and look out the window. What the ?!? SNOW! It was snowing. If Brad wasn't on the trail waiting for me to meet him, i probably would have gone back into the bed and took another zero day. But I couldn't. At least I could take a nice hot shower before heading out today.
We left the cabin after 8:00 AM, about 20 minutes late, and arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 AM. I told Brad that I would meet him at his campsite, which is 3 miles away and 1000 feet up, around 9:30 AM. Hum...there is no way i was going to make it there in 1 hour. Then a message came in from Brad asking if I was on time, because he didn't want to get out of his tent yet. Brad was camped up on the trail where it snowed on him all night. I told him it would be more like 10:00 than 9:30. He was quite happy that he could stay in the sleeping bag an extra 30 minutes.
So, I said goodbye to Tim. I won't be seeing him till Sunday afternoon, 3 days away, but he still did't want to come out of the truck for the daily picture, but I got him in it anyway.
We left the cabin after 8:00 AM, about 20 minutes late, and arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 AM. I told Brad that I would meet him at his campsite, which is 3 miles away and 1000 feet up, around 9:30 AM. Hum...there is no way i was going to make it there in 1 hour. Then a message came in from Brad asking if I was on time, because he didn't want to get out of his tent yet. Brad was camped up on the trail where it snowed on him all night. I told him it would be more like 10:00 than 9:30. He was quite happy that he could stay in the sleeping bag an extra 30 minutes.
So, I said goodbye to Tim. I won't be seeing him till Sunday afternoon, 3 days away, but he still did't want to come out of the truck for the daily picture, but I got him in it anyway.
To get to the PCT I have to hike 2 miles up Cougar Crest Trail.
As you can see, it snowed pretty good last night. Although I can definitely do without the snow, it sure makes for beautiful scenery.
Finally, after 1 hour and 1000 feet of climbing, I made it back to the Pacific Crest Trail. Because of the detour I had to walk, I haven't been on the trail since last Friday, 6 days ago. I was so happy to be back.
I was also happy to see the footprints of other hikers. This is another thing I haven't seen in 6 days.
Ah...the beauty of the PCT with snowfall.
Finally, at 10:15 AM, Brad and I were reunited and started our hike for the day.
Today's hike took us through wonderful pine forests and a burn area that must have been at least 5 years old by looking at the size of some of the living bushes.
We also came across a beautiful meadow.
Time for a selfie. Wow...this one seems really close.
We made it to our campsite goal by 4:00 PM. Could we have hiked a few more miles? Yes. Did we walk a few more miles? No way. We set up camp and just relaxed. This cool bird stopped by for a while on a rock just yonder. i zoomed in pretty good to capture it. Check out the cool long feather off the back of the head.
Wow. Today's blog is kind of short. Probably because Brad and I did a lot of talking to catch up so I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do. Also, as I lie here in my tent I am pretty chilly and just want to tuck my head and hands into the sleeping bag.
So, I will leave you as usual with y awesome campsite picture.
So, I will leave you as usual with y awesome campsite picture.