Day 92 (20 July) - Mile 1020.69 - 1039.18

Campsite at mile 1020.69 to Wolf Creek

It was a cold night making it hard to get a really good night sleep and then Cloak of Chillness' alarm went off at 5:00 AM and then again at 5:15 AM and I couldn't get back to sleep. Right at 6:00 AM I started packing up my stuff. When I left the tent there was permafrost on the ground and was still pretty chilly. By the time I was packed up and eating breakfast, Cloak and Papa Squat were packed, fed, and ready to go. Before they left we got our morning photo with them. Share Bear and I were ready to leave about 10 minutes later at 7:30 AM.

Papa Squat & Cloak of Chillness with us ready to hike.

Right from the start, the trail headed down for 2,350 feet over 5.5 miles. As usual, our morning views were spectacular.

Lake just below our campsite from last night.

Share Bear posing in the morning.

Within 15 minutes we crossed into Carson Iceberg Wilderness.  We didn't like the mention of iceberg very much.

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness boundary.

Today's hike was really nice. It dos start with a long, hard hill going down, but after that the trail was like a roller coaster with ups and downs making it somewhat enjoyable. Plus, the scenery was amazing and the wildflowers are in full bloom making the hike even more beautiful.

Our morning view.

Wildflowers lining the PCT.

Close-up of wildflowers

When I posted my 1,000 mile picture on Facebook, Paul Court said that I should smell a ponderosa pine because it smells like vanilla. Well, here I go:

Smelling the ponderosa pine.

It does smell good. Like caramel or butterscotch or vanilla.

When I walk through a scene like this, I sometimes can't believe I'm doing this.

Unbelievable

The scenery today was so diverse. Every corner we came around there was something different to see.

Amazing valley view.

We passed by Boston Scott and told him that we planned on stopping for lunch around 1:00 PM and that we hoped to see him there. We did stop right around 1:00 PM and Scott did show up just after we finished eating. It was nice to talk to him for probably the last time since I assume he won't care up with us again.

This PCT sign was at the Paradise Valley, Golden Canyon trail junction:

PCT sign of the day.

As the hike went on the diversity continued.

Meadow before pine forest.

We had an awesome hike of 18.5 miles when we arrived at our planned campsite just after 6:00 PM. We both felt we could hike a bit further, but decided to call it a day. We set up camp and prepared and ate dinner with pesky mosquitos flying all around us. We were forced into our tents by said mosquitos by 7:30 PM. Quite early, but after not sleeping well last night, we can both use an early night.

Tomorrow we meet Tim and Brad at Highway 4, just over 9 miles from here. The timing should be perfect to have lunch with them. It's great to have that to look forward to tomorrow.

Our home for the night.