Cold and wet, but still worth it

Today is the first day of hunting season. I’m in town at Kennedy Meadows North which is only a few hours drive from the Bay, but I feel like I’ve been transported to Texas. So much camo. So many trucks. So much talk of shooting deer. Everyone has been extremely nice though, even if they shoot deer for fun. If any future PCT hiker reads this, stop here! It’s a very hiker friendly place, and an added bonus (if you like dogs) is that there are so many cute pups running around the property.

I got my third pair of shoes a few days ago. They’re the same brand I’ve been wearing the whole time (Altra), but a different model (switching from the Lone Peaks to the Timps). I’m switching to the Timps because they’re a bit cushier, but mostly because they’re my favorite color combination. So far, so good.

We had an intense rainy day on trail earlier this week. With it being so cold and wet that day, we only managed to hike about half our usual distance before having to call it quits and set up camp around 3:00. That day was tough, but it started with the most epic sunrise I’ve seen on trail so far.

The day after rainpocalypse, we woke up to a frost covered rain fly. The first climb of the day was SO cold, and I wondered if this hiking thing was something that I was cut out for. Of course, once I took in the view from the top of the climb, I started to trust in my abilities again. Moral of the story: even though hiking sucks right now, it’ll probably get better later.

We hit our first day at over 10,000 feet today!