24 Aug Day 125 – Big Open Spaces

At mile 730.9. Hiked 24.2 miles today. 

Here is where I woke up this morning. That’s right, I camped on a footbridge over one of the Kern rivers. I had left KM at 6:30 pm the day before and hiked into the dark. Last mile was dark  and I used headlamp and played music out of my IPhone speakers to scare away those spooky animals that stalk around in the dark. Really, it just keeps my wild imagination of those beasts of the dark in check.

Near the end of the day I saw my first hikers since Walker Pass. Sometimes the solitude is nice.

There was an older couple going southbound. I stopped to talk to them and offer information on water, but the lady seemed to be in a hurry and quickly became agitated when I told her that the first Cow Creek Water was dry, but there are many Cow Creek crossings with water. The last several days I had been making notes of water sources to update the PCT water report once I had internet access.

She became irritated and said that I was giving her info in the northbound direction. I told her that I was giving it in her direction, southbound. Shortly she was yelling at me. Her husband seemed very calm and friendly. They both hurried on without having the patience to try to understand the water sources ahead of them. Nearly all of the people you meet on the trail are relaxed and friendly, but there are the rare stressed out hiker you will run across. I was perplexed about this behavior and thought about how our aging brains sometimes intensify some of our less desirable behaviors. Just a theory of mine.

On to more pleasant topics..

Another nice climb above a drainage and above 8000 feet when I came out through a pass that opened to an equally high valley.

There were cows that acted like they had never seen a PCT hiker even though the trail passed right through their backyard.

Many great photo ops with rock formations of every imaginable kind. 

I walked above the Kern river above this valley. I later crossed the river on a footbridge built in 1986. I thought about what I was doing that year. Graduate school, marriage plans. I soaked my feet in the river no soaked my shirt and put it back on wet. Cold at first but it helps with hiking I  the hot sun.

Here is the Kern.

Great skies.

Clouds and rock.

Gomez Valley