I noted that it was chilly but I could feel my feet when I woke up! I had heard this week was supposed to be about ten degrees warmer. I asked the group camping next to me if they knew of any creeks nearby. They didn't think there would be anything for a while and offered to fill up my water bottles. I took them up. Today I would finally be tackling the Lost Coast. The guidebook warned that the upcoming segments were some of the toughest on the whole CCT. Another reason I wished I had started in the north.
It grew hot and my blister began to flare up. I stopped to put the Tiger Balm and tea tree oil chapstick on it, and ate more trail mix. A woman and her father passed me and chatted. I would catch them again at a creek up ahead where they stopped for lunch. I sat down to rest for a minute too and the woman handed me a granola bar. She had done part of the AT and was excited for me. She showed me her water pump and said I should give it a try, it was pretty efficient. After refilling my bottles I headed out again. There would be many more creeks ahead, now water was plentiful, just as the guides online had said.
A while later I met a professional camper taking a group of eleventh graders from the east coast on a field trip. I told him about my trek and he offered me two apples.
I tried to jog when I could, but ended up mostly hiking, as the trail was sometimes uneven, sometimes falling away. I wondered how such a renowned trail could sometimes seem so unkept? In one segment the pampas grass was growing so thickly over the trail that I had to shield my eyes. It cut my legs and made them bleed. The fronts of my ankles were feeling raw. I switched to my longer socks and was protected from there forward. If I had it to do over again I would have brought one pair of higher top socks.
As the sun set I approached a group of campgrounds on the beach. It was beautiful. A couple had made their camp at one of them that had the remains of a brick oven. They were reading and drinking wine, it looked idyllic. I said hello, and we talked briefly. The man said he would advise against doing the next section at night. I was determined to get in more miles though. My sleep schedule had been shifted so I needed to hike at night.
I said hello to a guy camping alone on the other side. He asked me if the campsite with the oven was taken, it was his favorite. It was, I told him. He lived nearby but hadn't hiked the segment ahead of me.
Off I went. Alone on the trail and back in the forest I saw what looked like a wild board run across a stream. Huge redwood trees flanked the path. In the dark the trail here was actually no worse than it had been before and moving cautiously I felt safe. A few miles later I had to keep waiting for a huge Elk to walk off the path before I proceeded.
I was happy when I arrived at the Needle Rock visitor center. The hard part was over. Now there would be at least a few miles of flat trail. I couldn't find any electricity or water at the visitor center but paid the fee to camp in the park and decided to bed down for the night at a camp up ahead. A few miles down the road I spotted a sign for a campground and made a short detour toward the beach for it. I couldn't find the tent sites so gave up and put my bivy down on a patch of grass that was already matted, maybe from an animal, or a previous camper. I had read this was at least better than camping on fresh grass. In the morning I would find tent sites on the other side of the trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment