July 20, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Just before Johnsonville-Gibsonville Road
Miles: 29.5

Adrian:
A record mile day. If you add our 2-mile road walk from the campground to the trail, we hiked more than 31 miles. It's not like it was easy terrain either as we had a big 2,850-foot climb right off the bat. The climb brought us high on the slopes of Sierra Buttes just 1,400 feet shy of the summit with its fire lookout. The terrain continued to roll up and down all day. We leap-frogged Cache and Chris over and again as they continued their speed hiking and numerous rest stops.

Wanting to get within 10 miles of the Quincy-La Porte Road, we were shooting for a water source with campsites nearby. We ate dinner early with Cache and Chris, around 7:30 p.m., and continued to hike the what was supposed to be a few miles to the planned site. It got dark, and even though we had our headlamps on high, we still missed the water source and campsite. Instead, we hiked until about 11 p.m. when we found the first flat spot in about 3 hours. Surprisingly enough, Cache and Chris had arrived minutes before.

They say that some people have greatness thrust upon them...if a 32-mile day is great, it surely was thrust upon us. We'll take it either way.

Kirsten:
I spent a large portion of today's hike thinking about our potential Schwinn blaze. Will the bikes be there? What if they're not there? Do we take the bus? Or what about a roadwalk?

Of course Cache and Chris provided endless entertainment for me with their slingshot practice and constant battle to drop more pack weight. Cache has food, water, first-aid and the clothes on his back. I'm being serious here. This morning I watched him roll out of his sleeping bag with his shirt and shorts on, throw on a jacket and start packing up his bag.
So today ended up being a record day and I was pleasantly surprised how well my feet held up. I've had some trouble with them lately, mostly tenderness and stiffness.