Sunday April 3, 2022
Start: campsite 3mi beyond Landers Camp
End: beyond the last windmill
Elevation gain/loss: 4380/4987
Mileage: 27.8
I was awake at 4:55 this morning, and on trail by 5:30am. I missed the water source 1.4 miles into my day, but thankfully the next one was only a few more miles. I realized last night that my calf sleeves don’t protect the back of my knees well enough from the sun for treeless travel – both knee pits are red and tender. I’ll endeavor to use sunscreen on them from now on.
The middle of the day had a ton of blowdowns across the trail, and then later in the day, there was a number of new trails sections/detours. The trail felt relentlessly up and down, all in short order, with much steeper and more washed out trail than I expect on the PCT. All said and done, it felt like a much longer and more arduous day.
I met my first two section hikers, Sarah and Charlene, at Golden Oaks Spring. We chatted for a while before going our separate ways. I knocked out some climbing and another ~4 miles before finding a campsite for the night. I managed to set up in the dusk, right before full dark.
I checked my miles and planned for getting into town early, catching the 11am bus from the highway overpass.
Transcending Mountains 