Days 11 & 12 - Sunday & Monday, June 3-4

This section is a killer! The temperature during the day has reached about 110º according to my watch. There was a stretch of about 25 miles of these long, hot canyons with climbs straight up and steep downhills. Not the switchbacks I was used to in the mountains. It was brutal and tested every fiber of my body. I was getting dehydrated and my shoulder was giving me a problem. A couple of times I just wanted to lay down and quit but I remembered that the closest hikers to me are the boys and they are likely 2-3 days behind me. There are no permanent PCT markers because these canyons are flooded with 15' raging rivers during the winter which wipe out the trail. Each year the trail angels have to rebuild the trail. They do a really nice job. I could see where they had laid rock borders, removed debris, etc. I finally discovered these tall 12'-13' markers for the trail and that helped me stay on track. I also fell and bruised my hip. As I finished up the first day, I noticed my clothes were encrusted with salt which is really unusual for me. I don't usually sweat out a lot of salt.

I finally got out of the canyons and started climbing again, mainly on fire roads and long switchbacks. Definitely cooler and so glad to be back in my element. I'm feeling a lot better and have found two water caches left by Nature's Inn people. I was able to run about 6 miles of the trail today.

I can tell I've gotten dehydrated the last two days and have lost weight. I really like my new sleeping bag and like sleeping under the stars without a tent. It feels good to be back at 8000' for my night camp. You probably can't tell from this picture from my cell phone camera but my legs are caked with dirt.