A Little Tap and a Lot of Hope

6:32 AM

Oof, that was chilly last night. The tent was on a slight slope, so I kept rolling off my mat. Not exactly a recipe for a good night's sleep. Still, I did sleep, better than the previous nights. The simple routine of eating, walking and sleeping is slowly finding its way back into my system.

The forecast has changed, and suddenly it's going to be ten degrees cooler. Still not Dutch temperatures, but with the desert ahead that's much better news than before.

7:31 AM

It's so cold this morning that you just keep walking to stay warm. Talk about extremes.

10:54 AM

Last water point before a 25 km stretch. So I ask ChatGPT how much water I need on the PCT near Mount Laguna at 25 degrees. The idiot says: 1 litre every 3 km 😡. I'm not lugging 10 litres of water around. I don't even have that many bottles. Then it gets even better: apparently I'd be better off turning back. Always so encouraging, that ChatGPT.

Anyway, I get to the water point, turn on the tap… and nothing comes out 😂. Look at my bag: 1 litre left. Well, this should be interesting.

Then Helena walks over from a little village and just shares her water with me. Now that's looking out for each other.

Still doesn't sit right with me. Suddenly I spot a tiny tap underneath the trough — and would you believe it, lovely yellow tea-water comes out. There we go: 3 litres now, and that's enough for me. We'll see how far we get.

12:35 PM

12:39 PM

The real desert is creeping closer 🤔 Or perhaps it's the other way round and I'm creeping closer to it.

Pffff… that looks promisingly hot. Let's leave that section for tomorrow. The water is disappearing quickly again.

8:08 PM

Made it to the campground. No wild camping anywhere in this area, only at campgrounds. PCT hikers can stay for free, but can't pitch their tents until dark 😡. I'm not much of a rules person, so at 6:30 pm I decide it's quite late enough to put mine up.

Time to be good and eat another hot meal. Lasagne, gluten-free too. Luckily not too salty. Packet meals usually leave such a horrible aftertaste, but thankfully Mountain House doesn't.

Then I realise I'm out of water. Outside the campground there's a sort of algae-filled trough you can scoop water from 🧐. Filter it, and add an Aquatab for the viruses, just to be sure.

I've booked a hotel for two days from Monday. Time to get things back in order. After a week in the same clothes, it's hardly surprising people give me a wide berth 😂

Total: 28.15 km in 11 hours 46 minutes. Ascent: 651 m. Average speed: 3.1 km/h. Average heart rate: 127 bpm.