Day 10 photos

Day 10 started at an off trail spring - the last before a 32 mile waterless stretch. Two water caches are setup along the way, and just by chance as I write this 5 days later in a little diner in Lake Isabella I just finished chatting over coffee with the elderly couple who maintain them for PCT hikers! "hey there, are you hiking the PCT?". They're super nice people and were worried the cache had almost ran out day ago. I plan to carry my own water to not strain the trail angels stocking the caches and to avoid getting in trouble at an empty cache. Water is indeed heavy, but people get lazy and rely on caches often, even when not needed. As it turns out, the weather stayed unusually cold and my 6 litre carry lasted 40 miles! The terrain was stunning all day as we crossed a deep valley and traversed a few long ridges. I leap frogged all day with Shade and Beethoven and also met up with Bruiser, Wheeler, Pappa Smurf, and Bamboo Bob. The weather was strange all day, but overall great for hiking. I wore my poncho most of the morning waiting for the rain that seemed imminent but never came, but still wore long pants and an underwear top all day as it stayed cold and windy all day. By evening on top of the ridge people were estimating it was gusting to 50 miles an hour... I decided to spend an hour up top seeing if I could setup a shelter with my poncho in those conditions - I quit half way through as I was sure it was about to tear in half and carry me down to the valley bottom like a parachute... I walked 23 miles that day waiting for a sheltered spot and ended up camped with about 6 other people nearby when I found the only sheltered spot in miles. One guy still had his tent collapse twice during the night but I slept great. In the worst of the wind, with my long sore feet, I kept a shit eating grin ear to ear like I wore all day - I love storms like that, especially in beautiful places like that valley and pass.