Day 35: Baden-Powell for real
Yesterday we got close, while today we reached the summit after an entire morning of steep ascent in the snow, following terrible tracks – both due to the state of the snow and because they were straight lines following the maximum slope. As always happens in the mountains, reaching a summit is only half the story: then there’s the descent. Up and down snowy ridges and forests of conifers (gigantic, as always), losing and picking up the trail that easily hid in the remaining snow. Without a GPS or a map, getting lost multiple times would be guaranteed.
The effort was considerable, the kilometers not many because we were proceeding slowly – a taste of what will be an ordinary day in the Sierra Nevada in June – but I didn’t find the day as heavy as the crossing of Mission Creek: here at least the effort made was worthily repaid with a summit, beautiful views of the valley on one side (the Los Angeles side), and of the desert plains on the other.
But today’s best gift was spotting a black bear in the wild. It must have been five hundred meters away from us and was running in the opposite direction, not interested in approaching human beings. Fabio managed to take a short video with his phone’s maximum zoom. Seeing this animal live in its environment, where we are the intruders, was touching and wonderful. Yes, it was running away from us, but it was free to live where and how it was supposed to. It was truly a wild animal.
At the end of the day, having reached a road and a parking lot for day hikers, we decided to try to find a ride to the campground we picked for the night. To be purists, the trail climbed up a minor peak, turned around and down, then joined the road again. A closure would have forced us to take the road for the remaining miles. We were all pretty tired and no one cares about going home saying “I hiked every single mile of the PCT.” Some do, though, those are the rules they have set for themselves. Walking from Mexico to Canada, step by step, no exceptions (except those imposed by impassable obstacles, which will come). If they are okay with that, no one can interfere. They know what they are doing and the risks they are taking. Hike your own hike.
We are fifty miles away from Acton, the next resupply point. It’s not a small distance, but we covered very few kilometers in two days. Tomorrow and Tuesday, we will have to up our pace if we want to arrive by Wednesday, when food will start running low. I always want to carry less because I hate a heavy and bulky backpack – I keep looking with barely concealed envy at those who have a super compact forty-liter backpack on their shoulders – but then I end up eating a lot because my body demands it. It’s a tradeoff where I will have to make a choice.
