Our epically long day today followed a similar trajectory to many of our other days so far. We woke up, felt great through about noon, when all the little chronic pains and fatigue really dragged us down until the end. But we made it, bum heel and back and all.
On our way up Pinchot
Morning climbs are the best!
Southside of Pinchot Pass
Looking back up at Pinchot
Silly break time on our way down
Woods Creek was great!
Curry and rice...now you see why I miss my favorite restaurants...
As planned, we woke up earlier at 6 and were hiking by 8. Boom. Already a two and a half hour jump on yesterday's progress. The climb to Pinchot Pass was one of the steepest ascents, it seemed, but it was also one of the most enjoyable. Eating more and accumulated leg strength have gone a long way in gifting us productive mornings. The sun was shining, there was a chill to the air, and we were cruising.
At the top, we chatted for a while with hikers from several groups we've been leapfrogging. One of them had a member drop out I think before muir trail ranch, but that person failed to contact the resupplier. So now between them the three of them are carrying one person's food AND bear can. I would jump off the nearest cliff (and there are many here) if I had to carry two bear cans. The silver lining for us, of course, is that Maddie scored a few cliff bars from them, which was great because Maddie is slightly low on food. When we all meet at Rae Lakes again, hopefully we have some down time to hang out! The top was impressive, but the chilly, biting wind forced us not to extend our stay.
And so we began our incredibly long descent to Woods Creek, 7.6 miles of gorgeous, if tediously long, downhill. We both enjoyed this first two thirds of the day, as it afforded incredible views accompanied by a nice cool breeze. There were clouds, but we didn't really worry too much.
At Woods Creek we made the decision to cook dinner before proceeding up the 1700 feet or so to Arrowhead Lake. So at 3pm, we made our curry and rice that I dehydrated, and it turned out to be pretty tasty. During our chow fest, one of the Redlands hikers, Terry, stopped and said hello before crossing the bridge. It was at this point that we suspected we'd make fast friends with this group, as he complimented Maddie's hiking speed. Music to her little ears. If you want Maddie to instantly like you, complimenting her athletic prowess is as sure fire a way as you can find. As dinner progressed, we noticed some potentially foul weather brewing up the canyon we would be climbing. Whereas most of the other groups we have been leapfrogging with decided to stop at woods creek, we felt optimistic that the sunshine would hold out until we made it to Arrowhead Lake.
So after dinner, we picked up hiking at the awesome Woods Creek suspension bridge. This thing truly is awesome, made all the more so by the fact that several wooden planks along its length are cracked or broken completely (this fact actually counted against the bridge's awesomeness in Maddie's book...to each his own). After giving Maddie a quick scare by jiggling the cables a bit as she crossed, I followed her, enjoying every second like a little kid on his first roller coaster (assuming this kid liked roller coasters).
From there we began our ascent, which began slowly--hey, you hike 4.7 miles uphill with packs after a curry dinner and see how you feel! We soon picked up the pace though, with the help of Gwen Stefani's new album blaring in Maddie's earphones and Tina Fey's book in mine. We were going strong until Baxter Creek. Ohh Baxter Creek, you wolf in sheep's clothing. As the crossing seemed a little vexing at first, I tried one way across rocks while Maddie then attempted a log crossing down stream about 20 yards to see where it would get us. About halfway across the rocks, I looked over to see Maddie slip and fall hard on her butt on the log. Immediately I unclipped my backpack and very nearly dropped it right in the creek before gathering the composure to take it with me to the shore. I scrambled to the grass, dragging my headphones through the creek in my haste, flung my stuff down and ran across the first dry log to where she sat crying. Although I'm sure the situation could have been handled better by a more seasoned professional, I was actually very surprised by how quickly my wilderness first aid training came back to my head. I unclipped her backpack and moved it aside on the log, and helped to get her off the precariously slippery logs and sitting calmly on flat ground. Probably the most useful thing I did was something I did by accident. While hoisiting her backpack out of the way I slipped on the very same log, landing my right leg up to my knee in the creek, soaking my boot completely. Although this may seem like one royal pain in the ass for me, it worked wonders on Maddie, turning her crying into laughter. Note to future rescuers, nothing will put a smile on the victim's face like you screwing up in a comical way. At least...it worked for me. I went and retrieved both of our bags and forded them across the creek, where I met Maddie sitting on a rock. She was hurting, as she had fallen right on her tail bone. Per protocol, I asked her a couple sensory questions, and she complied, but she felt silly and weird with me asking these formal questions. For the millionth time, she was fine. So we took a break, she ate a bar, and I held her while we sat laughing about my own tumble into the creek. It was a scary moment, but we finally decided to keep on moving, albeit at a much slower pace.
She really dug deep for that climb up to the lake, and we eventually made it around 6:45, our latest hiking day yet. There, I told her to go sit and relax by the beautiful lake while I took care of all the setup. I was grateful we had already eaten dinner, so we just climbed in soon after I finished. Upon lying in bed, I realized just how much pain I was in. My back, which has been getting progressively more irritable, was stiff and almost throbbing like it was a couple months ago. I couldn't imagine having gone on this trip without the help of my physical therapist, Mandy from Newsport PT, in the months leading up to it. But more troubling, we're my big toes, whose corners were pulsing with pain every time I wiggled them. I chalked it up to being crammed in a wet boot for almost 2 hours, and am now about to try and get some sleep.
So here we are, battered and bruised, but having vanquished another brutal day. Missing home quite a bit right now, but at least we've got each other!
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