5/7/17

Day 14
Miles: 190.5 to 205

Neither of us got a good sleep. The wind howled at speed that was forecasted to be up to 50 mph and the snow kept coming. We shook the walls of our tent three times and still when the morning dawned, they were loaded again.

The wind which we were at first protected from changed direction during the night and blew large about if snow in our vestibule, covering our shoes and backpacks. 

It was hard to crawl out from the warmth of the sleeping bag but we knew we had to get lower down. And so at around 8:00 we left the camp, together with most of the other hikers that stayed here. 

The sun broke through the clouds and for the next couple miles everything looked magical. Frosted pine trees, crunchy fresh snow under our feet, real winter wonderland in the desert in May.

The precipitation returned later, first as large snowflakes. It was really unique to see them landing on cacti and other desert plants. Then we dropped and walk into rain.

It was an easy day today, all downhill. Seriously we walked 15 miles downhill. It was the longest downhill section of PCT we were told. The grade was gentle on the knees, and views pretty nice, but at the end of the day even I was ready to be done. 15 miles of downhill was simply too much.

We covered another milestone today when we walked past the 200 mile marker. There were several of them near location where our GPS suggested the two-hundreds mile was, and an official one about half mile down the hill.

In the evening we enjoyed chat with Amanda and Larry, couple from Ontario, Canada. They don’t hike big miles either and so we might see more of them in upcoming days. 

Kevin and snowboarders moved further, likely 4 more miles to a bridge where trail magic is frequently found. Several other hikers were rushing there too. If we’re lucky maybe some sodas will remain till we get there tomorrow.