Day 43 – Robin Bird Spring to mile ~620, 18 miles
I’m up at 5:45am and on trail at 7:30am. I can’t seem to break the hour and forty five minute threshold. I hike seven miles to Landers Camp, where there’s water. I leapfrog with Shaggy and Fuel Gauge on the way.
The trail is soft with pine needles and morning light shines through the treeswith
There’s a trail register a mile before Landers Camp. Two entries from a trail angel named Cinnabun inform us of a water cache at mile 616. This is welcome news because after Landers Camp, the next water source is Walker Pass, in 42 miles. When I woke up this morning, I thought I’d be hauling water for 42 miles. But there’s a cache! Thank you Cinnabun!
After Landers the trail leaves the trees behind. The tiniest of flowers blanket the ground.
The trail leads east and I can see north, to the Sierras.
After the cache, the trail is dry and sandy. My right ankle begins to complain so I slow down. The sun’s at my back and it’s hot. The trail climbs gradually, still in an easterly direction.
I make camp with Arrow and MP3 in a stand of Joshua Trees. Rice Curry for dinner, third night in a row. We chat about my homesickness. It’s such a relief to share my internal struggles with other hikers.
Day 44 – mile ~620 to mile ~640, 19.61 miles
Arrow and I are up early and on the trail before MP3 emerges from his tent. The trail is still sandy but I’m well rested and caffeinated so it doesn’t seem so bad. I’m still brooding over whether I want to do this anymore but Arrow’s enthusiasm for the day and the trail bring me back to the present and I’m thankful to be hiking with him.
It’s cool and partly sunny. There’s a 50% chance of rain so I eye the clouds suspiciously. We pass the 1000km mark.
Clouds.
Around 11:30am I arrive at mile 630, Bird Spring Pass, where there’s a blessed water cache. Shaggy and Fuel Gauge are here. I sit down to enjoy my last apple. Three bites in I feel a few rain drops. Not yet, please. Let me finish my apple first. I pull out my pack cover to appease the rain gods.
Arrow arrives, Shaggy and Fuel Gauge depart. Arrow and I help each other collect water from five gallon bottles. It’s a two person operation. Because I’ve heard an unusually high number of hikers get sick on this section (F) and the following (G), I filter the water.
A new hiker arrives, Gilligan. He kindly scoffs at my precaution, he’s been drinking unfiltered spring water. Never would I ever. Gilligan makes a joke about giardia being like a juice cleanse. I’ve never juice cleansed, but I seriously doubt the two are anything a like.
The two French Canadian brothers arrive, and a short time later the third brother – who’s supporting – pulls up in a pickup truck. I chat briefly with one of the brothers in my rusty French, but I’m having a really hard time understanding his Canadian accent.
At some point, MP3 arrives and decides he’s feeling good enough to go another 10 miles today and camp with me and Arrow. We get back on trail around 1:30pm, a two hour lunch break, too long I think. Too long.
From the cache at Bird Spring Pass, the trail climbs 1,500 feet over four miles. I’m feeling good and my energy level is high. Must have been that coffee I had at lunch, I should drink coffee with lunch every day. I climb, and climb, and climb. I make it to the top and there are trees again.
I keep going, still feeling good. I take a brief break about five miles from the cache, MP3 catches up. He pulls out a bag of tortilla chip and fig newton crumbs, hiker trash food. Arrow doesn’t catch up, but I’m not too concerned. He planned to stop and check for cell service, and hopefully book a room in Lake Isabella for tomorrow.
It’s 4pm, and I want to go another five miles. As we hike, MP3 shares with me that if he doesn’t make it to Canada, his uncle has promised to call him everyday and berate him for being a quitter. Harsh.
We cover a hair over three miles in one hour, a good pace. MP3 stops for a break, I press on, got to take advantage of the energy when I’ve got it. I pass Shaggy and Fuel Gauge, who’ve made camp.
Around the 639 mile mark I start looking for camp spots. The map doesn’t indicate there are any in the vicinity, but that doesn’t mean there are none to be found. I need flat spaces for three tents.
I find a good spot, well established and just off trail. Arrow can have it when he arrives. I scope out a flat spot near by and clear it of pine cones and twigs. MP3 arrives and pitches his tent on the other side of the trail. Fifty minutes go by, still no sign of Arrow. I backtrack 2/10 of a mile, no Arrow. Should I be concerned? Arrow has a plastic heart valve that I know slows him down on climbs, but he’s a strong hiker and seemed fine with the mileage we’d mapped out.
It’s almost 7pm and I’m hungry, so I make dinner. Then Arrow arrives! He makes camp. I clean my feet and crawl into my tent. It’s chilly and I can’t let my core temperature drop.
I’m looking forward to going to Lake Isabella tomorrow. Thoughts of margaritas and sweet potatoes and showers and clean sheets and eggs float through my head as I lay down to sleep.
Kathy's 2016 PCT Hike 
The thing I find interesting is there are definitely 2 kinds of people that hike the trail. the ones that get into the mindset that they must hike the entire thing in one complete go and the other is the type that doesnt care how much they do or how long it takes to hike it, and it can even be done in sections, over several years. The thing is, the trail is the trail, it’s always there and no matter how you hike it, its still the trail. Many people will hike it and keep hiking it because they think that they “have to” otherwise they “fail” or are “quitters”.Many people will get this mind-set in place and by-pass listening to their bodies cry for rest, or some other aspect of their life.. It can look like both a form of denial and escapism as well as a huge personal challenge that leads to finding oneself in meeting such a challenge. either way seems to have a cost. Multiple trips over the years add up, but thru hiking all at once is expensive in its own way. Wear and tear on the body, one’s home life left behind, work, relationships, etc. Thru hiking is more extreme, i imagine, in the way that coming back and re-joining socitey is harder than just doing it for a month at a time. Extremism and moderation hardly ever balance each other out, it’s usually one or the other with people, i notice. As I grow older I find that moderation is kinder to everyone involved, especially myself. I have really enjoyed reading your blog and i have a converse position in this matter. my girlfriend is hiking the PCT this year on her own and it has been interesting watching the days unfold. I wanted to join her, but she has said from the start that she needed to do it alone. that’s really tough for me to cope with, for many reasons. Now that she is on the trail and 500 miles in, she has told me that she really misses me and thinks I would really like it and would i like to join her for some of it, etc. It is very difficult for me to process this, because she spent 9 months preparing for the hike (with me helping a lot) and I have prepared none for it and have summer stuff planned already, as I was taking care of myself and carrying on with my life, since I was not invited to go on the trip. I rarely hear from her because of the poor cell reception and frenzied zero-days in town that she has. I follow her blog and the blog of several other people and I have come to the conclusion that thru-hikers are a little insane on some level. 😀 I may still try to join her, somewhere other than the desert of snowy sierras (looks like she will have to by-pass that area soon, anyhow) and maybe spend a few weeks with her, somewhere. But I will say this, in closing- I hope that you choose to do what your heart desires, and not what other people are telling you to do. You can stop and start the trail as many times as you like, and go home and feed the parts of you that want that now and do something else like hike the PCT more next summer, or do another hike. You would not be a “quitter” or failure if you choose something else. everything is LIFE. even choosing to die is not quitting. everything is an experience and contains learning. We are not single-faceted beings. thee are many parts of us that need feeding. maybe its time for you to feed other parts of you? when you are hungry for the trail again, you can hike the trail again, it will still be thee. After all, it is not good to eat when we are not hungry, so if you do not really want to hike more like you are, it’s probably not a good idea, especailly for your soul. I would think that hiking 20 miles a day would get boring, just like hiking 5 miles to a mountain lake and staying there for a month could get boring. You are free to choose whatever your heart desires, and that will look different from person to person. I commend you for being on your authentic and honest journey, wherever that should take you! thank you for sharing your experience in your blog! best wishes to you. James
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So in 2009 I was 4 days into a long anticipated JMT hike and I quit. I felt selfish towards my wife & two daughters, and at age 45 I was still very undecided about everything. Fortunately I met up with some hikers that somehow encouraged me back into it hiking later that day. All the planning, all the training etc… One moment led to the next, and then the next, and after 16 days I was on top of Whitney and yes I did tear up a bit. It was so worth it and I think it benefited my family as well because I grew a little bit closer to them that day. Its too long of a story but a short life, and we should all appreciate the moments that every moment leads to.. You came a long way Kathy and there are countless reason why a person would want to leave the trail. However, there are even more countless reasons why a person would want to continue. If you have the opportunity, I would say go for it cause you can, but only you can make that choice. So fortunate we all are to have so many choices, as there are many that just aren’t able. Just hang in there Kathy, cause the Sierra is just around the corner, and even though it wont be easy, the moment is just to good to pass up. Thanks…
“Just Bruce”
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Thanks Bruce. I’m on trail, trying to acknowledge my homesickness without judgement or emotion. I think this struggle is a part of my thru hike experience, and accepting/dealing with my feelings is a part of my journey.
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