Fri. Sept. 30      Miles today: 22.7     Total so far: 2,501.9     Miles to go: 138     No. CA Section P

The smell of smoke grew stronger and stronger during the night last night, and we could see a lot of smoke (especially to the south) when we got up on this very clear and pleasant morning.  I was so grateful to God for the gorgeous weather we’ve been having, since Bill has been feeling so ill.  If we’d had to cope with Bill being sick, PLUS rain or snow, it would have been pretty tough. 

Because of all the smoke in the air, we had a “red ball in the sky” type sunrise.  We ate breakfast on a very rocky part of the PCT, where the rocks do a radical color change–freshly broken off rocks are BLACK, but after a bit of weathering, their surface turns reddish BROWN.  I was looking at those fascinating rocks, and commenting, “I guess these rocks must have quite a bit of iron in them?  Could it be these are rusting rocks?”  And that’s when I suddenly realized that my BRAIN must be rusting, too, because it wasn’t till then that I remembered the socks I rinsed out last night and so carefully hung on a tree.  In the early morning dark when we were breaking camp and loading our packs, I completely forgot them, and didn’t see them because of the dark.  But there was no time to make the long trip back to get them.  With only six more days of walking after today, I decided I could manage with the couple of pairs of socks I had left.  But I was annoyed with myself for forgetting, and when Bill decided that his still-queasy stomach would do better with WARM milk on the breakfast granola (which meant rummaging out the stove, etc.) I was clumsy and spilled some of it.  Now I was definitely not a happy hiker! 

I tried to make the best of it though, as we headed on.  I was now totally out of water and it was some time till we’d reach another spring.  And the trail didn’t cooperate, either.  It went up and up, and was very rocky.  There was so much smoke in the air that our views were obscured, but at least we could make out some pretty blue lakes down below us.  I was VERY glad when we finally reached the small trailside spring to find that it was still running, though just barely.  To get water into my bottle, I had to direct it in with my fingers, and it was COLD water!  Brrr–I had freezing fingers before I finally finished.  But man, did it taste good!

We finally reached a crest with awesome views on both sides.  To the north was the Scott River Valley, hazy with smoke, but we could still make out the fields and farms.  Turning around, we had a great, though smoky, view of the Trinity Alps.  Farther on, we could see Mt. Thompson, with snow still resting on its upper slopes.  And we weren’t the only ones enjoying the pretty meadows and mellow autumn sunlight–so were the cows!  We could often hear their bells, and once we actually MET some.  The cows’ first reaction was to run from us, but then they skidded to a halt, turned around, and stared at us as we walked by.  I guess they were thinking, “Aw, no big deal–it’s just hikers.”

Eventually we crossed the Scott River and reached Forest Road 93, which was being paved–there was a flagman and one-way traffic.  Then it was just climb and climb, for a long time, up into the Russian Wilderness.  These climbs are hard for Bill.  He still felt weak and had to walk very slowly, with a lot of stops to rest.  (As a result of all the climbs, our mileage today ws barely the “22 mile quota,” but it was enough to put us over the 2,500 mile mark.  Thankyou, Lord!)  The PCT in Russian Wildernes runs north for miles along a ridge.  There were views of row upon row of ridges, blue with smoke.  Far down below us in the valley, I heard a train!  (Or maybe a truck with one of those “train-sounding” horns??)  Sometimes there were steep meadows on the hillside, with drying-out wildflowers. 

But one part was quite dramatic!  The Russian Wilderness is granitic rock, with huge formations that look like the High Sierra.  This particular part was a huge gray cliff, with the trail blasted out of its side.  Scaaaaaary for me!  It was one of those things where I just put my head down and concentrate on the trail right in front of me, without looking right or left, and ask Bill, “Please don’t talk to me till we get through this part”.   Bill of course, had no problems with it!  He doesn’t mind big dropoffs right by the trail.

The afternoon turned into almost-sunset, and there we were, still following the PCT as it contoured and contoured along the steep, rocky side of the ridge.  There was not a single little flat place for a campsite anywhere, and no way would we camp ON the trail–there was too much evidence (some quite fresh!) that a bear was doing a regular “commute run” on the PCT tread.  Finally, with the light fading fast, we two now-desperate hikers reached the top of the ridge, found a flat campsite and hung our food bags high.  Since it was almost dark, and it was a nice warm evening, we didn’t bother to rig the tarp, but just cleaned ourselves up a bit and crawled into our sleeping bags. 

I had some thinking to do before going to sleep.  Bill was talking during the day of maybe making a detour off the trail when we reached the road down to Etna, instead of going straight through to Seiad Valley as we’d planned.  He said he desperately needs to rest and does not feel well.  I keep looking at the calendar, though, and being concerned about weather.  I would like to keep hiking as much as we can while this good weather holds.  Normally we could finish in 5 or 6 days from now, but Bill’s health has put a huge looming question mark over everything.  All I could do, in conclusion, was to trust God for His timing and that He would show us what to do.