Saturday, August 7, 2010 Miles Today: 27.7 Total: 1,600

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

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Oh dear!  I hung my “towel” up to dry last night after washing my feet before bedtime, and this morning discovered it had been chewed up by some critter.  The critter ALSO chewed on the bite valve of my Platypus!  Fortunately the bite valve damage wasn’t too bad, and everything still works fine.  But my poor towel!

We continued to enjoy the beautiful views of the Trinity Alps today– the highest part, where the snow is still deep, even in August! But finally we “turned the corner” and the trail headed north again through Russian Wilderness, which I call “the land of huge light grey boulders.” Right away, the PCT takes you across the face of a cliff, with the trail blasted out of the rock.

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I was much braver about this “cliff walk” than I was in 2005! But a really great thing was we met Babysteps and Flashback, who immediately recognized us– “Wow, 3rd Monty and White Beard! We haven’t seen you since Mather Pass! We climbed the pass on those fantastic steps you chopped in the snow!” They asked us where was a good place to eat in Etna, and we told them “Bob’s Ranch House.” They said, “See you there for breakfast!” and we answered “Well, we’re hoping for church first.”   Off they went, and we hiked on until 8pm, hoping to get as close to Etna Road as we could.

We set up our camp near a bend in the trail, and even after dark, we were being passed by hikers with headlamps!  Everybody is doing “Etna or  Bust!” 

Walk with Aragorn to Isengard: Ford the Snowbourne and reach the road to Edoras

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