I finally actually slept last night, even with the howling wind. I needed it badly! By morning all was calm and we found a great little sunpatch for breakfast in the pinyon pine forest.  All the trees were loaded with little fat green pinecones–looks like a good crop this year!

Pretty soon we were down in the little valley where we camped in 2005 and went through the worst storm I have ever experienced.  No bad weather today!  Then the PCT turns and heads into the Canebrake Creek Valley. There is one house there— 2 stories with an elegant pillared porch like a Southern mansion— out in the middle of the sagebrush. “Long way to the grocery store from there” was Bill’s comment.

The sign that marked the turnoff for Canebrake Creek campground had a little note pinned to it by a disappointed thruhiker. It said, “I stayed at the campground last night.  There is no water and no camp host. 🙁 ”  We looked at the creek– it had very little water in it.  So we decided to just keep going and get water later.  Up and up we went on  the long, long climb to Trail Summit, with a stop at Fox Mill Spring to take on a full load of water. Some more hikers were there, just leaving. “Are you thruhikers?” they asked.  “Canada, here we come!” we fired back, and we all cheered.  One of them, a Brit, said, “Watch out–the mosquitoes are dreadful at the spring.”   “Well, that comes with the territory,” we said, while we took off our packs.

Fox Mill Spring has a trough for the horses,  but we wanted to get our water straight from the source, so we pushed aside the willows hanging over the spring itself, where the water was coming out of the hillside.  As we’ve been doing, we put six drops of GSE in each bottle, filled it from the spring, then dumped it into our platypuses.  We each took on a total of 3 1/2 liters of water, which is generally the most we ever carry at a time.  As it turned out, it would have been a good idea to get more.

The climb continued, till we were in another burn zone. We were here in 2005 and expected a lot of regrowth by now. Nope— it’s still “just” wildflowers, especially lupines. They were often waist high on me, and the air smelled like perfume as we walked along. Bumblebees were buzzing around us. It was a very warm, humid day, so we were getting pretty sweaty. When we reached Trail Summit, wow!  Filling the horizon were the snowcapped Sierras!  The snow level looked like it was at timberline, which should be do-able for us (I hope–we will soon know!)  Then came miles of downhill going in and out of gullies as the trail wound its way down to Rockhouse Basin.  However, the wildflowers were awesome, and we had free entertainment overhead–military jets “playing” in the sky.

At around 3 pm, we reached “the first creek in Rockhouse Basin”, where at last there was some shade–full of hot, sweaty hikers!  They were busy filtering water from the creek.  We looked at it and decided, “No, thanks!”–it was all colors of slime. Even with a filter, we wouldn’t have touched the stuff.  But we did get out a very melted Snickers each, and had fun meeting everybody.  That’s how we  met Miwok, who is originally from Petaluma!  A fellow citizen of  The Egg Capital of the World!  We compared notes with Miwok about where we’d done  training hikes for the PCT.  We generally go to Point Reyes Nat’l Seashore–turned out he generally went to Mt. Tamalpais and the Golden Gate headlands.

The Brit hiker we’d met before turned out to be named “Southy” because he’s from the south of England, and it also seems that he has a thing about mosquitoes–he HATES them! He and the others were also discussing (with great concern) a rumor that “There’s a dangerous stream crossing between here and Kennedy Meadows–a guy lost his pack trying to get across.”  Bill and I told them “No way!  There’s no such thing!  We’ve done this trail before, and there’s nothing but a few small creeks.”  But they were still worried, and were still talking about it as they shouldered packs to head on again.   Bill and I were both feeling very tired from the heat, so we lazed around in the shade for awhile longer.

Back on the PCT, we started on the up ‘n down miles as the trail rollercoastered in and out of the big burn zone.  A very noisy little rattlesnake buzzed at us from his spot under a pinyon pine, and he buzzed even louder when Bill stopped and went back to take his picture!  Then we cheered when the trail finally reached the Kern River, which was roaring and rushing nicely and lined with willow bushes and pink wild roses.  The PCT goes winding along above it, through a narrow, rough, rocky canyon.  We were awfully low on water at this point, but decided to keep going and not worry about it.  Late in the afternoon, we passed a beaver pond AND a very wet, happy thruhiker!  He told us he’d gone for a swim in the pond, and was able to watch the 2 beavers at work, building their dam with willow branches. 

We pushed on into the wide, dry, sagebrushy Kennedy Meadows valley, where for some reason, there are no PCT posts to guide you.  We got a bit lost here in 2005, but this time it was a lot easier–there was a clear trail of footprints to follow.  Why, oh why doesn’t the PCTA or somebody mark this stretch of the trail?  At this point, we were seriously looking for water.  The map showed a creek crossing–but it turned out to be dry.  Then the map showed an ORV road going down to the Kern, so we tried following that, and it was no go, either.  Sigh.  We were very tired at this point, and our tails were dragging. 

So we went back to the PCT and just walked along, eyeing the river off to our left, till we spotted a short stretch of riverbank that was clear of willow thickets. We headed straight for it, crosscountry, and when we got there, Bill took off all his clothes and got right into the river for a bath.  I tried to do the same, but the water was freezing cold.  So I ended up doing more of a “splash bath” than a “swimming bath.”  It felt so good, though, to wash off all the sweat and grime of the trail!  We also got some water, and then I found a nice grassy patch to set up camp just before it got dark.

It’s a bright night–the moon is almost full, and animals are making their “night noises” all around us.  Another couple of hikers have camped nearby, and built a campfire, which has a nice “homey/smoky” smell drifting to us on the breeze.  Tomorrow is Kennedy Meadows day, and man, am I ready for it!

Walk to Lórien: Hollin Ridge

Tags: Canebrake Creek, Fox Mill Spring, Rockhouse Basin, Trail Summit