Friday July 17
I hit the ground hard. My left shoulder took the brunt of the impact. I felt an odd pain and thought to myself, "this could be the end of my hike."
Earlier this morning, Windscreen and I got a ride from the Ashland Taxi Service to the trail. Windscreen picked up most of the $16 tab because I had paid for our ride into town. We hit the trail at 6:20.
The trail went through a lot of dense forest so it was difficult to see the trail clearly. I seemed to be able to trip over every rock, root and branch. I also felt tired from last nights fun at the brewery.
There seemed to be a lot of wildlife today. I saw several deer, a black bear cub, a bird that landed on my trekking pole, and chipmunks galore. There were even coyotes yipping in the distance!
The trail passed right by Pilot Rock. Some savvy campers knew where to find a good view.
Peregrine falcons nest in some of the areas around Pilot Rock. Those areas were closed for technical rock climbing.
The trail also passed through an area where the Mardon skipper butterfly lives. The butterfly is a candidate for the endangered species list, and hikers were cautioned to stay on the trail.
When going downhill, I often scurry along quickly. I should have remembered my tendency for tripping. Somehow a root or rock caught my left foot. I tried to maintain my balance, but I couldn't. As I described in the beginning of this blog, I hit the ground hard. My water bottle went flying as did everything in my shirt pocket. I was afraid to move my arm, fearing that I had done real damage. Fortunately, everything seemed OK, but it gave me a real fright!
At midday I stopped at the outlet for Hyatt Reservoir. This was one of the few on-trail sources for water.
There also were large fields filled with a plant that had yellow flowers. Most of the flowers had faded, leaving an incredible spiked top. They were really sharp and hurt when you brushed by them. Does anyone know what they are?
By 5:30 my back and feet were aching. I am camped tonight at PCT mile 1757.0. I hiked 30.5 miles today. The elevation here is 4687 feet.
I am glad your fall wasn't more serious. I had to take a picture of those yellow flowers on my recent hike as well. They are buggers. It looks like they are called a Yellow Star Thistle. I hope you don't run into too many more of them, or the mother of the black bear cub for that matter.
ReplyDeleteDon't let the fall shake your confidence- you're doing awesome out there!
ReplyDeleteI looked up the Mardon Skipper and found they look more moths like than I anticipated. It's nice to hear hikers are encouraged to give them some space.
The Yellow Star Thistle (thanks for finding it's name, Erica) looks like it has one thing on it's mind- poking the heck out of passer-by's. :)