Day 39

Mile 723.0 to mile 750.7

PCT Miles: 27.7 (44.3km)

Total Miles: 750.7 (1201.1km)

Until around 4pm my day was absolutely chill. Great hike, beautiful views, no snow to be seen. Since there are no more rattlesnakes to be heard, I could even listen to music for a few hours (I hate listening to music going uphill, but when it’s flat or downhill, I love it!). Everything was perfect. Then the first snow patches showed up.

In the beginning they appeared very sporadically and you could easily go around then. It didn’t take long until I had to hike on snow. Since it was mostly flat, it was fine to hike without the crampons. It was late afternoon and the snow was melting, so easy to slip. And I did a few times. But it was on patch of dirt though that I lost my balance and felt. Nothing serious, silly fall. But somehow I broke one of my hiking poles (the one that was already bent from a previous fall) in half.

I kept hiking with only one pole (what could I do?) until the snow became much more abundant. I made a wise decision and put my crampons on. I hiked probably around two hours with them. Later the snow became patchy only and I took the crampons off.

The last half an hour of hiking was a bit miserable. The melting snow was so soft that my feet would sink in on every step. When I arrived at camp, my shoes, socks and feet were completely damp. I quickly dried my feet and put on dry socks. I’m not really sure how I’m going to wear frozen shoes at 6am tomorrow… The forecast for this night is 25 degrees Fahrenheit.