Day 11 : Morning and Afternoon

30th April 2013
Mile 129 to mile 145 : Awesome view campsite to missed campsite
Today's mileage : 16 miles
Today felt lazy. I was up earlier than usual owing to to prominent saddle i was sleeping on. The pros of sleeping here were the incredible views, the cons were the wind and the fine layer of dust that the wind brought with it. The morning was a gentle des ent lasting 9 miles, easy in the cool of the morning. I felt good as my ankles were feeling better and appeared less swollen, that all changed in the afternoon, i definitely think they are affected by the heat. I hit the day's water source just as the heat was setting in about 11am. After a quick stop here to refill on water i pushed on determined to make the most of what was left of the morning. By midday i had had enough though, either there was no wind, or the wind was hot, neither option is conducive to my sort of hiking so i stopped under one of the few shady trees i could see to ride out the heat of the afternoon.
Many episodes of In Our Time, Great Lives & Round the Horne later it was time to move one. As i moved off up the side of a steep guy everything started hurting : ankles both left and right, feet, blisters and shoulders. I was not a happy bunny to say the least. I needed to close gap between where i was and Paradise Cafe that i wanted to hit next lunchtime so made some miles. 2 hours or so later i was so busy being annoyed at the ineptitude of my body i missed my planned campsite. Great. There is no going back on the PCT so carried on for another mile or so til i found a sheltered spot in what looked a runoff gully with a flat space big enough to put out my roll mat. A mixed day over i was asleep by 8 and grateful for every minute of it.

Oasis Cache : A welcome sight in the hot desert sun.