Our campsite last night was well protected from the wind and we woke up to the sun shining on the hillside across the valley.
Our plan was to leave at 6:30. At 6:15 I was beginning to feel pretty cold as our campsite was in the shade. I headed out for some movement and in search of sun. I came to a saddle which had great views on both sides and continued forward .1 mile to a nice sunny spot to wait for Jelly and Take Charge.
I find it interesting when you can look across and see the trail cutting across the hillside in front of you. It gives some motivation knowing where you will soon be.
As I look out into a beautiful Valley below us I can hear a river going down the mountain
Another beautiful view of Mount Shasta
Crossing another larger snow field, this one has multiple spots where there is melt running beneath it causing open patches of rock with water flowing over them that are gorgeous.
As I leave the Castle Crags Wilderness the trail opens up to more beautiful views of a mountain peak peppered with snowfields and expansive valleys and mountains on all sides.
We had anticipated heavy snow on all days of this leg. The first picture is the snow overlay on the maps. Purple indicates snow the darker the deeper. The second picture is reality on the trail at the same spot as the location arrow on the overlay.
We have come to the top of another saddle which again offers incredible views from both sides of the mountain
Looking down, we have two more Mountain Lakes below us
The trail is scattered with lakes. They appear on both sides regularly.
White ridge spring is right off of the trail and offers a refreshing place to fill the water
miles)
Pulsatilla nuttalliana are these purple flowers in the Daisy family growing right alongside these white Drummond’s Anemone flowers
We arrived to the turn off for porcupine Lake. It’s a short .2 mile climb up to a beautiful Alpine lake. It is mostly thawed with a little bit of ice on the far end, and I can assure you, after submerging myself, It is still very cold. The lake is surrounded on two sides by steep rocky cliffs.
While most of the ground still had snow cover we were able to find a few dry areas for our tents and our kitchen. After our dip in the lake, we made it we made dinner and laid down to rest our weary legs.
Today’s PCT miles hiked 14.9
Total PCT Miles hiked to date 988.5
PCT mile marker 1532.4
(Flipped over 542.8 miles)
