WIND, WIND, WIND
PCT DAY 4: Mile 55.9 – Mile 73.4
Sunday April 17, 2016: 17.5 miles + 1 mile for water (29.6km)
Eager to get going we packed up and headed off before breakfast. We were stopping a bit down the track to fill up with water so we though we would breakfast there. When out of the wind, the air was pretty warm. Probably the warmest morning we’ve had so far. But the wind did not let up.
After refilling our water bottles we hiked along a ridge where the wind was so strong at times it felt like your legs were being swept from under you. I thought I could out hike the wind by going faster, but eventually I gave into it. Hammer on the other hand loved the gusting windy conditions.
The vegetation on the ridges provided little shelter or visual respite from the unrelenting wind. We hiked with the wind for almost half a day. Feeling wind blasted we eventually started to descent and wind our way down into the valley towards the riad thst keads to the town of Julian. And here the day suddenly started to feel a lot brighter. The wind eased and flowers returned. And I saw my first flowering cactus in the desert. And of course I had to stop for each one, the colours were so stunning. Who would think that something so unattractive like a cactus could produce such beauty.
By mid-afternoon it got quite hot as we were were out of the wind and had the sun at our back. By this stage we had also refilled all our water containers so we were hiking with 6L of water each. We have a stretch of about 32 miles ahead without any water. We decided to stop 4 miles short of the road into Julian. All up 10 hours of hiking for a total distance of 29.6 kilometres.
We are camped on a ledge overlooking the valley below. A beautiful spot. The sun is about to disappear over the horizon and it is throwing a red glow over the rocks. The best camp spot so far on the PCT.
Beautiful photography !!
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So pleased you like the photos Kirk.
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I am just loving your blogs and photos!!
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So pleased you are liking the blog. Keep the comments coming. What’s the surf like at Manly?
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Really enjoying your commentary and so impressed with your tenacity in the adverse conditions. Awesome photos of the local fauna – keep them coming. Love, Paul and Catherine.
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How are two coping without your number 1 son? Hope all is well? Glad you are following and like the photos.
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Stef – reading your blog and viewing you beautiful photos just makes my day – hope Mike has plenty of moisturiser in his bag for you to cope with the wind- ha, ha – I love Macey, is he walking the complete trail? How are the feet going and I hope Lou-Seal is coping with the heat/wind – I can’t see John and I fitting into that size tent – keep well & safe Love Maree xx
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Sadly no moisurizer Maree. I shall be a tanned, leathery old lady by the time we are done. Marcy is walking the whole thing. Feet are doing well so far, poor Marcy had blistered paws so they took a day off in Julian. Lou-Seal is loving the desert flowers, not so much the wind though. Thank you so much for following our hike and your kind words.
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Stefica, Mike. That is a terrific post. Feel like I am there. Some many photos to understand the terrain and flora. Keep up the good work
Karl
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That is so nice Karl. Thank you for your kind words.
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Loving your adventure. It really feels like I’m sharing it with you. Photos are stunning
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Thank you Clare. The lanscape is really stunning. Makes taking photos easy.
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The trail looks so rough. The cacti flowers are special.
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The trail is rough underfoot at times. Your feet do feel smashed by the end of each day. I have fallen in over with cactus flowers. Who would think a cactus could produce such stunning beauty.
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Great photos and great memories, sometimes just surviving is hard enough so recording it for all of us is an amazing effort.
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Thank you Aideen. There have been challenging times.
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