Day 21~ miles 347 - 369
We woke up to no precipitation overnight, and our tent didn't blow down or anything crazy. It was actually sunny when we were heading out onto the trail, but we could see the clouds rolling in. We were within a day's hiking of our next town stop, but weren't sure if we would be able to make it to the highway by a reasonable time.
Our climb up from the valley was seemingly neverending. We walked uphill for about 17 MILES STRAIGHT! I think we gained about 5,500 feet in elevation, so the climb was pretty gradual, but mentally challenging. I think that if we didn't have our minds set on going into town, it may have been a little more relaxed. The higher we climbed, the worse the weather got. We were in the clouds for most of the day. As altitude increased, so did the wind speeds, and the temperature decreased. With probably around 7 miles left, it began to precipitate. We walked in freezing cold sleet and snow , across a ski resort, and finally after a really long 22 miles, we arrived at the highway around 4pm. The 4 guys were right behind us.
We caught a ride into the town of Wrightwood in about 30 minutes. First order of business, find an indoor place to sleep! We got room at a really dumpy motel with the 4 guys. Second, shower. Third, FOOD! Not McDonald's this time, but Mexican. We each got a 5 cent margarita...Quinoa and Half & half (the Europeans) had never had one. We headed back to the room and stayed up chatting and listening to music for a short while until we gave in to our exhaustion.
No comments:
Post a Comment