Miles Hiked: 16.6
PCT Mileage: 766.3
I opened my eyes at 5am and it was totally bright outside. I was thinking about doing Whitney for Sunrise tomorrow but I’d have to wake up at 1am and the fact that it was totally bright outside at 5am changed my mind. I didn’t sleep well for the third night in a row ( at least the third?) And I’ve really been struggling with sleep deprivation. Getting up at 1am to hike tomorrow didn’t seem smart. I laid in my tent until 6am and then I started to slowly get ready for the day. I only had to hike 15 miles to Crabtree Meadow today and I was excited. Yesterday a few things were hurting so I was looking forward to an easy day to heal everything. Not only that but I’ve felt rushed the last few days from waking up late and not being on my Early Bird schedule. We all hung out at camp together talking about plans for Whitney. It was nice to just chill and enjoy the morning before leaving camp at 7:30am.
The first three miles were all uphill. I got a gorgeous view of Chicken Spring Lake from above. We crossed into Sequoia National park and I got a picture next to the sign. I could see big mountains in the distance and I wondered which one was Mount Whitney. I hiked with Pippin and Gopher a lot today. The trail was gorgeous and mellow all day long. We passed by several flowing creeks so I barely carried any water at all which was really nice and made my pack feel light. Halfway through the day Fry decided he was going to go up Mount Whitney that night. I was jealous because sun set up there would be gorgeous but with my lack of sleep and sore feet yesterday it would not be a good idea.
We arrived at the Junction to Crabtree Meadows around 3pm. I took the opportunity to soak my feet in a gorgeous ice cold flowing creek. After that we hiked one mile to set up camp in the meadow. I was so happy to be at camp early for once. I was feeling great minus being really hungry. I cooked a dinner of couscous with fresh dehydrated veggies and spices. Today I made it with pesto it was amazing! I’m so thankful for Jodi who home made all the dehydrated veggies. I want to get my own dehydrator to do this for myself in the future!
I tried to go to sleep as early as I possibly could since I was so sleep deprived. The plan for tomorrow is to wake up at 4am and start hiking by 4:30 to Summit Mount Whitney.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 