We hike another five miles on the South Fork Trinity NRT, including our first sustained climb of about 2,000 feet. The miles go easily, other than a few steep parts on the climb. When navigation is easy, and the trail is well maintained, it turns out we can actually hike a good pace!
The NRT ends on top of a hill at a gravel forest road. While hot, it slopes downhill to the north, so the hiking is still easy. The last couple of miles is along Highway 36 to the junction with Highway 3 where Fran awaits with the RV parked in the shade.
We reflect on the first section. It was much more challenging than we expected. Despite the cautions that Michael Kauffmann includes in the trail guide and detailed planning that revealed the challenges, it was still more than we expected. Partly, we just need time to get into hiking shape. But mostly the trail itself is going to be slow. We are glad we finished in five days since for a while it looked like it could go on to day six. But time is going to be a concern, and we will have to push harder than we might prefer if we had a few more days to spare.
As part of the plan to ease into hiking, the next few days will take advantage of having Fran for support. We have several days of travel before the next wilderness area, with frequent road crossings. WILDCAT and I will meet Fran each evening, so we can "slack-pack" and just carry little day packs with lunch, water, and a few essentials. That will allow our bodies to rebuild a little after the rather intense past five days.
Fran bought WILDCAT a camp chair to go with the two that we carry in the RV. He's sitting in it, sipping a Guinness beer, dipping chips in guacamole, and looking quite relaxed. Showers with real soap and shampoo follow, enchiladas for dinner, and we feel nearly human!
12 miles to Highway 3, to mile 58.
No comments:
Post a Comment