I’m going to first give you some photos from Peter’s camera since he has both a better camera than me and is a much better photographer!

Now let’s pick up from where we left off which was late at night Friday when we were just rolling into camp. But all was not quite so smooth…it was getting very dark and we heard a feral growl behind us and suddenly Peter is flying through the air blocking us from the path of a mountain lion! He dove off the rocky shelf on the trail blocking it’s path with his body, falling in the process, but also scaring the animal away. (OK, not really, he just slipped and fell, but unfortunately the tear on his skin has been infected for over a week now! A pisser, he can tell ya!)

But when we did get into camp and we’re all bustling with our chores the guys definitely DID see a pair of eyes out in the woods that didn’t disappear even when they shined their head lamps towards them. So we grabbed our poles and yelled and threw rocks, all the while explaining that we had opposable thumbs and were therefore superior beings, top of the food-chain and all that…Whatever it was, it didn’t come closer, nor appear impressed with our boasts in the slightest.

But we were too tired to care. Peter boiled water and tended his wound and we fell into bed. Kyle awoke once in the night yelling at something he heard, and it definitely gave me pause. But sometime later I saw a light, figuring it was Peter out for a whiz, or maybe alien abductors, I was too tired to care. Take me. Whatever.

Morning came and it was cold, but stellar and beautiful. We’d had to hide both bear canisters as well as the Ur sack (anther bear resistant device) so we got our bearings seeing things fully for the first time and began coffee, food and some R&R. Kyle took a nap.

And Peter went fishing.

But then, I have to tell you it got really windy and cold and just generally unpleasant. Clouds rolled in blocking the sun, and basically from 2-5pm it was just not much fun. We’re all bundled into our woolies with every layer we own on us trying to stay warm. Way to mess up the 5pm cocktail hour!

Throughout the day on Saturday, hikers from everywhere rolled in. Some were clearly weekenders who were out on their own backpacking trips of various destinations. Others were PCT thru hikers for sure – and our friends Max and Gretchen showed up among them! It was great to see them and catch up on a few tales.

I again will say how hard it must be to be out there on the trail, day after day, week after week. Had I ever seriously considered I could do this PCT thing – this has sealed that for me as a clear “no way”. Dealing with the hardships, craping in the woods and all the rest of it would get to me eventually. It’s good for a few days, I can do that, although would prefer something warmer, that’s for certain!

We ended our day early knowing we needed to get up early and hike out Sunday. Kyle, as you know from his post was seriously vacillating on what he should do, wanted to do, and he hiked out with us. Having finally made his decision was the best part, because then he felt like he knew what to do. In the meantime however, I had my own final issue to deal with – a flattened sleeping air mattress that left me totally deflated and very, very, very cold that final night. So I hiked out with very little sleep, but obviously made it!