It had been a cold night which meant that I slept great. There were times where I was close to being cold, but it was nice in the tent and the warm sleeping bag. Getting up and out of my bag was a little bit harder this morning. Once I made it out of the tent, I realized why it had been so cold. A misty fog had settled on to Martinson Gap and everything was shrouded in clouds. The people around me were very noisy and were talking loudly before I even got out of my tent. There were definitely more social people than me out there on the trail. I was content to pack up my stuff and head out though. It would be foggy and cold today. The forest was less than exciting because many sections of it were burned over. Still, the terrain would be rather easy and I knew I could make a lot of miles.
I actually still had quite a bit of water, too, so I was doing just fine. With the cool misty air, I was not losing much to sweat, so that made the hiking much easier. I ran into the same guy I seemed to run into often. This was the last time that I saw him. He had a crazy story about wandering around until 2 AM after he got lost looking for water. I talked to him for a little bit and said I was sure I would see him again, but I never did. Hopefully he made it because he was sure putting forth a lot of energy toward this trail. I went past Louisiana Saddle and Rod's Gap. I was listening to Silent Spring by Rachel Carson on Audible and I will have to say, that book was pretty depressing. There were also some moments when the clouds would pull away or the burnt forest would become more tree cover that made this day better, but for the most part I was just packing in the miles.
It was around 11 AM when I made it to Camp Mike Urich. This was an odd place along the PCT. It was a cabin in the woods that opened up to a large meadow. There was a creek running through with a bathroom that smelled strongly of the odor of needing a thorough cleaning. The bathroom reminded me that I was not supposed to drink the water here, so I was going to have to find the spring that would be the last reliable water source for quite some time. As I was leaving Camp Mike Urich, there were a group of people that came upon the cabin. They looked as if they had not hiked more than a mile in many years. Sure enough, when I came around the corner, there were a whole slew of jeeps parked there.
It was a little bit of a culture shock and I thought of the masses going about their Sundays and enjoying the day to go home and sleep in their warm beds. Meanwhile, I was here putting in the miles hoping that I would get a good 25 miles further up the trail so that I could do the same thing again the next day. Leaving Camp Mike Urich, I ran into some south bound PCT hikers who were very friendly. That put me right back in the mood to be on the trail again. I was excited because it was Sunday and I was near enough to Seattle to hopefully pick up an FM radio station with the Mariners game on it. I listened to 97.3 which gave me a little news before finally giving me the Mariners game. Unfortunately, they were to lose the game, but it still provided a few hours of entertainment for me.
The scenery today was a lot of going in and out of new growth forests, crossing logging roads, and a little bit of distant views to get me excited for the future. There was a spring I could not miss, though, and I asked some people if it was easy to find. Sure enough, when I came upon it, there were many thirsty people gathered around the watering hole. I spoke very little because there was a guy there trying very hard to impress the girls that were there. I also realized just how smelly I was when I was around some others. I filled my water and I was off upon my way. I was starting to have some trouble with my foot. I changed my inserts in my shoes before I left for the PCT and finally on Day 11 it was starting to catch up with me.
It was really just my right foot. Until now, it had been a little bit of numbness. Now, though, it was starting to feel swollen. It felt like there was a big lump in my foot that I had to walk over. It made walking uncomfortable. I tried to ease the stress on the foot by taking off my shoes during my hourly breaks and massaging it. I think it helped because I would feel better for a bit. The truth was that I needed to stop walking, but that was not going to happen. I continued through the forest and passed the many roads. At times, there were exciting views that gave me a preview of things to come. Most of the time, though it was me in the trees. I had my only significant uphill of the day after Green Pass and then I would look for a place to camp.
As I got to the Saddle north of Blowout Mountain, I knew there was a campsite soon. When I got there, though, it seemed taken. I did not always feel comfortable about invading another person's camp spot, but I would if I had to. I did not have to, so I continued. It took me another couple of miles to finally find a camp site. It was at the end of a dirt road. It felt a little bit ominous there, but I was just happy to get the pack off. I got some dinner and was still able to get to bed early. The foot pain was an issue and it was going to affect my sleep. I tried sleeping differently to make it better on my foot. Either way, it was nice to not be walking for a while.
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