Post by RedDoug on Dec 11, 2015 14:43:29 GMT -8
Todd from the other side of the lake was gone when we set out in the morning. On the 2nd day out there was no sign of him, at least not right away. Katz and I did however meet a solo PCT hiker who had fallen behind a group of hikers she started with. Her name was Moonbeam, or Moonshadow, or Moondancer, something like that. One's memory can be greatly effected by experiences. I do have a few pictures of her. She is pretty, built like a backpacker, pleasant to talk to. She had started on the Mexican border months ago but dropped out with feet problems. She consulted someone medical who assured her new and better footwear would take care of her problem. When we met on our 2nd day out she was slightly limping.
Katz has a gait that is almost 2x my speed. But Moonbeam and I walked at about the same pace except on the ups when she would pull ahead of me, but she had already been out for months by the time I met her. The day moved on towards noon. NO sign of Todd. Eventually there was no sign of Katz, either. Moonbeam was up ahead of me as the clouds overhead gradually darkened but our pace would often bring us together and we would chat some. I don't chat much while backpacking.
Back at Horseshoe Meadows I had asked Katz, since it never rains in the Sierras, do I need to pack a rain jacket? "Probably not," he told me. And I almost left it in the van except years of mountain hiking had made an impression on me and I decided to pack it. Now, on the second day out I was digging it out of my pack as it began to rain and hail. Down sweater under the rain jacket, I was comfortable.
I don't pack rain pants. Instead I use a large heavy duty plastic bag around my waist down to just below my knees like a kilt.
Over the next two hours the rain/hail increased and decreased in its intensity. This is when I caught up with Katz. It was about 2- 3 pm. He had his tent set up. He was cold and wet and wanted to make camp there for the night and then go over Forester Pass the next day. The rain had stopped about then so I sat down and looked at our JMT trail map. We were at least 10 miles from Forester Pass- all uphill. I could never do that in one day. The skies were clearing, I still had a good 4- 5 hrs before sunset, I wished Katz well and told him we would met up somewhere tomorrow on the way to Forester Pass. Moonbeam moved on with me.
Interesting, but I paid little notice to the 2nd tent that was set up not far from Katz. In that tent letting the weather pass was Todd. But Todd and Katz would not meet until 2- 3 days later. And I had not yet learned to identify Todd by his tent.
That 2nd day out, Moonbeam and I made our way forward. I wanted to be less than 5 miles from Forester Pass when I stopped for the night. Moonbeam's foot and ankle were hurting and she saw a sheltered grove of trees off on a wind sweep plain and headed off for the night. I set up camp just as the sun was setting about 2- 3 miles further. I skipped supper, and went to bed.
In the morning I woke up with Moonbeam outside my tent. She wanted me to know she had enjoyed my company, but she was leaving the PCT. This was her exit trail junction. She wished me well, and was gone. I got up, ate breakfast, broke camp and headed off for what was to be a cold, wet day going over Forester Pass. I did enjoy Moonbeam's company, her enthusiasm. She had the mind set of a backpacker.
This is day two of rain, day 3 of our JMT hike in the land where it never rains. I was at the lower ascent of Forester Pass maybe 2-3 miles from the pass itself, rain jacket over my down sweater, stocking cap on, actually quite comfortable again when I heard someone coming up behind me. It was Katz!! I say that with excitement because the poor guy was blue! And shaking. "Let me past," he said, "I can't stop, or I"ll die!" For rain gear he had on a thin see thru plastic poncho, the kind they give out at water rides at amusement parks. And he had no base layer on under the poncho. All he was wearing was his trail shirt and another thin shirt. And the temps were in the 40s and dropping, the rain was coming down, fog moving in and out, with some hail. And Katz was pushing himself as hard and fast as he could to get up and over the Pass as quickly as possible.
In the day leading up to and starting our hike together I listened to Katz tell me how he was an ultra-light backpacker. It gave him a sense of pride to carry so little. If I would lighten up, I could go faster on the ups he told me. As he hurried past me I remember thinking, "I hope he makes it." And I meant it seriously. But Katz is 6 months older than me. He is old enough to know what he wants and that was ok with me. Having lived with shades of red all my life, I didn't think blue was that bad of a color.
Looking back down the trail to Forester Pass I noticed an orangy/yellow rain jacket catching up to me. It was Todd. Todd was also warm, safe in his rain gear. We chatted a few minutes and then he passed on ahead of me. Later on the down side from Forester Pass we would exchange notes and discover he and Katz had spend and afternoon and night at the same campsite. But, Katz and Todd didn't know each other, yet.
About 1/2 mile from the Pass summit I saw a wet glove on the ground. "Hummm," I said to myself. "Are you a nobo glove or a sobo glove?" And since I didn't know, I left it there on the trail. Turned out it belongs to Katz. Katz wasn't carrying much and now he had one less item to carry.
Almost as soon as I crossed the pass the weather changed. No more rain. There was sun. 500 feet below the pass I stopped and took off my rain gear. I could see Todd doing the same thing below me. He waited, I caught up to him, we exchanged notes of the day, ate a snack, and then we were on our ways again.
There was no dead body on the Pass summit. "Katz must have made it," I thought. "I am sure we'll meet up soon." And at my own steady pace I set off for what would come next.
