Another morning up before the sun. My feet ached a little, but soon felt better as we got on the trail.
Bill Bryson got it right when he lamented that the only thing the forest service does well is build roads. We started the morning with an uphill climb, about 600 feet. We were following a forest service road, and eventually saw the PCT branching off. We followed it around some convoluted bends and eventually ended up back at a spot we had passed earlier. As it turns out the PCT branched off at this point with no signs whatsoever. We had just hiked the PCT backward from where it intersected the service road. We had to redo about a mile of trail and 300 feet up to get back to the junction. We were able to find a poorly placed sign and finally got going in the right direction.
The trail was fairly easy after that, with only a 1000 foot climb midday and a 700 foot climb at the end of the day. Much of the time we were cruising ridgelines above the clouds (pictured). After midday we reached a stretch of burned out forest. Here we began to encounter poodle dog brush in great quantity (pictured). We wound our way around hillsides choked with the hazardous plant, oftentimes so thick we had to sidestep, and even abandon the trail.
Soon we descended, and our trail took us down into the clouds. Seeing thick haze wafting through charred trees was a treat, and temporarily made up for the hassle with the brush. We reached a pass and began regaining elevation on the other side. The trail brought us along the cusp of the cloud formation, and as we rounded bends we would see it cascading over the top of the ridge like foam spilling over the edge of a bowl. The poodle dog brush grew even thicker, and I just don't see how we could make it through without touching some. I also became fascinated with a type of ground cover. Here it was reddish brown, there green, but everywhere budding with thousands of pink flowers. Each flower is no more than 3 millimeters wide, and the effect is like walking on a lush pink carpet. This ground cover led us the last few miles to our current camp.
Big buck trail camp is, at best, a flat spot large enough for one or two tents, nestled beside a small stream. Most of the area is overgrown with poodle dog brush, so we have to be cautious around camp. However, at 30.5 miles hiked today, we were too tired to find a better spot.
