PCT 2007 Day 87 – Tuolumne Meadows – Smedberg Lake

PCT 2007 Day 87

Day 87 / 6-20-07 Tarp Tent 9250′
Tuolumne Meadows CG – Smedberg Lake
26.2 miles; 968.9 (48.4) total miles; 2858.9 trip miles
70’s, sunny

Deer count is 55
Marmot count is 47
Pika count is 2
Bear count is 0

Today it was tit for tat, as I saw a deer, then a marmot, a deer, then a marmot. Then the deer made another bold late day move and increased their numbers by 5, as a pack of does came up the pass at dinner.

I slept well last night but didn’t really feel like getting up. I finally did and had breakfast around 5:30. I packed up all 7 days of food and hoisted my heavy pack. I called home one more time to see if we forgot anything from last night’s logistics meeting.

I made my way back to the trail and attempted to follow the PCT through the park. I finally had to stop and get out my guide to be sure of the way. Even though I did, I still questioned if I was going the right way. I finally ran into Back Track and Silver just as I caught up to a pack train of mules and one horse.

The three of us hiked together and passed Yogi, Diesel, and Hammer on a bridge just south of some beautiful falls. We stopped for a snack just before a large meadow. The meadows up here are so beautiful. They always have a stream running through them and lots of little pines. You just expect a moose to walk out of the woods any minute.
Diesel caught us as we left the meadow and the four of us hiked until we hit a stream where he stopped for water. We hiked on for a while and then had lunch next to a small creek. Unfortunately for us there was a killer climb right after our lunch spot. My legs and stomach fought over my blood supply the whole way up. I felt pretty tired on the climbs all day.

We passed Miller Lake, which was very picturesque. Next we hit a low gap, before descending to another meadow where we took a break. At this point we had already done 20 miles and it was only 3:30 PM. We hung out a bit then moved on to the next climb up Benson Pass.

We started at 8,510′ and had to ascend to 10,140′. I felt okay on the lower portion of the climb but after 2 miles I was hurting big time. I had to dig deep to stay with the group. We finally stopped 1.2 miles from the top and I got some water so I could cook on top of the pass. We passed two southbound hikers on the way up and when I got to the top, I saw a marmot. We cooked dinner and as I was going to take some pictures, I saw 5 doe coming up the trail from the south as we did. Silver came over to see them but my talking spooked them.

We moved on 2 more miles so we could do a marathon distance and descended to the south shore on Smedberg Lake. The mosquitoes were unbelievable. I put on my puffy jacket, bug gloves and head net. Even though the bugs were really bad, I still went down to the lake to wash up. There is a lot of fish in this lake because they were jumping clear out of the water. We hung our extra food just in case. Bears are still an issue for a few days. Tomorrow is looking like another tough day. I hope I sleep well and feel rested in the AM.