Skywalker--Highs and Lows on the Pacific Crest Trail by BILL WALKER

Author:BILL WALKER [WALKER, BILL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781621122067
Published: 2010-11-01T07:00:00+00:00

It just didn’t make any sense.

“Words cannot describe how bad the mosquitoes can be on the PCT,” Yogi had written in her guidebook.

Some hikers practically bowed-up like pugilists when I asked about the bugs in the Sierras. Why? When the AT had reached higher elevations in New Hampshire and Maine, bugs had been completely absent. Now here we traveling consistently over 10,000 feet, and the bugs had people in virtually a state of shock.

But then it began to make perfect sense. The ubiquity of these bugs is a product of the clear snow melt. PCT hikers arrive in the Sierra Nevada in late June, right at the height of the melt. Consequently, we’re greeted not just by roaring, crashing streams, but also by swarms of miniature, blood-sucking monsters.

Pat, Lauren, and I walked parallel to Woods Creek, with its white rapids tumbling towards us from the north. Very inspiring. Better yet, streams from all different directions seemed to be flowing into it. The story we had heard was that there were afternoons in the High Sierras in which you ford more streams than you do on the entire Appalachian Trail. This must have been one of those days. Quickly, I figured out it only made sense to keep my shoes and socks on, instead of changing them out each time.

Meanwhile, the bugs were agonizing and getting worse.

“These things intimidate me,” I anguished. “You know why?”

“Because they’re everywhere,” Lauren said.

“Because they’re so easy to kill,”

It was true. There was no sport to it at all. Someone told me that each bug lives a couple weeks. During that time they attack and blood-suck like there is no tomorrow. They just landed on your arms and put the straw to you. It was no problem to slap and kill them at any time. They seemed perfectly willing to accept death for just one last coveted drink of us.

Lush meadows and heavily bushy areas were the worst. We passed up some camp spots that were otherwise perfect. Finally, we made it to a rocky, promontory overlooking a creek. Although PCT regulations forbid camping within 100 feet of a water source, we camped there, thinking the open air might head off bugs. Hardly. I was only able to eat just a few bites while anxiously scurrying around, before practically diving into the safe haven of my tent.

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