PCT day 10 – Washed out Mission Creek

Mission Creek Camp (226.2) to Mission Camp (239.9)

13.7 miles

When I pulled up my tent zippers Smiles was all packed up and ready to go. I wasn’t in a hurry so I wished him Happy Trails and turned around again. It had been my best night on trail so far. The beachy sand was nice and warm underneath and it wasn’t windy at all. The Bear I had heard in the middle of the night turned out just to be my snoring camp neighbor.

After the sun had reached my tent I got packed up and started hiking along Mission Creek. Water would be no problem today as I was hiking along the creek for most of the day. As it turned out I also hiked through the creek most of the day! While I still tried to keep my feet dry for the first crossing I gave up after a while and just went through. Where the trail crossed the creek the whole area was washed out and I had to scramble over rocks and squeeze through bushes to find my way. Sometimes I couldn’t find the trail and had to take out my phone but after a while I improved my skill of finding some cairns and sticks that marked the trail.

The trail was supposed to climb all day but with the gentle grade and the occasional downs it didn’t feel too bad. The creek was good for some change.

After my Lunchbreak the trail turned normal again climbing up dry hills again. The vegetation changed slowly and the beautiful desert flowers gave way to occasional green trees and unfortunately very often burnt trees. Short before I reached my dedicated goal of the day I bumped into Smiles again. His feet were sore and so he had decided for an early camp. I stopped for a chat and to fill up some water.

It was tempting but I finally hiked on towards Mission Camp. That’s were I met Cal Earth. We decided to have a campfire as there was a dedicated fire ring. We were alone for quite awhile until with the sunset more and more hikers were coming in. Probably more than ten people are staying tonight at the fairly big campground.

Tomorrow’s gonna be a hard day as I would have to carry all of my water. For the next 16 miles there’s no water source which is about as far as I am planning to go. And now, good night!