5.23.22 || Day 9: 151.8- 172.2 miles

tldr; first real climb of the pct, hiked through a burn area, failed cowboy camping 

Hitched back to the trail by the Paradise Valley Cafe and got a bit of a late start. We packed out an entire salami and ate the whole thing for breakfast. Blister reinflated which was gross but also expected 🥴

Around 3 we started the biggest climb of the trail. We’re heading up to Mt San Jacinto which is around 10,800 feet. It was the most physically exhausted I’ve been so far, even listening to music didn’t really do it for me. I stopped a bunch to drink water in the shade and Tyler went ahead. The pct is horse graded, but at times I was convinced I was on the wrong trail because it was basically straight up.

Ate so much peanut butter after dinner, starting to feel like I can’t really get full. We tried to cowboy camp but there were so many bugs after dark (which is so odd) that we caved and put up the tent after like 30 minutes. 

Tomorrow we’ll take an alternate route up to the summit of Mt San Jacinto and then rejoin the pct a few miles later.  

🎵: Call Her Daddy, Chrstine Quinn