PCT 130 – Hart’s Pass

Daily miles – 21
Total miles – 2620

Cool,  breezy night last night with both of our tarps making noise in the wind.   We both slept just OK, because of that noise .  

We started hiking right at dawn,  which,  since we were at high altitude,  gave us some very colorful views as the sun tried to shed some light onto the mountains through the clouds. It was pretty magnificent.  Hard to capture with the phone camera.

We had some snow flurries early on in the day which changed to drizzle as we decended to lower altitudes in the morning.   Most of the day was unfortunately spent in the clouds and drizzle,  making for a cold,  wet day without much for views.   The colors of the shrubbery was quite beautiful however as well as some stands of larch trees that are currently changing color – larch trees look very much like a conifer,  but their needles change color and fall off the tree.
In the middle of the day,  we got a great look at a Pika.  These small animals are pretty cute and they give out a high pitched squeal.   They tend to be seen in rocky areas (slides,  often ) – same type of places as marmots.

Despite being cold and damp,  the day ended on a nice note.   Some thruhikers who finished a couple days ago came out to Hart’s Pass (this pass happens to be accessible by car and was our intended endpoint for the day)  and we’re doing trail magic.   We each got burgers and some other snacks.   They had a fire going,  which was also wonderful to warm up at.   Lots of hikers got sidelined here,  and the trail angels figured they had seen close to 50 thru hikers during the day.  There are close to 20 camped here tonight.