If the nearby wildfires are good for anything, it’s awesome sunrises. I started my hike this morning before the sun rose, but I got to see it rising as I got my first view of Marble Mountain. It was far away, but you could tell there was something different about it.
As I got closer, I realized it was actually made of marble. I’m no geologist, but the rocks were white with a light grey “marbling” so I think that’s what it was. Pretty weird since none of the other mountains were made of it. I guess that’s what they named the wilderness after it.
Quite a bit of snow today actually. This last patch was at 1625.3 but there were probably 5 or 6 patches in that mile. I told a Sobo (southbound hiker) that there was some snow coming up. I think I freaked her out a little.
Most of my morning I was climbing up and around Marble Mountain. When I finally reached the top I had a massive descent down to Seiad Valley, the next town stop. To get to town I would need to do 40 miles. I didn’t want to get in to such a small town in the middle of the night, so I opted for a campground that’s about 6.5 away from Seiad Valley. It’s actually where the trail ends for a bit too. The next 6.5 miles are along a road and then I’ll walk right through town.
The descent went down into one of the smoke filled valleys that surrounded me. There are several wildfires nearby (none threatening the PCT) and their smoke is a constant bother. It’s hard to tell in this picture just how much smoke there was. Luckily I was above it most of the day.
The whole day I didn’t see any northbound hikers. I barely saw anyone else, period. That made my descent into the valley a bit more spooky. The valley had burned recently and it was filled with smoke/fog. It was like something out of a scary movie. At least it was daylight. Eventually, I got below the smoke, but the smoke seemed to be trapping in the moisture. It was ridiculously humid.
When I got to the campground I expected to see some hikers, but it was empty. Of course, the mosquitoes were out in force making it hard to relax at the end of such a hard day. I was hoping to talk strategy for tomorrow’s pancake challenge with some other hikers, but I guess I’m on my own. Just after I got in my tent, another person showed up. I guess I wasn’t the only one hiking today.