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Day 150: Pure PCT

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Day 150
Miles: 18
From Mica Lake to Miners’ Creek

The blue beaten steel of mica lake last night is transformed – just for a moment – into a bowl of molten gold. The weather forecast had said rain for today, but instead it is this golden morning. V, Thinkfast, and Goosebumps came in to Mica Lake a little bit after us last night, and it’s a companionable morning. The light shines across the deep valley and through Thinkfast and Goosebump’s tent, making the little gray envelope of silnylon look like the castle of a queen. We share the coffee and the view. I think this might be as good as it ever gets, and I don’t even like mornings.

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Day 21: it all ends at the hot tub

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Day 21
Miles: 22.5
From holcombe creek to deep creek hot springs

In Ray Jardine’s book on tarp camping, he harps endlessly on how ventilation is the point of a tarp. Supposedly, this is to prevent condensation inside your tent. I’ve had a sneaking feeling that maybe Ray’s wife just got tired of being hotboxed with rehydrated bean farts.

Last night, though, J and I chose not to follow Ray’s instructions on keeping the tarp ventilated, and we closed off both of the tarp’s open ends, one end with the insert (the batwing), and the other with our umbrellas. We were so cold. I woke up in the middle of the night with condensation raining down on me. Whoops. Should have gone with the ventilation after all. It got cold enough that the condensation froze for a while – it was a chilly night.
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Day 5: (almost) blown away

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Day 5
Miles: 16
Mile 55 to mile 71

The tarp is so low that it smacks me in the face as it whips in the wind. It makes it hard to forget that there are gale force winds outside, although it is surprisingly calm inside. I pull my quilt over my head and try to sleep.

It’s an uneasy night for the both of us. When we both wake up in the middle of the night, one of the corner guylines has snapped and the ridgeline is sagging. Like a true hero, J goes out to fix it. I’m surprised it’s still standing.

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