[pct-l] Gifts of hiking duo . . .

[Bighummel at aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

Gottago writes:
"I remember everything about a 30 minute lakeside break I took following a 
frustrating morning of being lost in the Sky Lake Wilderness area."

Linda, here is my vivid recollection of the Sky Lakes Wilderness Area one day 
in 1977;

Paul and I had begun hiking at the fastest pace that we could maintain due to 
clouds of mosquitos.  We both used head nets but we were both sweating 
profusely by 10 AM in 90 degree heat and sticky humidity.  We stopped at lunch just 
long enough to extract the food and water and don our packs again and take off 
at top speed, eating as we walked.  We found that a pace of about 2 1/2 mph 
kept the little blood suckers about 30 seconds behind us following our stream 
of heat and carbon dioxide furiously.  About mid afternoon after about 25 miles 
of constant walking at top pace without a single break we found a good 
campsite near a picturesque lake.  We hiked in at top speed, dropping our packs 
against a tree and maintaining our speed in a circle around the tree.  On the next 
pass of the pack we loosened our cinches and extracted our two tents.  As we 
continued on another large circle around the tree we took out the tents and 
spread them on the ground.  On the next pass we put the stakes in.  On the next 
we put the poles in.  On the next we picked up our packs and threw them inside 
and jumped in ourselves and quickly zipped up the doors.  We then quickly 
killed the 423 mosquitos that happened to make it inside with us and then . . .   


we rested and ate and drank and took in a beautiful sunset after the blanket 
of mosquitos at our net windows cleared when they figured that they couldn't 
get to us.  

Ah, the beauty of the PCT at 2 1/2 mph!  

I love the PCT, too.

Greg