PCT: Buckhorn Springs to Fisher Lake

Stats:

We had so much fun today.  Just rolling along through the gorgeous Marble Mountain Wilderness, without a care in the world.  We were in the zone today, where your walk turns zen and becomes a meditation and time stands still.  

 After my leg breakdown yesterday, I slowed my pace down today.  We took a few long breaks soaking in nature and we chatted with many interesting people.   

These folks we talked with at such length, that I took a photo to remember them.  

 Left to right:

-UHaul and Smiles Before Miles are section hikers (not a couple) and we learned about the Camino in Spain, the big group of section hikers online and how the PCTA works.  

-We remembered Yeti Legs and Basecamp from last week.   They are a super fun married couple from Colorado and originally from the south.  They use the trail as marriage therapy, just like we do!   

-Sailor is an adventurer extraordinaire.   She’s sailed the world twice, hiked this trail three times and has hiked just about every other long trail you can think of, as well as the Florida Trail.  We all realized we had seen each other in Florida at BillyGoat Days in 2020.    She is an amazing woman with no social media presence, but an incredible  life story to tell. 

-El Chapo and Not Yet are Californians, like us, and we chatted with them last week and again today.  Nice guys doing the Thru hike without all the rush.  

We met one rushed Austrian young lady late in the day, and I mentioned how beautiful it was, as we were passing some awesome snowy, rocky pinnacles.   She kind of broke down and said she wished she had time to look around, but they were pushing it now, with 30 plus miles everyday.   I felt sorry for her.  It sounded like she might be getting pulled along the trail by someone else’s idea of a hike, or maybe she was just having a down moment.   

There are a lot of different style of hikers on the PCT.  Lazy, dazy section hikers like us, who rarely seem to be in a rush.  There are the sporting types who really like to see what their bodies can do.   There are the nature buffs in awe with all the flora and fauna.   And, of course, most are really a mix.  At least it is a mix for us.   Heck, each day, we are a different style of hiker at different times.   I will say though, that there are many more thru hikers doing thirty plus miles a day, than there were ten years ago, when we started section hiking this trail.   

While the Marble Wilderness was gorgeous, with a marble mountain and flowers up to my waist, it wasn’t perfect.  There were some parts with burn scars  and there was scattered blow downs to get around.  It reminds me a bit of a long term relationship.   Nothing is perfect.  

We got to Fisher lake in time for some sunset color and for Hawkeye to help the tiny Japanese woman we saw at Castle Crags last week.  Someone had apparently told her to never filter from lakes because of worms!? She was without water and didn’t know what to do.  Hopefully, Hawkeye relieved her fears and set her straight about how worms can’t go through filters.   Some viruses maybe, but not worms.    We wonder if it was a prank or just communication  lost in translation.