Thursday, July 01, 2004
Thunder, Chinese Wall & Ghost of Jesse Unveiled
07/01/04
I was happily sleeping out last night. I'm not sure if the lightning or the thunder woke me up, probably around 1 AM. I didn't worry much. Counts of 12 and 15 were common. It all seemed to be happening on the east side of the Divide. The whole thing was kind of exciting; to be near this sudden ruckus which lit up the sky and land energized me, though I was mostly asleep. Like momentarily flipping the covers off of a night dark as the first, each flash revealed the tasks that I suddenly realized I had ahead of me.
The wind had kicked in and that had me worried that it might rain.
I heard that Apple Pie was up, and, in response to my question about temporary housing in her Europa II shelter, she started to move her stuff to make a place for me.
I stuffed everything into my pack, including stuff that was hanging on limbs to dry out, slid my pads and bag into the generous cavern, and wrapped the gear that didn't make it into the tent in my groundsheet. With my last task I got a flash-boom that made me flinch liked I'd bumped my head on the bolt. I quickly climbed in my new home: this thin silnylon shelter would protect me. It was cozy, especially as the lightning to thunder count decreased. A light rain began to fall, and after a few false starts caused by the storm, I fell asleep.
Spur has been wanting to hike on his own schedule so he left the next morning pretty early. I'd guess that he had a two hour lead from when we left camp.
During that time, I saw what think was a mountain goat. I noticed a white shape moving into trees way across the cirque. It move with unbelievable speed and sure-footedness. I tried to get some shots, but digital zoom always requires explanation, like, "See that white blob? No, THAT white blob. Yes. I think that's a mountain goat."
This morning we reached the Chinese Wall, one of the legends of the CDT. While the North Wall was impressive, it had a little more horizontal and vertical zigzag to it. The Chinese Wall is more wall-like. Again, it's impossible for this scribe to begin to describe the scale of this geological formation and its effect on the area just below it. You'll just have to go see it for yourself.
At one point, Spur was ahead, and Apple Pie and I were hiking near each other.
I said, "Lunch up there?" pointing to a distant rise. She agreed, and I set out. I found my way up there, mostly by following, well, I don't know what. I'd sometimes be on the trail. Once I had the thought that Yogi, Goof, and Dewey had hiked this way and maybe I was on the same non-trail that they'd taken. I want to catch up to them, but it may never happen.
I saw a new face, along with Spur's, when I reached the proposed lunch spot. It was Rob of Loxley, formerly the Ghost of Jesse. Spur had passed him at My Lake earlier in the day. Rob of Loxley missed this section during his 2000 (?) thru-hike because of a fire, so he has returned to complete it and talk a lot.
My first impression was that Rob of Loxley had a dog, since there was a dog at the lunch spot. It turns out the dog was just up there in the middle of nowhere awaiting his owners' return.
Apple Pie, then Hiker 816 joined the lunch jungle, bringing light showers with them. I finished up and went out exploring. I walked and scrambled up to the wall. My motivation was a good vista of the length of the wall, but then I realized that I wanted to touch the wall. I did, crossed a snow field, climbed higher, got more respect for the local sheep and goats, and made my way down.
While on my little expedition, I saw a flower I've never seen before. That's always exciting. It's tiny and light blue with each flower center having a range of different colors. Hey, in case you have not seen my flowers, check out
my flower photos.
As the day's hiking brought us to the end of the Chinese Wall, we started to see more people. Fourth of July weekend created the time for people to choose a destination. Many were choosing the Bob.
