Day 35: Tank Seven

Another day where the trail isn’t exciting, the weather isn’t that great, and my motivation isn’t soaring.

Although I woke at 6, I decided to spend some time sewing my gloves before I left my tent and didn’t start walking until after 8. The sun was out and mosquitos started swarming the moment I left the tent. I only had half a liter of water to make my breakfast in and was kind of hungry for the first three miles, all uphill.

I reached the intersection to Baldy Lake around 10, dropped my pack, put on sunscreen and mosquito lotion, and carried only my water filter bag down the hill. It was only a third of a mile off trail, and it would be many miles before the trail came any nearer water. As I approached the lake, I spotted some movement near a tent, and then a dog starting raising an alarm before shutting up just as quickly and coming up to sniff my hands. The strong smell of DEET couldn’t have been particularly appetizing.

I scooped a liter and a half out of the lake and started climbing back up. The dog came up barking again like she didn’t already know I was there. This time I could see the woman in the tent. She left the flap wide open so the dog could come and go, but was still in her sleeping bag at 10:30, lucky her. She said the dog took her job seriously, and had spent the morning running around raising hell as a huge group of CDT hikers that had come in late and packed up early. They must be going the same way as me because I never saw them.

Anyway, water filtered and back on the trail, working my way along the ridgeline. It was still single track and now it was downhill, so pretty easy, except when I had to step off to let two roaring dirt bikes fly past.

Around 12:45, the clouds were coming in and thunder rumbled in the distance. A bit of light rain started sprinkling. Since it was nearly lunch time anyway, I stopped to set up my tent. I figured I would have it ready in case it started raining while I ate. At first I just sat with the flap wide open making lunch, but the rain started picking up, so I closed the rainfly, took off my shoes, and withdrew to finish eating under cover. It was a medium rain that lasted maybe a half hour. I finished lunch and darned my socks while waiting for it to subside. The sun came out all at once, and then a couple minutes later, the rain stopped. I packed up and kept going.

The next part was a wide road strewn with rocks. Every step had to be selected carefully. And it was all uphill again for the next couple of miles. Progress was slow and annoying. I started to pull out my Packa when a sunshower started, but I was near the top of the climb and not far from a stock pond near the trail where I could have a drink and get some water, so after a short break, I went on to that meadow.

It was the only part of the day I wasn’t surrounded by trees and could actually see the mountains ahead. I sat on the grass next to the little pond while my water filtered and saw yet another big cloud roll in. When I packed up to continue, I put my Packa on and actually zipped it up to keep me warm against the cold wind.

Down the hill, I crossed a road where a truck was going through, the bed full of construction equipment and the crew cab full of guys. It kept stopping and going slow for some reason. I was trying to listen for distant thunder, but I saw one guy in the back window wave and then call out explaining that he was just waving hello. I responded in kind but kept moving.

I stopped where the trail crossed Tank Seven Creek just to grab some water to filter later, then went another half mile or so up the hill. It was starting to rain again and I didn’t know if it would be serious, but I figured it was late enough to stop, make camp, and eat dinner, if only just barely. I hadn’t made much forward progress, but I didn’t really need to. My food would last.

Trail miles: 13.8

Distance to Monarch: 21.3 miles

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