This is part 31 of the “Why We Hike” Series
Friday, June 26th / 12 miles / 1810′ gain
Three Points to Mill Creek Summit
The morning started out with rattlesnake #5, a cold little guy who politely moved after I tapped the ground next to him.
We have been on this trail so times before. Everything is so familiar it doesn’t even feel like an adventure anymore and we are anxious to get home.
Kelly’s feet were in so much pain – it was all she could do to not focus on it. She is certain now this hike will have cost her 3 toenails. She was so ready to be done with this hike that we kept up a VERY fast pace the 12 miles back to the Jeep.
We pass on the north side of Pacific Mountain, the last of the scenic views for this hike. We distract ourselves a little from the punishment we are putting our bodies through at this pace by soaking in this last little bit of pine covered mountain.
Of course it didn’t help that I started telling Zach that we were getting close to the Jeep during the last mile to Mill Creek Summit. He knows the word “Jeep” and was looking everywhere for it that last mile, pulling hard to get there faster. Luckily it was still there, sitting in the parking lot unmolested during this last 10 days. You know, we wouldn’t want to disappoint the dog.
Postmortem – Mill Creek Summit is 420 PCT miles from the start at the Mexican border. The next sections are all desert until the Sierra Nevada range at mile 700. It is WAY too hot to cross the Mojave this time of year so we have decided to continue our backpacking in the mountains for the rest of the year – There are about 400 PCT miles going through the High Sierras, I’m sure we can find enough to do.
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The “Why We Hike” series will continue next winter, now that spring is here in the Texas Hill Country, its time to get back to our local rivers!