What's Another Word for SPECTACULAR?

Another beautiful sunrise on the trail.
It's almost becoming too predictable!

August 1: I woke up to another beautiful clear morning in California. My journal entry complains about having run out of adjectives to describe the spectacular views well above tree line. Perhaps I need to add a thesaurus to my backpacking kit to keep these journal entries interesting and fresh! =)

Today was also the first day of August and, therefore, the first day of the WTA's Hike-a-Thon. I was pretty sure I'd set some August 1st records since I planned to hike a minimum of 30 miles. My fourth 30+ miles day in the last five days. (The one day I didn't get 30 miles, of course, being the day I spent four hours in Dunsmuir and "only" did 26 miles.)

I saw no other thru-hikers for the entire day--the first day on the trail this had ever happened. I did pass a few hikers out for the day or the weekend, but no thru-hikers. I did, however, find at least one piece of evidence that a thru-hiker was ahead--Charmin. She left a note on the side of the trail for Hasty. It was probably rude for me to read it, but I hoped the note would provide clues about how far ahead Charmin was and perhaps what happened to Hasty. Inside, the note was addressed to Ryan, and I thought, "What?!" And she wrote that she hoped my foot was getting better, among other items that weren't particularly interesting. Then I remembered--Hasty's real name was Ryan. The note wasn't for me at all. =) Hasty must have been suffering some foot problems, but that was all I learned of that. More interesting, though, I also learned that Charmin started the morning about a dozen miles ahead of me and thought she might have shin splints. Normally, I wouldn't have expected to catch up a dozen miles, but if she was suffering from shin splints, it was certainly a distinct possibility.

Another spectacular view.....

Where the trail crossed Highway 3, a note was left for thru-hikers saying that we could find trail magic at a campsite in the adjacent campground. I was undecided whether I wanted to stop for trail magic at first, really wanting to put in an impressive number of miles for the Hike-a-Thon, but I finally relented. Enjoy it while you can!

The campsite was empty of people, with another note in the register on the table saying they had gone into town to resupply but to go ahead and help ourselves to whatever food or drinks we wanted to. I was terribly disappointed with the drink selection--the only thing I could find was beer, and I don't like beer. Blah. I had some of the food, though, and spent most of the next hour reading the latest PCTA magazine. The hosts still had not arrived, though, so I signed the register and hit the trail again.

By the end of the day, a series of creeks and other water sources were crossing the trail. Bugs having grown increasingly bad, I wanted to avoid camping near any and all water sources, so I stopped high on an exposed ridgetop after completing a 31.0 miles of hiking--an excellent start to the Hike-a-Thon! I didn't know how many miles other teams had hiked, but I felt pretty confident that Amanda and I were already in the lead. =)

A message from Charmin to Hasty. (Milk Bucket was
a "code name" of sorts for Hasty. I'm not really sure
what the significance of it was, but they referred to it
often when the three of us hiked together.)

All sorts of notes to be found on the trail today!

That beard of mine is starting to fill in now! I took this
photo in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The views are awesome!

I'd heard of the Trinity Alps before, but I had no idea this
section of the trail was so amazing!

More stunning views....

A meadow near the end of the day's hike.