Monday, August 6, 2007

Thu July 26, 2007 - Day 34

Greetings from the trail,

Today was one of the most unusual days on the trail so far. It started with how I woke up. I'd camped on a bit of a slope, but nearest to flat as I could find on the side of the mountain. When I woke up, I found that the tent base had become a wall as I'd rolled the tent in the night.

Recovering from that, I set off to continue my descent down the narrow trail. The trek was extremely slow moving as I fought gravity over the steep slopes all the way down. I wanted to take no chances of sending myself tumbling down the mountainside.

When I reached the bottom, the trail intersected with a dirt road and had no trace on the other side. This was contract to the book, which showed the trail continuing straight across. I continued cautiously, following a series of white marking flags and nearly completely overgrown trail up another large hill. I nearly lost the trail several times before it finally opened up into a properly marked, clear path.

When I first imagined the TCT through BC - before I ever set foot on the trail - I imagined it to be like many of the hiking trails I've been on for short, 1-day hikes. I imagined tall cedars and pines blocking out the sun around a wide, clear trail progressing ever onwards toward my destination of Vancouver. I already know this image was not entirely true, but I imagined it was a lot closer than reality has proved over the last 34 days. Anyhow, this short piece of trail finally matched my imagination nearly spot-on. I found myself revelling in its exquisite goodness.

Shortly after that, the trail rejoined the gravel road that I followed yesterday and I began climbing again toward the Santa Rosa Summit. I stopped at the Santa Rosa recreational campground, which is very nicely shaded with a freezing cold stream running by.

I doubt I made it over 12km today, but it took all day to get here. There's a chance I'll make it to Christina Lake tomorrow, but only if the trail is kinder.

See you on the trail,

Joshua Ganes

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