Today we take the PCT north to look at the flowers that still remain at the higher elevations. The trail takes off from Highway 178 at Walker Pass. This is one of my favorite hikes.
The trail begins with a short, steep section, then settles to a gradual but inexorable upward slope for the first couple of miles. The day is fine, although we will find some wind at the ridgeline, and the footing is good. We traverse through clumps of native grasses, seed-heads glinting silver in the sun, and thickets of fiddleneck, curving their heads this way and that. Small clusters of primroses droop atop their sturdy stalks. We come to a hillside liberally strewn with delightful, not-quite-symmetric Tidy Tips. Higher up, the slopes are densely freckled with the yellow-gold of coreopsis and the lighter yellow of dandelions. Here and there phaecelia lies like a blue shadow under a tree. Occasionally we are delighted by the appearance of a startlingly royal purple bush lupine.
I apologize that there are no pictures. Sore from yesterday's workout, I chose not to carry my camera. We hike up the trail for just over an hour, and then wend our way back down the trail. B takes a shortcut in a steep, sandy wash. I decline, not quite trusting my knees. Today's distance is something like 4 miles.
Retired Miles (cumulative since 1 August 2007): 171
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