D50-D55 Snow cones, tundra, and rationing 剉冰、苔原、斷糧危機

Days 50 to 55:

Leaving the campground, we had to go back over Kearsarge Pass to get back on the PCT. This was a harsh introduction to the trail for Kirk, as he was not acclimatized to the elevation and was starting with fresh legs. It wouldn’t have been my choice for where a friend should start onto the trail, but this was Kirk’s own decision so he did this all to himself! After several hours, we did make it up to the top of the pass, where we had a nice view of lakes on both sides.

離開露營區後要在翻越鞍部才可以接PCT。Kirk的第一天就走這裡很困難，腳還沒練壯也還沒適應高海拔。要是我要幫朋友選登山口我絕對不會選這一個，不過在這裡開始走是Kirk的選擇，所以他只能怪自己！花了幾個小時後兩人到達鞍部，在這裡可以觀看鞍部兩邊的湖泊。

Today was the first day of what would become a daily occurrence: a swim during the day to clean off the dirt and sweat and just to feel refreshed. These alpine lakes are freezing cold, but very clean, and I managed to find somewhere to swim for the next twenty days in a row. We stopped at Bullfrog Lake for a late lunch today at a flat grassy spot with a view of the Kearsarge Pinnacles.

日後每天的習慣今天就開始了：下午找個比較深的水源下去泡，沖掉當天的灰塵跟汗水，讓身體感到乾淨又涼快。這種高山湖泊雖然很冰但很乾淨，從今天開始連續二十天都找到適合泡水的地方。今天在牛哇湖旁的草地吃午餐看對面的Kearsarge尖頂。

Kirk had brought all my food for the next five days up to the campground and it was a lot different than what I had been eating before. We now had multigrain rice blends, pasta, dehydrated vegetables, fig newtons, and other goodies in our food bags. Check out this rice and veggies mix; not bad for trail food!
Kirk帶了五天量的食物到登山口供我補給，跟我之前吃的不太一樣。我們現在有五穀飯、義大利麵、乾燥蔬菜、無花果點心、還有更多好吃的驚喜。看看這道蔬菜飯，以登山食物來看還不錯吧！

In the evening we walked a bit further and finally turned back onto the PCT itself. Mantas arrived around the same time and hung out with us for a bit. Kirk had brought a couple card games so we tried them out in camp that evening.

晚上我們接到PCT本身，決定在附近紮營。Mantas那時後剛好到了所以走過來跟我們聊天，後來Kirk拿出兩個新買的遊戲，我們就在營地玩牌。

Notice how Mantas is completely covered in clothing and even has his bug net? This was the first night of the MOSQUITO HELL that was to last through the entire Sierra section. It wasn’t bad at all once you were fully covered with clothing, or with DEET like Kirk, but before that it was not fun.

你有沒有發現Mantas衣服穿特別多，連防蚊帽也戴上了？今天蚊子突然出來了，多到超越一般人的想像力，接下來的整個內華達山脈也全部跟今晚一樣多，很可怕。皮膚被衣服或防蚊液完全覆蓋後就沒事了。

From here on out, most days involved crossing a mountain pass. This meant a big uphill at the start of the day, and a descent at the end of the day. Our first pass was Glen Pass. Up at the top there was snow all around but with the sun it was still nice and warm. I took some time to lounge around and enjoy the view.

從今天開始每天的行程包含一個比較高的埡口，所以早上要爬坡，下午下坡。今天要挑戰的是Glen埡口，上面還有雪但天氣很溫暖，二十幾度，很適合躺一下休息賞風景。

We descended through a short snowfield easily, thanks to the footsteps made by previous hikers. Below the pass is a set of lakes called the Rae Lakes. The turquoise colour of these lakes was almost unreal in its perfection. Obviously, we stopped here for lunch and a swim!
在北面有一大塊雪要過，不過因為有其它人的腳印可以踩其實很好過。埡口下面有Rae湖群，很難相信大自然可以產出湖水這麼完美這麼漂亮的顏色。我們當然在湖邊停下來吃午餐休息。

As we continued through the afternoon through King’s Canyon, the scenery never failed to impress. There were more lakes nearby, each with the same beautiful turquoise colour as Rae Lakes.
下午繼續走在國王峽谷，風景一路都很美。我們看到很多湖，湖水的顏色都像Rae湖群一樣，很完美的土耳其藍色。

The moon is in its second cycle for me on the trail now and is getting closer to full now. It looked nice paired with the equally white snow on the mountain tops today.

月亮在第二個週期中，快要滿月了，跟一樣白的雪很搭。

We set up camp near a river crossing at a place frequented by deer. They really aren’t very scared of humans and walk around camp as if they own the place. Well, I guess they sort of do own the place.
今天在過溪處旁紮營，也是鹿喜歡的一個地方。這些鹿不怕人，似乎把整個森林當作自己的家。咦，他們的家好像就是森林...

The next day we crossed the river on one of the few bridges on trail. It’s a good thing, too, because this creek was raging and I don’t know how we could have crossed it safely otherwise.
隔天早上我們走吊橋過溪，水量這麼大沒有橋真不知道怎麼過。

Time to talk about trail treats! There are certain things you start to crave out here like pizza that you just can’t get. There are some things, however, that you can take with you, like candy. When Kirk and I were stopped for lunch one day, he noticed a gummy worm on the ground. What a shame, I thought. Such a waste of good candy. I went over to have a look and discovered it wasn’t actually *on* the ground per se, but propped up on some grass so it wasn’t covered in dirt. The five-second rule still applies out here, except it’s more like the five-day rule. Can’t waste good candy!

要講一下山上的零食。有一些食物如披薩在山上時會想吃但吃不到，不過有的東西會很想吃而且可以自己揹上去如糖果。有一天我們在吃午餐的時侯Kirk說在地上有個軟糖蠕虫。我覺得好可惜，這麼好吃的糖果丟在那裡很浪費，但走過去看的時侯發現糖果並不在地上反而在草根上，還沒碰到土壤。在市區東西在地上五秒以內或許還有人願意吃，在山上不是五秒是五天，食物不能浪費喔，零食也算。

As we started the final push up to Pinchot Pass, we came across Threader, Leapfrog and Sharkbait stopped by a snowbank. They were using Mio flavour drops for water to flavour snowballs and eat them! A real snow cone out on the trail, and almost free! This was such a genius idea I had to get a picture of it.

我們要開始上Pinchot埡口的時侯遇到Threader、Leapfrog與Sharkbait ，三個人在雪堆旁邊停頓，他們拿飲料調味液加在雪球上來吃。在這麼偏僻的地方可以吃到免費的剉冰，這想法太聰明了，我忍不住拍照。

Lucky for us, they shared a few Mio drops with us and Kirk and I each got to eat a snowcone, too. Then we carried on to the top of Pinchot Pass.
我跟Kirk很幸運，他們主動要分一點調味液給我們，上Pinchot前我們兩個也吃到剉冰。

On the other side of the pass, of course there were more lakes! Lake Marjorie still had snow melting into it on the opposite side, but made for a great afternoon rest spot and swimming hole anyway. I believe I only lasted about 20 seconds in this frigid water.
埡口的另一邊又是湖泊。我們接近Marjorie湖的時侯看對岸還有雪，但不管水有多冰我們還是決定在這裡休息、泡水、吃午餐。我好像只泡了20秒就受不了了。

As with Guitar Lake, there were marmots all around. This little guy appeared to be suntanning on a rock.
這裡像吉他湖一樣，到處都有旱獺，這一隻趴在石頭上似乎在作日光浴。

After several days of creeks that I was able to cross by rock hopping or log crossing, we finally encountered a creek that we couldn’t cross without getting wet.
在內華達山脈已經好幾天了，但一直到今天每次遇到溪流都有辦法踩石頭或倒木過溪，今天終於遇到非泡腳不可過的溪。

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were also getting REALLY BAD at this point. I stopped to take off my shoes, socks and shorts here and put on my Crocs to cross the stream, but while stopped to do this I must have gotten bitten fifteen or twenty times by the swarm. Once we got across, camp was only a few minutes ahead. The first thing to do, as with every single night in the Sierras, was to quickly change into protective clothing and get the bug net on, at least for me.

最麻煩的是這時候蚊子非常非常多，為了過溪我停下來脫鞋子、襪子、短褲，穿上塑膠鞋，但在這短短30秒內被接近二十隻蚊子叮。過完溪後走了幾分鐘就到營地了。一到營地馬上穿上長袖衣服、長褲、防蚊帽是我自己在內華達山脈每天的習慣。

Kirk used his bug spray where needed. The mosquitoes couldn’t bite through Kirk’s shirt, but they sure did try:
Kirk每天噴防蚊液所以不用穿長袖，而且衣服很厚，蚊子無法叮進去。

The next day we ascended Mather Pass. At the top, there was snow again and I got to thinking about the snow cones from the day before. When another group of hikers arrived at the top I told them about this genius idea, and they just happened to have some Mio drops with them. So, once again, we all enjoyed a fresh trail snow cone.
隔天要過的是Mather埡口。上面的雪讓我想起昨天的剉冰。後面的一群登山客來到埡口的時侯我跟他們解釋這種剉冰的存在與做法，剛好他們的背包裡也有那種調味液。連續兩天都吃到剉冰，很幸福。

I didn’t use a cup for mine but just held it in my hands. This led to my fingers, lips and tongue all turning blue from the Mio drops, and the others to try giving me the trail name of Papa Smurf. I’ll leave it to your imagination what they were implying I did with Papa Smurf for those parts of my body to have turned blue…
我沒有用杯子，雪球直接拿在手上。因此，我的手指、嘴唇、舌頭都變藍色的。那一群人要說服我以後在步道上都用Papa Smurf這個綽號（藍色小精靈的精靈老爹），他們意味著我跟老爹做了什麼事讓我身體的這幾個部位會是藍色的我讓讀者自己猜...

The other side of the pass was, once again, a gorgeous deep valley.
埡口的另一邊是一個漂亮又深的峽谷。

This time the path went down quite low and we got back into the forest again. I even noticed a new kind of tree that reminded me of Saskatchewan right away: trembling aspen!
步道下到比較低海拔的地方甚至進入森林。我在這裡看到很熟悉但在步道上尚未出現的樹種，是在我老家最常見的樹：

The next day we had to cross the mother of all passes on the PCT: Muir Pass. Although not as high as Forester Pass, at just 3,644 meters, it is notorious for being very snowy. Even in this, a low snow year, we were going to have to walk through two to three miles of snow at the top. On the way up we passed one lake, already free of snow and ice, where tadpoles could be seen in massive numbers along the shore. If you walked nearby and scared them, they swam away and the water itself seemed to be swarming and black.
隔天要過的是最偉大的：Muir埡口。雖然海拔只有3644公尺，沒有Forester埡口高，但Muir積雪狀況都會比較嚴重。即使今年算是雪很少的一年，我們還得在雪上走三到五公里左右。上坡的時侯比較低海拔的湖已經完全融化了，大量的蝌蚪在湖邊生長，我走過去看的時侯嚇到牠們，牠們馬上游走讓湖水沸沸揚揚又變黑色。

Soon we passed the treeline and got into the land of snow.
不久後我們超越林木線並進入雪地。

The last lake below the pass, Helen Lake, was still mostly covered in ice and snow.
到埡口前的最後一個湖是Helen湖，它的表面上還剩很多冰與雪。

After that, we encountered full mountain slopes of snow. The path was not always obvious, but by following the tracks of others and sometimes adjusting your direction with the help of GPS, we eventually made our way up to the top of the pass.
之後的山破全部覆蓋著雪。步道的痕跡有時侯完全看不到，要抓方向只能走在別人留下來的腳印或用GPS調整方向，進度比較慢但最後我們成功走到埡口。

At the top, there is an interesting octagonal stone structured called Muir Hut, built in the ‘30s but still in very good shape.
在Muir埡口有Muir屋，是一棟很有趣的八角形石屋，八十幾年前蓋的但狀況還很好。

After a brief rest inside the hut, we headed down the far side of the pass. Once we were below the snowline, there was greenery. However, there were still no trees. This area is pure alpine tundra, and walking here reminded me of my time in Churchill, Manitoba and northern Alaska. It’s hard to believe this is actually California!

在屋子裡小休息後開始下埡口的背面。從雪地出來後有翠綠的植被，不過這個峽谷都沒有樹。風景讓我想起之前去過的加拿大北部和阿拉斯加，很難相信這個高山苔原在加州！

We camped at one of my favourite sites on the trail so far. We were near the lake, the tent spots were nice and flat, and we had a nice sitting and cooking area off to the side.
我們紮營的地方是我在PCT上最喜歡的營地之一，帳篷的位子很平，我們就在湖邊，旁邊有石頭可以坐，在那裡煮飯、吃飯、聊天都很舒服。

A couple days ago, we realized that we weren’t doing enough miles to get to our next resupply in five days as planned. We had started rationing our food at that point. In fact, the five days was already up now on this our sixth day, and we still had 20 more miles to go while our longest day so far had only been 15.7 miles. We decided to split up for the day. I would rush ahead to try pick up our food by 5 p.m. and Kirk would do the same mileage but meet me later in the day. That way we could have a big feast tonight and start replenishing calories!
兩天前我們發現進度不夠快在原計畫的5天內走到下一個補給點，因此我們這幾天要吃少一點。隔天已經是第六天，補給點還離我們32公里，而我們走過最遠的一天只走了25公里。如果等到第七天才走到補給點肚子會很餓呢！我們決定今天分開走，我自己會先走，希望可以在下午五點前到達補給點領我們兩個的包裹，Kirk在後面一樣要走32公里但他可以比較晚到。成功的話我們晚上就可以大吃。
I passed a few more gorgeous lakes on the way down, and finally passed the halfway point for California!
今天主要都是下坡。我又經過漂亮的湖泊，也終於經過加州PCT一半完成的里程碑。

I encountered this river today. It was only the second one I had to cross by getting wet. Thanks to the lack of snow this winter, the river was not flowing too hard and it was a safe crossing.

今天也遇到這條溪流，是今年非泡腳不可過的第二條溪，幸好今年的雪比較少，水流沒有很強，很容易過。

I arrived at Muir Trail Ranch just after 4 p.m. , in plenty of time to pick up our food. Muir Trail Ranch is a resort not connected to the outside world by road. Clients hike in here and go horseback riding on nearby trails. Of course, the whole area is full of horse poop and smells like it, too. Here’s a “crappy” photo of a blue jay wandering around the ranch.
我在下午四點多到了補給點Muir Trail Ranch，還來的及領包裹。這個獨家牧場很特別，沒有車子能開的路通到這裡，房客要自己走步道進來，在這裡獨家的時侯會騎馬看附近的山。有馬就一定有馬的大便，味道彌漫著整個地方。這隻藍松鴉我拍了好幾張但每一張都有大便入鏡。

They also accept five-gallon buckets by mail for hikers, which are then brought up with pack animals. Kirk’s mom graciously agreed to prepare a bucket full of food for us, under Kirk’s direction, and send it here for us. It was like Christmas morning as I opened up the bucket and discovered what we would get to eat for the next five days.
這個獨家牧場也會接受郵寄的登山客補給塑膠桶，以馬或驢扛上來。Kirk的媽媽已經按照Kirk的說明幫我們裝滿一桶並寄過來。肚子餓的時侯打開這個大塑膠桶看我們接下來能吃到什麼就像小時候聖誕節開禮物一樣開心。

The Ranch even lets us drop off garbage, fill up with spring water, and has a full set of hiker boxes for PCT and JMT hikers. I found a real gem in there, a bag of Sour Patch Kids, which would become a favourite of both mine and Kirk’s in the coming days.
這裡也讓登山客丟垃圾，也可以裝水，也有很多hiker box，裡面我找到一個很棒的糖果，日後會是我跟Kirk最愛的零食。

I also found an old sleeping pad, which I was able to cut to size and strap to my waist belt so the pack would fit better. The padding I had bought almost a month earlier was getting flat and worn out.
我在hiker box裡也找到一個舊睡墊。我一個月前在背包腰帶上裝的墊子已經壓扁了，所以我用這個睡墊取代。

That night after Kirk showed up we had a huge meal. I ate a litre and a half of pasta, which has to be some kind of personal record. Our food worries were over and the hardest passes were behind us so we were now in good spirits, ready to continue the journey.
晚上Kirk到達後我們吃非常多，我自己吃掉一公升半的義大利麵，嚇到自己。我們不用再擔心斷糧的問題，最難走的埡口也都已經過了，兩人的心情很好了，很期待後面的步道。