D71-D81: A second friend joins me 第二個朋友來跟我走

Days 71 to 81:

I had a fantastic time in Canada seeing family and friends while there for my cousin’s wedding.

我在加拿大玩得很開心，去參加表妹的婚禮時看到很多親戚，在溫哥華的時侯也順便找朋友。

My old high school friend Sana came to Vancouver to join me for the next week and a half on the trail. She hiked the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails with me in Iceland a couple years ago and did very well, except for the blisters on every single toe. Hopefully this time isn’t as bad.

Sana是我高中的時侯認識的老朋友，她飛來溫哥華跟我會合，要在PCT跟我一起走一星期半。她幾年前在冰島跟我走過一個長期步道，除了腳趾每一個都起水泡以外狀況很好，希望今年不會那麼慘。

First we hit up the local Wal-Mart to buy our groceries, and organized it all outside the McDonald’s.

到加州時首先我們去買食物，在麥當勞外面弄一弄準備裝背包裡的食物袋。

Then we caught the bus out to the trailhead. Our first day was only 5 miles to the campsite, but Sana got in the thru-hiker spirit right away by embracing the dirt.

準備好後我們搭公車到登山口。雖然第一天只要走八公里，但Sana很快就如長期登山客般不在乎衣服弄得多髒。

At camp that night, Sana already wanted to get rid of some weight. She had read over half of her paperback book already, so… only one thing to do with that half!

到營地的時侯Sana說想要減輕重量，她揹的小說已經看完前半段了，所以這一半可以拿來... 

The next day we had to start a very long ascent, 5200 feet (1600 m) over 17 miles (27 km). We followed a creek up for a while:

隔天前27公里要上坡，總共要爬升1600公尺。一開始我們沿著溪流走：

At one point we stopped to have a break by the creek.

我們在溪邊找到很舒服的休息點。

While we went down for a swim, the butterflies came to our packs and started licking them!

我們下去泡水的時侯好多蝴蝶飛到我們的背包上然後開始舔。

We passed through a couple burn areas today, stark black against the new green growth and the blue sky:

今天走過舊森林火災區，新長出來的翠綠植物、藍色的天空、被燒死的黑色樹幹這三種顏色的對比很漂亮。

I had planned to take two days for this difficult climb as I wasn’t sure Sana could go very fast uphill right from the start. She said she wanted to push on, though, and we actually made it all the way to the top and made camp before sunset! Impressive!

走完這段爬破路我本來預計兩天，想說Sana還沒適應步道之前可能會比較容易雷。不過她今天一直說要繼續往上爬，傍晚的時侯我們竟然已經走完這一段路，日落前我們已經在上面搭好帳篷了。

The mosquitoes were attacking Sana and she hadn’t brought bug spray, so this was this only solution available:

蚊子今天都攻擊Sana，我們也沒帶防蚊液，只好穿這樣：

We had some nice views from the trail the next day as we were out of the trees most of the time.

隔天比較少走在樹林中，展望很好。

Sana continued to embrace the filth and had no problem sitting or lying down anywhere for a break. She also had a ton of salt on her shirt from sweat, which reminded me of my first week on trail before my body had adapted.

Sana已經完全進入狀況了，隨時隨地都願意坐下來休息。她衣服上也留很多汗水的鹽份，讓我想起我在PCT的第一個禮拜，那時候我的衣服也是這個樣子。

That evening we camped by a perfect swimming hole. So far I’ve been in the water every day on trail since June 20th! There wasn’t a nice spot for both tents here so Sana set up her tent and I cowboy camped for just the second time of the trip.

晚上我們選擇在一個很適合游泳的湖邊紮營。我從6月20日到今天7月19日在步道上的每一天都有下去泡水。在湖邊的位子比較小，Sana在這裡搭帳篷，我反而直接在地上睡，我PCT的第二次『牛仔式露營』。

This was a nice spot that I could just sink into. At night before I fell asleep I must have seen four or five shooting stars before my eyes finally closed. Looking at the stars is definitely one of the advantages of cowboy camping over being in a tent.

這個位子很適合一個人躺下去，中間比較低一點，晚上不會不小心往旁邊滾。睡前看天空我還看到四五個流星！看星星是不搭帳篷睡地上的一個優點。

The following day was another beautiful day with a blue sky and a lot of shade to walk in. This section of trail has really impressed me so far. Northern California has a reputation for being hikers’ least favourite section of the PCT but I can’t understand why yet.

隔天也是大藍天，步道常在樹蔭中，走起來很舒服。我跟Sana走的這一段到目前位置我很喜歡，據說北加州是登山客最不喜歡的PCT階段不過我還不會這麼覺得。

On this, our fourth day, we made a town stop at Etna. This is a great town for hikers, with cheap camping in the city park, welcoming people, good food, a grocery store, and two breweries. We ate a Paystreak, which offers some healthier options than the usual pub fare. Check out these “Sun Tacos” with kale, beets, celery, quinoa, orange and more!

今天是我跟Sana的第四天，我們離開步道去附近的小鎮Etna。這裡是登山客休息的好地方，我們可以在公園裡搭帳篷，鎮民很善良，還有超市、兩個啤酒廠還有幾間好吃的餐廳。晚上我們去Paystreak吃飯，他們除了傳統酒吧食物也提供比較營養的東西如這個Sun Tacos，裡面有羽衣甘藍、甜菜根、芹菜、藜麥、橘子等等營養成分。

The next day, after we’d taken care of laundry, showering and groceries, I discovered that the swimming pool was actually open in the afternoon. Not only was it open, but it was free! This community has people that sponsor swim days so that it’s free for everyone. Thanks, Darlene Sweeney! This was the perfect way to spend a hot afternoon resting from the trail.

隔天早上我們洗完澡、買好下一段的食物、洗好衣服，發現公立游泳池下午有開放，而且進去不用錢！當地的商店和居民會捐錢讓大家能夠免費去玩水，今天要謝謝Darlene Sweeney！今天的天氣這麼熱，沒有比游泳池更適合休息的地方。

We hitched a ride back to the trailhead that evening and decided to just make dinner and camp right there, then get an early start on the climb in the morning.

我們搭便車回登山口，然後決定不要先走，在登山口旁邊煮晚餐，隔天一大早再繼續走。

The next morning, we passed a beautiful lake just as the day was getting hot. It was the perfect spot to have a swim, air out the clothes, and lie down for a few minutes.

隔天中午前天氣已經很熱了，我們剛好經過一個漂亮的湖泊。我們忍不住在這裡泡水，晾衣服，躺下來休息一下。

For some reason, my foot were getting extremely dirty on this section of trail, so the lake was a welcome chance to rinse them off.

不知道為什麼我的腳在這一段變得特別髒，有機會洗腳我就很開心。

Later we passed a huge burn area where all the trees had been uniformly bleached white.
下午我們走過很多被太陽漂白的樹幹。

Here is one of many deer we saw in this section. Unlike the deer in Saskatchewan and Taiwan, these ones really aren’t that scared of people and are comfortable grazing quite close by. The chipmunks are a little more timid, however.

在這一段我們看過很多鹿，不過這些鹿不太怕人，不像我家鄉的鹿也不像台灣的水鹿。花栗鼠反而比較難靠近。

It was getting to be a hot day and we had maybe been up in the mountains too long already, so this is what happened next:

今天好熱而且我們兩個或許在山上太久了，人越來越瘋狂，才會發現這件事：

It still hadn’t rained on me since Day 1 of my trip, but it looked like things might change soon. Huge thunderstorms were forming (storrrrm’s a-brewin’!!). In one direction the sky was dark; in another it was mostly blue; in another, you could see clouds hovering around the prominent Mt. Shasta.

我在PCT的第一天之後都還沒遇過下雨，不過今天的天氣看起來要變了，雷暴在天空成形。天空有一半是藍的一般是黑的，附近的Shasta山也被雲圍繞。

Luckily, it all blew over and we were able to set up camp dry. This was a nice early finish and we were able to enjoy sitting in camp and having dinner in daylight. Sana enjoyed this leisure time a bit too much…

幸好這些雲在還沒下雨之前就飄走了，我們到營地紮營時沒有淋濕。今天比較早紮營，我們很享受在陽光下吃晚餐聊天。Sana可能有點過度享受...

Smoke from nearby forest fires was blowing in, so the sunset was very orange that night.

附近的森林火災產出的煙開始飄過來所以今天的夕陽特別紅。

The next day, we saw this guy carrying a garden hose (?!) but don’t ask me what it was for. Leave a comment if you know.

隔天我們看到有人揹一段軟管，我真的想不到用途是什麼，讀者若知道或有想法可以留言。

The weather was similar to the day before in that it got cloudier and cloudier as the day progressed.

天氣像前一天一樣，雲越來越多。

It finally started raining on us, but nothing too serious.

最後開始下雨，不過雨很小。

We hid under a tree for a bit to stay dry as the rain wasn’t very heavy. We debated setting up camp or continuing up the trail. While waiting, it even started hailing a bit, but very lightly and not accompanied by heavy wind or rain. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

雨不大所以躲在樹下就不會淋濕。我們在樹下討論要紮營還是要繼續走，這時候還下了一點冰雹，不過沒什麼風也沒什麼雨，是我人生第一次看到在這麼平靜的天氣下冰雹。

We decided to walk another hour since we were low down and relatively safe from lightning now. It was a good thing we did. The rain soon stopped, the clouds blew off, and a couple miles ahead was what ended up being Sana’s favourite campsite of her whole trip. It was high up on a cliff with a view of a lake below and tons of flat space for tents.

因為我們這時侯在比較低的地方而不太需要擔心閃電所以決定繼續走。幸好我們做這個決定，雨很快就停了，雲散開了，走了一小時而已我們就到了Sana這趟旅行最喜歡的營地。營地在斷崖上面，地又平又大，我們也看得到下面的小湖泊，風景十分漂亮。

The next day there was no smoke in the morning and we had a nice walk down to a highway crossing. Sana’s feet were blistered already on day one, and by now they were red and numb. I don’t know how she could stand walking like this but she just kept pushing on.

隔天早上沒什麼煙，走下坡路到公路很舒服。Sana的腳第一天就起水泡，到今天已經變紅了又麻掉了。我很難想像她怎麼還有意志繼續走，不過她還不願意放棄。

That afternoon, we planned a stop at Porcupine Lake. Two hours turned into four hours as it was just so hard to leave the place. There was shade, soft ground, and a crystal clear warm lake to swim in with towering peaks surrounding it. This is easily my favourite swimming spot of the entire trail to date.

下午我們打算在湖邊休息兩個小時，不過這個地方太舒服了，我們總共休息四小時。有樹蔭，地很軟，湖水溫暖又乾淨，周圍的山很壯觀，是我在整個PCT中最喜歡的玩水處。

We had a nice evening walk down to the next road crossing, where we camped for the night.

傍晚又走到一條與PCT交叉的公路，我們在路邊紮營。

I ran into Mike there, whom I hadn’t seen since the desert section. He was camping with his wife for the night there, and they even gave me and Sana a beer! I actually ran into quite a few people I knew during this section with Sana; people who were faster than me and had gotten so far ahead that they were now almost in Oregon. Only by jumping up 400 miles like this was I able to see them again.

我在這裡還遇到Mike，離開南加州後都沒看過他，他和老婆剛好也要在這裡過夜。他們的車上有啤酒，他們還拿給我們，各一罐！其實我在這一段遇到很多在南加州後沒再看過的人，這些人的速度比我快很多，這時候已經快到奧勒岡州，我能看到他們是因為我為了跟Sana走這一段而往前跳了700公里。

The next day I ran into Mannie and Sun from Hong Kong, who started over a month before me. I know them because we took a snow hiking course together in Taiwan last winter, where we discovered we would all be on the PCT together this summer. They were so far ahead of me I thought I’d never catch up, but since I jumped up north with Sana, I was able to meet them on trail!

隔天我看到香港來的Mannie和Sun，他們比我早一個月開始走PCT。我在台灣就認識到他們，2月在雪山參加雪訓課程的時侯他們跟我同一梯，那時侯我們發現三個人今年都要走PCT。因為他們那麼早開始走所以我本來以為我沒機會趕上他們，往前跳700公里後我才有這個機會。

At lunch today, Sana and I found a great spot that was flat and well-shaded, totally comfortable in the heat of the day. It even had nice logs arranged as benches… or tables…

今天午餐時我們剛好走到一個很棒的營地，樹蔭多，地平，我們很開心能躲到中午的大太陽。這裡還有倒木，很適合當椅子... 也可以當桌子...

On our final day, we entered Castle Crags State Park, whose namesake was very obvious:

最後一天我們進入Castle Crags（城堡岩）州立公園，此名稱的來源很明顯：

Before 10 a.m. on our last day we were already at the trailhead! We made it!

早上十點我們就到登山口了，恭喜Sana走完預計路段的全程。

We spent the rest of the day eating…

首先要吃飯...

…then going to the local swimming pool, then getting kicked out of the pool after half an hour because there was too much smoke in the air (or the teenage lifeguards just wanted an excuse to stop working??), and making our way to the Greyhound station. We even had time to go shopping nearby at the outlet grocery store. I picked up this bad boy, nearly five pounds of animal crackers, and 9000 calories, for just 7 dollars.

吃完飯我們去游泳池，不過在那裡只能待半小時，員工說是因為空氣中的煙太多了，不過我和Sana懷疑是少年員工想要早一點回家而已所以拿煙當藉口。我們最後搭車到客運站，在那附近等晚上的客運。在旁邊的超市我買到這一大罐餅乾，兩公斤多，九千大卡，才七元美金。

Now the problem is… how do I carry this?? Oh well, that’s a problem for another day.

現在有個問題，不知道這麼多餅乾要怎麼揹？這個問題改天再想辦法吧。

Sana and I got on the bus to Sacramento and eventually parted ways. She went back to Canada and I went on to Reno, so I could pick up the trail where I’d left off before the wedding, way back at Lake Tahoe.

我跟Sana一起坐客運到Sacramento，之後就分開了，她要回加拿大而我要回Reno，再回太浩湖。我為了去加拿大參加婚禮而離開步道的那個地方要再回去繼續往北走。