3/4/14 – 142 miles.
I’m camped high in the mountains at a place called Manning Camp. It was a strenuous hike up here and I’m glad that it was overcast as that helped to keep me cool. But with the relentless climb and humidity leftover from the rains, I was sweating buckets anyway.
When you gain 5000′ in altitude over a 13 mile hike the terrain changes dramatically along the way. It began as all cactus and sand for a few miles, then the landscape changed to junipers and tall grass, and finally at about 7000′ turned to Ponderosa Pine. Manning camp is at 8000′ and there are just a few patches of snow still around. I am the only one here so as soon as my campfire dies down it will be off to bed. I’m thinking it will be pretty cold tonight.
Hopefully most of the snow will have melted by the time you get to the top of the Catalina’s.