Day 13: Marble, marble, everywhere

[Erin]:

After breakfast under Black Marble Mountain, we walked around on slabs and crevasses of glowing rock, slowing circling around the great walls of granite.

Marble underfoot. Also above us. And next to us. Basically everywhere. I guess actually granite.

Smiling and walking...

We walked along some snow fields, and then dropped our packs and hiked up to Marble Gap, about 1 mile off the main trail.

Marble Mountain in the background.

The views were spectacular.

At this point, our hiking poles were basically just extensions of our arms.

Marble Gap.

From here, we just gazed over the beauty of the Marbles and the mountains in the distance.

I did try to ski down the hill...

Up close, the granite of Marble Mountain reminded me of the walls and stairs of the courthouse in my hometown of The Dalles. I grew up in that courthouse, sitting at my dad's bench. I'd pretend to be a teacher; I'd turn on the microphones and sternly tell imaginary students in the empty courtroom about their upcoming spelling test.

Past Marble Gap, we ran into a few people who were hiking the PCT: a young man with a big camera, then an older guy - scruffy, heavy-set, in a camo hat and shirt. He looked rumpled and unlikely, his pack askew and his belly hanging slightly over his hip belt. He stopped to talk, unusual for a PCT hiker. I assumed he was just out for a few days until he said he'd "started down in Mexico." He asked us where we were headed, and when we said the Yolla Bollys, he said he'd hunted there in his youth, "shooting anything that moved." I was delighted to finally find someone who knew of the Yolla Bollys and we talked about that mysterious part of the world for a bit.

We hiked on, up to a ridge where we peeled off from the PCT. At the ridge, we searched for subalpine fir, to no avail. 

Where's that subalpine fir?

We hiked down through a burn to Wooley Creek. Once we got further down the drainage the slopes became very unconsolidated so you’d sink down the hill quite a bit while skirting around poison oak.

A bit of high-severity fire in here.

Emily and her tent. The creek looked like great swimming, but too cold in June!

We set up camp, following the routine: put up the tent, filter water, do yoga, cook dinner, get the bear bag up, brush teeth, read. At this point, we didn't need to talk about what to do. We'd just follow our tasks, one thing after another. I felt peace through routine. 

Total miles: about 9.5 (including to Marble Gap).