Miles Hiked: 23
PCT Mileage: 2547.9
The anxiety I had last night about all the wildfires was significantly better this morning. I packed up my tent at 6:00 a.m. and made oatmeal for breakfast at the lodge while I waited for the school bus back to trail at 7:45 a.m.. The bus was packed full and all 44 + hikers paid $10 each for the one-way ride back to the trail. Doing the math, that bus made $440 to drive less than 15 miles one way and would make more money picking up hikers on the return trip. The bus stopped at the bakery which was nice but I didn’t get anything since I ate so much the day before and my pack was so heavy with 5 days of food. At 9:00 a.m. We finally got back on trail. The plan today was to hike approximately 25 mi. Trail diva and midnight were going to Mazama while I stayed on trail since I had a resupply box sent to Stehekin. I hiked with Trail Diva for the first 10 miles before saying goodbye to her and Midnight at our lunch break. The day was really hot and all uphill. Thankfully the smoke from last night was all clear now! At lunch I cooked a chicken and rice mountain house meal and dunked my shirt in the cold stream to cool off. I hiked alone listening to a book for a few miles before I had to go off the trail to collect water because it was so hot and I was drinking so much. I ran into Ricochet, Eager Beaver, and Magma at the next source. I was happy to see them and hiked with them all day. It was great to have new company! At Rainy Pass, we got trail magic from a lady named Kim! She was about to start a section hike with her daughter. It was so good and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The last trail magic before Canada! It was a big surprise. I hadn’t had trail magic in so long that I forgot it was a thing. I hiked the last four miles to camp with Eager Beaver. We camped with a bunch of others tucked away off the trail. I fell asleep waiting for Trail Diva Midnight to show up.

Happy Trails!
-Early Bird