Miles Hiked: 30.4
PCT Mileage: 1531.6
This morning I woke up at 5am at the KOA campground. I didn’t sleep much last night because a bear was in the campground and I could hear another site yelling at it. I could also hear it getting in the dumpster. The campground host let me know a bear got into a PCT hikers backpack four days ago. They had no food storage options available at all. I can’t believe how casual they were about bear problems. I took a shower to rinse off and left the campground with Diva and Midnight. We saw the dumpster trash everywhere from the bear last night on the way out. Before hitting the trail we went to a coffee shop where I got a latte, a smoothie, and a burrito for the trail later. We hitched on the side of the road for about 15 minutes before getting picked up. On the way to the trail we saw a dead bear on the side of the Highway. It was sad.
We got dropped off at the trail at 9:30am. It was already hot. There were about ten other hikers also getting dropped off too. Today the hike was almost entirely uphill. It felt never ending at times but luckily the grade wasn’t too bad. The trail went through castle crags State Park so it was signed very nicely. The first part of the day was mostly shaded and then it was exposed for a long time. I was happy I packed out a burrito. It tasted better on the trail then it would have in town. When it was exposed and hot I could see a good view of the Castle Cragg. I know it was in the 90s. I stopped about every six miles or so at water sources. The goal was to get thirty miles out of town today but it was hard to do with a late start. I knew I would end up having to hike in the dark. Midnight ended up taking a couple hours long break to avoid the heat and falling behind Diva and I. I hiked the last part of the day talking to Diva which was nice, especially when it was dark. The sunset on the way to camp was amazing. I love hiking at that time of day but not much longer after. It was 10pm by the time we got to camp and I was so exhausted. I looked at the elevation and we ended up climbing 7.7k of vert today. After Shasta that was a super hard day. No wonder I was feeling so tired. My muscles were hurting in ways they don’t normally hurt. I think it’s because Shasta was so steep it used different muscles. I set up a cowboy camp close to Diva’s tent and fell asleep looking at the stars.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 