Miles Hiked: 26.9
PCT Mileage: 1924.2
Today I woke up at 5am to Midnight packing up her Hammock. I lazily packed up all my things since I’m used to cowboy camping and I wasn’t motivated to pack up my tent. I was the last one down the trail today. The morning was gorgeous. The trail was still heavily lined with all the ferns I’ve been loving. I kept my eyes out for berries. I’ve been seeing so many different kinds lately! These include: huckleberries, blackberries, black raspberries, and salmon berries. The morning felt foggy and slow. I took my first break next to Wind River near a bridge with Trail Diva. I wondered if it was the same Wind River that runs to Wyoming. Midnight passed by us and we continued on. I got a mini Dr. pepper at a road side trail magic and it was a boost I needed for the day. We met up with Midnight at a campground next to a road where we planned to take an alternate that Midnight found with a cool water fall. I was a little hesitant since it involved so much road walking. It did cut off six miles of the trail but I justified it with the six miles I hiked SOBO to avoid the Windigo fire a couple of days ago. The road was pavement for eight miles. I feel like one mile on the pavement is like two miles on a trail especially when my feet already hurt. We ran into a guy named Trash Panda. It’s his 27th birthday today! We convinced him to go to the water fall with us. The first four miles of the road went by fast because I was excited to see the water fall. Panther Falls was absolutely amazing and one of the coolest water falls I’ve ever seen. Totally worth the painful roadwalk. We climbed all the way down a very steep social trail to the bottom of the falls where we hid from the sun in the cool most for over an hour. I caught up on some writing and took lots of pictures. I was so happy that Midnight found the detour.
After Panther Falls the remaining six miles of road felt painful, especially the last two in direct sunlight. I was miserable and picked up my pace just to get it over with so I could sit down and take a break at the trail junction. I sat there for at least 45 minutes rubbing my feet before continuing on. The day ended with a climb up to Blue Lake. I got some cell service on the way so I stopped to upload some posts and then continued. At camp, I pitched my tent immediately because the mosquitos were out and hungry for my blood. The lake was pretty and I wanted to sit by it but there was no way I was going to get out of my tent so the evil bugs could have a feast. It was another early night and I was happy.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 