Miles Hiked: 23.6
PCT Mileage: 1947.8
Today I woke up at 4am without an alarm for the first time in over a month I’d guess. That means I slept well and finally got enough rest to wake up this early naturally. I was stoked. Since I was still sleepy and in no rush to get to town today, I stayed in my bag until 5am. Last night I was shivering before I went to bed but it wasn’t too cold this morning. I think it will be time to pick my cold weather gear back up soon. For breakfast I made a protein shake with granola in it. I thought it was delicious for the last two days but for some reason I found it revolting this morning and made myself choke it down before leaving camp. The air was filled with a thick fog and everything was partially wet. I didn’t mind it. No fire danger today! It also made me reminiscent of the AT. I hiked the first ten miles alone. For some reason they were going by so slow despite being really easy. I realized my feet weren’t hurting as bad as they have been lately. A victory! I hope the lower mileage and longer recovery times help me heal my feet by the end of this trail. I was not too hopeful my feet would remain this way but at least it was a nice morning! I passed by several foggy lakes and it reminded me of Maine. The air smelled like fresh pine needles.
I took a long break 10 miles in at a nice picnic table. I stretched, ate, and rolled out my feet with my cork ball before continuing. I met up with Trail Diva and Midnight at Mosquito Creek. No Mosquitoes for once. After another short break and getting more water, we were on our way again. The shuttle to Trout Lake didn’t come until 4pm and we were way ahead of schedule. We just figured we would hitch if we got there early.
The rest of the miles went by so fast. A quick break at Trout Creek and we were on our way up the climb to paved forest road 23. The sun came out and dried off my puffy jacket and the air got warmer. It was a beautiful day. At the road, we ran into three other people trying to hitch. Soon there were fifteen hikers waiting at the road. All of us got there before the shuttle. The road wasn’t busy but the cars that did come just passed us. Eventually a trail runner emerged from the North Side of the road and gave Trail Diva, Midnight, Giggles, Nugget, and myself a ride into town. I was thankful! He hiked a lot of the PCT last year before getting off because of an injury. He dropped us off at the Cafe 30 minutes later. I ordered a huckleberry shake, a huckleberry mimosa, and a Ruben with Fries. The service was fast and the food was great. I’m so happy to be somewhere we’re huckleberry everything is back on the menu. Reminds me of Montana.
After fueling up at the Cafe, we went to the general store where I resupplied and hung out. I got a shower at the park and pitched my tent at 8pm per the rules. There were about 20 other hikers here. I was glad to have a chill evening and planned to get on trail at 8am tomorrow. I stayed up late catching up on the last few days of blog posts since I haven’t had time to write on the trail. I wanted to be completely caught up so I don’t have to stress about it too much in the next section.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 