Miles Hiked: 22.7
PCT Mileage: 2299.4
Today began with a five hour car ride South to Shelter Cove. Midnight, Zach, and I, left the trail days at camping island at 6:15 am to be picked up by Kurt and Trail Diva. I surprisingly had a lot of energy today despite having a late night. It was still nice to have a long car ride as a buffer between the rest days and getting back on the trail. The only thing was, it took us until noon to get there so we started the day super late to hike as far as we had planned to. Especially for Zach who is joining Midnight for the section. It’s really hard to keep up with thru hikers who have been hiking long days for months on end. Usually regardless of how fit you are, your feet and joints just get really irritated because they are not used to the constant movement. The good thing about today is that we were slack packing so we didn’t have to carry all of our gear. Kurt was supposed to meet us at Irish Lake where we would camp for the night. We all set off together and soon Trail Diva was in front of us all and Midnight and Zach were in the back. We passed by some gorgeous lakes that I really wish I had the time to stop and swim in, I know there will be plenty more. Eight miles in I stopped to take a break at a really nice cabin open to hikers and the public for free! It even had electricity for light bulbs that came from a solar panel. Midnight and Zach caught up here so I took a break with them. Despite my feet hurting, I made it ten more miles to another lake before I took a break near it’s shore. On the way there, it got really smoky outside. The Cedar Creek Fire is burning nearby on the West side of Waldo Lake. Luckily the PCT runs on the East side of the lake. It’s a 4k acre fire that is not contained at all and has been burning since around the time we left Oregon for all the fires. The PCTA had issued a warning that the trail might close in the area. I’m glad we could hike through with no issues yet!
After the lake I ran into Kurt and Carly at the next road crossing. There was a problem. Kurt’s car couldn’t make it up to Irish Lake. He didn’t want us to be screwed so he talked a Jeep into dropping our food and sleeping bags off at the trail head there. I was glad Kurt was smart enough to not leave us stranded. I grabbed my tent and things for the rest of the night and kept hiking. I talked to my parents on the phone for the last four miles to camp. It was 8pm and it was getting dark by the time I arrived. I set up camp and waited for everyone else. I was glad to be done for the day.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 