Month: August 2016

Another long day with a lot of trees. My longest day yet, in fact — a little over 32 miles. My neighbors got up at 4:30 this morning, so after failing to get back to sleep, I eventually got up and got on the road at about 7. This relatively early start meant I had a chance to cover a lot of miles today.

And, with today’s scenery, there was little else to do. For the first 25 miles, there was barely anything to see besides the trail.

The bulk of the day was spent in tree cover. This particular area had numerous blown-down trees covering the trail, making something of an obstacle course to climb over them, and slowing my progress.

Around my 50th fallen tree, I began to wonder how horseback riders deal with fallen trees. Supposedly, the entire PCT is open to horseback riding, but I couldn’t see how a horse could get over many of these logs.

As if on cue to answer my question, I caught up to a horseback-riding family. They were patiently leading their horses in big alternate routes around or over the trees. The brush made this difficult, and slowed them down a lot (I eventually passed them), but it was always possible to get by.

In the evening, I began to climb out of the view-less forest.

After reaching a campsite by a stream, I set up camp, and went to bed.

I got an awfully late start once again today. After waking up late from cold weather and little light in my tent, I found the campground’s many amenities enticing. A proper charging station in the bathroom — fancy!

After paying for my campsite (after the fact — if you follow the hike-in trail to Hyatt Lake’s PCT campsite, you never pass a pay station), I walked out the front gate and was immediately stopped by a woman with a large backpack.

“Can I interest you in some pizza?” she said.

I squirmed. I bit my lip. I couldn’t take the pizza. I’d packed too much food, and any pizza I eat here is extra weight in the un-eaten food in my pack. And besides, I’d already had 3 days in Ashland to satisfy and even exceed my appetite. I politely declined the pizza, somehow, and moved on.

Aside from that, the bulk of the day was pretty run-of-the-mill.

In the early evening, I was watching for a trail junction that should lead to some water from a pump by a hiker hut. (Huts are common on some other long-distance trails — they’re cabins for hikers to stay in — but the PCT has only a few over its entire length). Instead, I saw some surprisingly large signage.

Soon after, I hit the real junction to the hut.

Outside the hut, a number of hikers were lined up to wash their feet in the pump. Inside, I found quite a bit of trail magic.

I moved on, but not very far. Less than a quarter-mile away, I started seeing signs for more trail magic.

It turned out to be a major operation. Three people who’d hiked the PCT in 2014 has set up sun shades, and were cooking hot food for hikers.

The trail angels, wearing ties and top hats, handed me a menu. Something felt wrong about ordering trail magic from a menu… I got over it though, and had French toast and eggs.

After dinner and conversation, it had gotten quite late. I hurried for another hour and a half to one of the very few campsites in the lava rock section, set up my tent, and went to bed without brushing my teeth.

Getting back on the trail was hard. There was so much to miss about my time in Ashland. And, I’d oversupplied, so putting my pack on weighed down on me a lot more than usual.

The trail was mostly dry and grassy today, with out-of-season thimbleberry plants lining many sections.

There were several noteworthy rocks along the trail too, but I had trouble identifying them. Pilot Rock, Little Pilot Rock, and Joe’s Rock are all candidates for the rocks I saw below.

Later in the day, I approached Hyatt Lake, and the nearby valley.

Hyatt Lake had a nice campground with electricity, flush toilets, and garbage service, so I stopped there for the night, and chatted with other PCT hikers until late.