PCT Day 29

Day 29

Miles 0

I sleep till 6am and feel awesome. I sit up see that few people have left and braved the heat while others remain cocooned in their sleeping bags. We congregate around the table, a few down beers others eat junk food. A few more head out and I sit and chill, entering my 2nd zero day. Then a random Husky dog appears who is skittish at first but soon calms down. We give her water and she is incredibly thirsty. She is weary of us at first but after a while she comes to sit among us. She rolls onto her back and lets us stroke her belly. Her fur is coming off in clumps.

Bigboyscout heads out to town to buy beer and wine and a trail angel appears while he’s gone who brings more beer and fizzy drinks. His name is Tory and he section hiked the PCT last year and wanted to return the trail magic he was given back then. I ask him if he’ll hitch a few of us to Kennedy Meadows and he kindly agrees. Two others and I pack our bags into his old car which looks like someone's taken a knife to the fabric roof and off we go. We take the huskie with us as this is no place for a huskie. There is an animal shelter in the town so we head there. It’s always crazy how fast we seem to move in cars, covering distances effortlessly in minutes where as walking takes us ages. I casually stroke the dog who is panting in the heat.

We head into town first to drop the dog off. The car has no air con and the breeze flowing in by the windows is hot. The animal shelter scan the dog for a microchip which she doesn’t have and check her in. There are loads of cats in cages all meowing and pawing out through the bars. The dog will stay there for a week and if no one's claims her she will go up for adoption.

We head to Mcdonalds and go inside, the drive thru queue is long so we go inside where it is nice and cool. It’s 31° degrees. I get a large 1/4 burger and get Tory an ice cream. Then the manager comes over with a tray of 4 mango smoothies! Trail magic!

Thank you! Then we begin our drive to Kennedy Meadows which is further than I thought and higher up. It’s a slow drive up the hill to get there. I google Mountain Lions attacks on my phone and we chat to Tory. It’s so warm in the car but I can feel it cooling off as we climb to 5000ft/1500m. My friend tries to pay Tory for the Petrol/gas but he won’t take it, we thank him and he heads off for a run.

Woop so glad I didn’t have to hike this part. I know it is cheating missing the last 50 miles of the desert section but I was so happy to be done with it. We get an applause as we arrive which we wave off feeling guilty since we got a lift here. It’s a large wooden house with a simple general store selling food, gear, package collection, bear canisters, showers. On the deck there is a large sitting area which is covered with hikers, hikertrash, rubbish, hiker gear, food and a chess set. A grill and kitchens sits at the end. I see Puss and we have a catch up and we chill on the deck beside the store. I collect my package I sent from Green valley and I’m so happy to be there.

I pay for shower and head to the two wooden outdoor showers round the back of the store. I get a towel and wash my clothes and myself. It feels good to have a shower. I can’t remember my last wash. Hanging up my clothes I move my bags to a flat patch of dirt near a teepee behind the back of grounds. It is a lot cooler up here and I know I’ll sleep well. A huge fire is starting in an old washing machine drum and e all sit around it chatting until the late hours.

Day 30 here

 

PCT Day 28

Day 28

Miles 0

I sleep till 6am and it feels good. A few people have hiked out. Bigboyscout, Atellabun, 5fingers and Snakebite and one other are chilling outside. I pack up and chill with them. We debate to hitching to Kennedy Meadows then we all decide to hitch to the local shore and have a feast here today instead. Make a little Trail Magic for hikers arriving. A big red pick up truck pulls in and Bigboyscout heads other to ask for a lift and bingo, the guy agrees to take us all!  We leave our packs with a guy called Ted who is starting his hike from here even though he’s been here for 6 days. We pile into the back of the pick up and drive to Ridgecrest moving so fast and it feels so cool and refreshing on my skin as we speed along.

He drops us at store and I spend way too much - never g food shopping on an empty stomach. I buy sweets, chocolates, pepsi, chocolate spread, crisps and poptarts. People buy loads of beer and we head outside hoping for a hitch back. We eventually make a sign and after 20 minutes a guy pulls over for us. We thought we’d have to break it down into two lifts as there are 5 of us and about a dozen bags of food and drink. However by some fluke this guy has a 7 seater car which in empty. Perfect! We all fit plus all and the food.

We pile our shopping in the boot and clamber in. The guy rolls spliff as he drives and his tiny dog, Coco watches us apprehensively from his lap. He drives us back and then chills with us for a bit and we play cards and more people arrive at our party. Beers are drank and we migrate from tree to tree seeking shade. I nap a bit in the shade and realise this is my first Zero day since starting the trail. It’s a lazy day for everyone and only 2 people hike out. We are creating a vortex. People head out and buy more food as we eat sausages on the fire grill. They’re great to eat. We chill all day and then even more food and beer arrives, this time burgers. The day dissolves into the evening and more beers are drank down. The burgers are spiced with thyme and cheese gets added. It’s so good and we all eventually fall asleep, all cowboy camping in the night heat.  

 

Day 29 here

PCT Day 27

Day 27

30 miles

I set off at 4am just as the pale dawn light is starting to flare up. Half the sky is a dark blue and other is a red/orange/yellow haze on the horizon. It feels late. I pass Chloe and her cousin who hiked pass me last night. I’m ten miles away from the next supposed water cache. I’m hungry so I eat a poptart and hike on. My stomach rumbles and I can physically feel it. I have trail mix and cereal biscuits to calm it. I ascend the biggest hill of the day in the shade (woop!) and trail the edge of the hill. I pass a couple who then pass me in turn as I stop to take a photo. I see a few tents dotted off the trail. The scenery is stunning up here. Maybe it’s just the aurora light touching everything or the height but everything just looks amazing….

I finish the ten miles to the water cache and chill in the shade. The couple are from the east coast and have taken time off the trail to visit as many baseball games as they can afford here on the west coast. This water cache and the one from last night are maintained by an ex-hiker called Devil Fish and he’s left some food! Amazing trail magic! Sweet food! I eat chocolate spread on tortilla wraps which are awesome and decide to get some myself when I’m next in civilization. The couple hike on and I’m soon joined by Snakebite. She says she hiked for about 12 miles until she needed sleep. I decide to head up this hill before it gets any hotter and acquire another bigger yucca stick! It works really well and I speed up the hill. It’s lots of climbing and switch backs and I get to the top before 11am and before the heat gets too intense.

I walk another 2 miles and stop for some well soaked noodles which taste good for once but I still want some thing else. There isn’t much height to be climbed for the next few miles but it still takes me ages. I have about 15 miles to go before I get to the Walkers Pass - a campsite where water is.

The miles lengthen out.... I descend down to switch backs and hit a dirt road which seems endless in the sun. It goes up and down, up and down and annoys me more than it should. There is absolutely no shade.

It’s 4:30pm and I have about 9 miles to go and I’m so slow, I’m practically crawling. I eat snacks and plow on, attempting to motivate myself. I have one last poptart - thankfully which helps. What helps even more is when I walk into a lovely pine forest and trail it in and out of the trees. It’s a lot cooler in here.

8 miles - I snack

7 miles - I watch the sun fade

6 miles…..

5 miles - so slow…

4 miles - foooood….

3 miles - water break

3.5 miles - snack break

3 miles - pee break

2 miles….

1 mile so close…and then I arrive!

Its twilight now and I know I should put up my tent but I chill with the other hikers instead who’ve just been to town for food. Empty wrappers of a local fast food burger place litter the tables. My stomach rumbles longingly. It gets to 9:30 pm a few hikers hike out and I pitch my tent. Both the inner and outer which makes it hot but I want to sleep in the morning and want privacy. I uncurl my sleeping bag and clean my feet then sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep!

Day 28 here