To PCT mile 1337.8 (stats here).
Because of the previous days late finishing time, I had trouble getting up. I slept really well, though, and managed to get up 5:15am. It was gonna be a town day again, so I wanted to be in Chester early.
Today was a day when you hit the half way marker of the entire PCT. Half done, half left. Just before hitting that I saw Two Packs, who told me that there was an all you can eat pizza buffet in the town. I also got a message from Bandit that he was in town already, arrived there the previous evening, and would join me for the pizza party. There was free camping at the church backyard.
Like with most of the towns along or near the trail, there was lot of descending to be done before getting there. As I have been skimming with the sleeping hours lately, I found the hiking especially hard. The knowledge of getting into town also affects and creates a feeling of haste. Getting to the highway felt like a long time and was hard on my ankles.
It did not take long to get a hitch to town. There was a nice lady who came from a kayaking trip and was giving some hiker a lift back to trailhead. She took me with her back to town. I was at the church around 11:30am. I left my stuff there and we headed to the pizza place with Bandit. Chester is a small place but a metropol compared to Belden.
The all-you-can-eat turned out to be tricky as the place did not provide vegetarian pizzas to the buffet that often. I ended up ordering a small pizza instead, which on my standards was large. Having two servings of salad and too many cokes made me feel bloated, again. This is my trademark. Get sick in towns with food. Luckily getting rid of the soda gas made me feel a bit better. Still too much eating. But I have lost weight, maybe too much, so gotta need to try to eat more. Would make more sense to do the eating on trail, though. Then again, you do not want to carry more than absolutely necessary.
I did not succeed in my resupplying that well. The local market was big, but lacked vegetarian ramen and some other stuff I was looking. I ended up raiding the church hiker box and ended up having too much food. It would last at least 5 days. Updating my blog did not succeed either. The wifi was not that good at the church, and the nearby diner proved to be equally bad. 5pm I went to the library, but did not have enough time anymore except to upload the pictures. More unrational things: we did laundry with Bandit but I did not take a shower.
Down at 2000 feet it sure is hot. Uncomfortably. It is hard to maintain focus and do all the things you want to when you are sweating like a pig and just want to look for shade. Our intention was to depart the town and do some 5 to 10 miles when it is cooler. We got a weird lift at 8pm with Bandit from a young musicial who was also doing some fire fighting work, so our hiking hours were limited. We managed to do only 5 miles, and this time the going in dark was not that fun. With full stomach, no music, going uphill, and unplanned. The only positive thing about it was to do it with somebody nice. The thing at Chester was not that optimal. Feels that most of the resupply days are not.
Because of the previous days late finishing time, I had trouble getting up. I slept really well, though, and managed to get up 5:15am. It was gonna be a town day again, so I wanted to be in Chester early.
 |
| Yay! Half done. Ugh, half left. |
Today was a day when you hit the half way marker of the entire PCT. Half done, half left. Just before hitting that I saw Two Packs, who told me that there was an all you can eat pizza buffet in the town. I also got a message from Bandit that he was in town already, arrived there the previous evening, and would join me for the pizza party. There was free camping at the church backyard.
 |
| An American small pizza. |
Like with most of the towns along or near the trail, there was lot of descending to be done before getting there. As I have been skimming with the sleeping hours lately, I found the hiking especially hard. The knowledge of getting into town also affects and creates a feeling of haste. Getting to the highway felt like a long time and was hard on my ankles.
It did not take long to get a hitch to town. There was a nice lady who came from a kayaking trip and was giving some hiker a lift back to trailhead. She took me with her back to town. I was at the church around 11:30am. I left my stuff there and we headed to the pizza place with Bandit. Chester is a small place but a metropol compared to Belden.
The all-you-can-eat turned out to be tricky as the place did not provide vegetarian pizzas to the buffet that often. I ended up ordering a small pizza instead, which on my standards was large. Having two servings of salad and too many cokes made me feel bloated, again. This is my trademark. Get sick in towns with food. Luckily getting rid of the soda gas made me feel a bit better. Still too much eating. But I have lost weight, maybe too much, so gotta need to try to eat more. Would make more sense to do the eating on trail, though. Then again, you do not want to carry more than absolutely necessary.
I did not succeed in my resupplying that well. The local market was big, but lacked vegetarian ramen and some other stuff I was looking. I ended up raiding the church hiker box and ended up having too much food. It would last at least 5 days. Updating my blog did not succeed either. The wifi was not that good at the church, and the nearby diner proved to be equally bad. 5pm I went to the library, but did not have enough time anymore except to upload the pictures. More unrational things: we did laundry with Bandit but I did not take a shower.
 |
| You do laundry in your rain gear. It is wet business, you know. |
Down at 2000 feet it sure is hot. Uncomfortably. It is hard to maintain focus and do all the things you want to when you are sweating like a pig and just want to look for shade. Our intention was to depart the town and do some 5 to 10 miles when it is cooler. We got a weird lift at 8pm with Bandit from a young musicial who was also doing some fire fighting work, so our hiking hours were limited. We managed to do only 5 miles, and this time the going in dark was not that fun. With full stomach, no music, going uphill, and unplanned. The only positive thing about it was to do it with somebody nice. The thing at Chester was not that optimal. Feels that most of the resupply days are not.
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