To PCT mile 2228.9 (stats here).
I had planned to get up early in order to get to Trout Lake Post office. It was closing 4pm so with my current condition, 23 miles would need plenty of time. I ignored the first alarm but got up at 5am. It was is still completely dark at that time so getting up was not that easy.
I was able to do my morning stuff quickly and was moving 5:35am. The terrain would be mostly very easy, so I felt trustful about making it in time. Anyway, I decided that it would not matter if I would not. I could afford to wait for the next day.
I kept a good pace, going 3.3 mph. This almost equals my pace before the leg problems, but then again, the terrain was really easy. I ate a lot the previous evening and therefore I needed to take two shit breaks. The second one was accelerated by a chocolate coffee and irritated me a bit as there was only 2 hours between the breaks. In the hassle I managed to tear a hole in the mesh of my shoe. I should change my shoes for a new pair one last time during the trail. These have 500 miles on them and the Altra representative at PCT Days said to me that they manufacture their shoes for about this distance.
I kept leap frogging two other hikers, but there was almost no social interaction. I was able to keep the pace up, except on two steep climbs. The time was no more than 1:30pm when I was at the road leading to Trout Lake. Getting a ride was tricky as I did not have good enough mobile coverage to call the listed trail angels and the traffic was non existent. I tried to go back and forth the road to get coverage, but that did not work. Then after 20 minutes, a van pulled over. A guy was giving a hiker ride back to the trailhead and was willing to give me a ride to town. Lucky me!
I got my post package without problems and the headed for the general store. Trout Lake is a small place. The general store was good though, with good selection for hikers if you needed something. The shop keepers were extra nice. The store offers bunks for hikers but was booked out for tonight. Instead, they called on my behalf to two other place in town where you could stay. The first was a bit too expensive to my tastes, but the second in a camper sounded good. I decided to stay for the night.
Joanna was the person who offered the camper for the night. She is a terrific, easygoing and friendly person, as is her partner. I got the camper for myself and was able to get a shower and do laundry. Joanna also offered me to join her for a dinner with her friends. I happily accepted. I did have too much food again, but there is no substitute for a real dinner.
The dinner was held just next door where Joannas friend, Alicia, lives. She has Finnish heritage and actually a Finnish family name, with a real "รค" in the name. There were 7 people in addition to me, and I had a great time. Half of the food was vegetarian and all of it good. We chatted about politics, education, Trout Lake, the area around it and hiking. Once people started watching a movie, I left and went to the camper. It was already over 8pm and I wanted to catch up with the blog and friends. I was unsure what to do the next day as it was clear I could not do everything I wanted without rushing and the leg is still a questiopn mark. There was an option of getting a ride back to trailhead around 7:30am from the general store. I suspected that it would be too early for me. I went to bed around 10pm and decided to see how I feel in the morning. Always a bad idea to leave the decision for the morning.
I had planned to get up early in order to get to Trout Lake Post office. It was closing 4pm so with my current condition, 23 miles would need plenty of time. I ignored the first alarm but got up at 5am. It was is still completely dark at that time so getting up was not that easy.
I was able to do my morning stuff quickly and was moving 5:35am. The terrain would be mostly very easy, so I felt trustful about making it in time. Anyway, I decided that it would not matter if I would not. I could afford to wait for the next day.
 |
| The terrain was very easy for hiking today. |
I kept a good pace, going 3.3 mph. This almost equals my pace before the leg problems, but then again, the terrain was really easy. I ate a lot the previous evening and therefore I needed to take two shit breaks. The second one was accelerated by a chocolate coffee and irritated me a bit as there was only 2 hours between the breaks. In the hassle I managed to tear a hole in the mesh of my shoe. I should change my shoes for a new pair one last time during the trail. These have 500 miles on them and the Altra representative at PCT Days said to me that they manufacture their shoes for about this distance.
I kept leap frogging two other hikers, but there was almost no social interaction. I was able to keep the pace up, except on two steep climbs. The time was no more than 1:30pm when I was at the road leading to Trout Lake. Getting a ride was tricky as I did not have good enough mobile coverage to call the listed trail angels and the traffic was non existent. I tried to go back and forth the road to get coverage, but that did not work. Then after 20 minutes, a van pulled over. A guy was giving a hiker ride back to the trailhead and was willing to give me a ride to town. Lucky me!
I got my post package without problems and the headed for the general store. Trout Lake is a small place. The general store was good though, with good selection for hikers if you needed something. The shop keepers were extra nice. The store offers bunks for hikers but was booked out for tonight. Instead, they called on my behalf to two other place in town where you could stay. The first was a bit too expensive to my tastes, but the second in a camper sounded good. I decided to stay for the night.
 |
| My "camp"for tonight. |
Joanna was the person who offered the camper for the night. She is a terrific, easygoing and friendly person, as is her partner. I got the camper for myself and was able to get a shower and do laundry. Joanna also offered me to join her for a dinner with her friends. I happily accepted. I did have too much food again, but there is no substitute for a real dinner.
 |
| I was lucky enough to be invited to have dinner with these great friendly people. |
The dinner was held just next door where Joannas friend, Alicia, lives. She has Finnish heritage and actually a Finnish family name, with a real "รค" in the name. There were 7 people in addition to me, and I had a great time. Half of the food was vegetarian and all of it good. We chatted about politics, education, Trout Lake, the area around it and hiking. Once people started watching a movie, I left and went to the camper. It was already over 8pm and I wanted to catch up with the blog and friends. I was unsure what to do the next day as it was clear I could not do everything I wanted without rushing and the leg is still a questiopn mark. There was an option of getting a ride back to trailhead around 7:30am from the general store. I suspected that it would be too early for me. I went to bed around 10pm and decided to see how I feel in the morning. Always a bad idea to leave the decision for the morning.
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