To PCT mile 2294.9 (stats here).
The night was pretty bad. I had forgotten my resolve not to make camp on sand and this backfired. It got wet and the wind blew sand all over my stuff. During the night, the wind kept knocking my tarp poles down. I am not that good with the tarp. The cold was a good motivation to get the camp disassembled quickly but my fingers became numb instantly.
I got moving maybe 6:30am. My fingers were hurting so I could not use the hiking poles. Instead, I used my other socks to warm the fingers a bit. The hiking was no fun. Because of the fog, the visiblity was zero, and the wind was blowing hard. That was a shame as the views should have been stunning. The terrain was all rocks and going up, narrow ridges and sharp turns. With good weather it would have been grand, now it was painful. I had no support from hiking poles so I felt a bit shaky. Especially with the few snow crossings. After a while, I saw the brothers I camped with the other night. It was good to have some company. The 3.6 miles that I had until the start of the fire detour felt much longer than that.
The detour was no fun either. You got a bit lower in elevation for a while, but you could really notice the difference between PCT and a not so popular trail. The detour was full of roots and rocks, and it went constatly up and down. Really tedious to walk. Just before the detour, I met with X-Static, and kept leap frogging with him all along to Kracker Barrel.
The detour was a combination of three different local trails. At every non-clear junction, there were signage to signify which way you should go, so there was no need for actual navigation. At the first changing of trails, I saw two men dressed in a militant way, carrying guns. I thought if the army was making sure that hikers stay on trail, but it was just local hunters. I felt funny that you shared the woods with people trying to kill things.
The 22 miles to the Kracker Barrel felt a lot longer. Three last miles were road walking. I got offered a ride two times but said no thanks as I wanted to maintain my "continuous footpath" approach. There was lot of traffic on the road. The nearby fires made it so that there were lots of fire fighter activity. The Kracker Barrel was next to a ski area which was used by the fire fighters as a base. As a result, the place was open until 8pm, not 6pm as usual. I was there already 4pm, so I had plenty of time to do stuff like checking mails and figuring out packages. At the beginning of the day I was not sure if I would make it.
My faith to the U.S. Post office is failing. Even though I was promised to have my shoes delivered already on Thursday, they were not there on Friday either. The tracking said "guaranteed delivery on Friday by 3pm". That was the status on Friday 6pm. Paying premium for delivery and you get this.
I decided to stay for the next day as you could camp behind the Kracker Barrel for free. I spent the evening with hanging out with other hikers, and drinking too much chocolate milk. I decided to try to reduce the consumption of soda by replacing it with another unhealty beverage, good for me. There was a trail angel on the nearby ski resort who offered some chili and hot dogs, so my food intake was covered by the chili.
It starts to be a bit cold. I was happy to be able to stay inside until 8pm at the Kracker Barrel. On the other hand, as you had that option, staying outside felt extra cold. Still, I should ask Mikko to send more clothes. The cold front is gonna last a week, I heard. That is good regarding the fires, at least, but I am underdressed whenever not moving.
The night was pretty bad. I had forgotten my resolve not to make camp on sand and this backfired. It got wet and the wind blew sand all over my stuff. During the night, the wind kept knocking my tarp poles down. I am not that good with the tarp. The cold was a good motivation to get the camp disassembled quickly but my fingers became numb instantly.
I got moving maybe 6:30am. My fingers were hurting so I could not use the hiking poles. Instead, I used my other socks to warm the fingers a bit. The hiking was no fun. Because of the fog, the visiblity was zero, and the wind was blowing hard. That was a shame as the views should have been stunning. The terrain was all rocks and going up, narrow ridges and sharp turns. With good weather it would have been grand, now it was painful. I had no support from hiking poles so I felt a bit shaky. Especially with the few snow crossings. After a while, I saw the brothers I camped with the other night. It was good to have some company. The 3.6 miles that I had until the start of the fire detour felt much longer than that.
 |
| It is good to have company in shitty weather. |
The detour was no fun either. You got a bit lower in elevation for a while, but you could really notice the difference between PCT and a not so popular trail. The detour was full of roots and rocks, and it went constatly up and down. Really tedious to walk. Just before the detour, I met with X-Static, and kept leap frogging with him all along to Kracker Barrel.
 |
| Some fires spotted. Maybe they are soon out in this weather. |
The detour was a combination of three different local trails. At every non-clear junction, there were signage to signify which way you should go, so there was no need for actual navigation. At the first changing of trails, I saw two men dressed in a militant way, carrying guns. I thought if the army was making sure that hikers stay on trail, but it was just local hunters. I felt funny that you shared the woods with people trying to kill things.
 |
| Days hiking ended with some roadside walking. |
The 22 miles to the Kracker Barrel felt a lot longer. Three last miles were road walking. I got offered a ride two times but said no thanks as I wanted to maintain my "continuous footpath" approach. There was lot of traffic on the road. The nearby fires made it so that there were lots of fire fighter activity. The Kracker Barrel was next to a ski area which was used by the fire fighters as a base. As a result, the place was open until 8pm, not 6pm as usual. I was there already 4pm, so I had plenty of time to do stuff like checking mails and figuring out packages. At the beginning of the day I was not sure if I would make it.
My faith to the U.S. Post office is failing. Even though I was promised to have my shoes delivered already on Thursday, they were not there on Friday either. The tracking said "guaranteed delivery on Friday by 3pm". That was the status on Friday 6pm. Paying premium for delivery and you get this.
I decided to stay for the next day as you could camp behind the Kracker Barrel for free. I spent the evening with hanging out with other hikers, and drinking too much chocolate milk. I decided to try to reduce the consumption of soda by replacing it with another unhealty beverage, good for me. There was a trail angel on the nearby ski resort who offered some chili and hot dogs, so my food intake was covered by the chili.
It starts to be a bit cold. I was happy to be able to stay inside until 8pm at the Kracker Barrel. On the other hand, as you had that option, staying outside felt extra cold. Still, I should ask Mikko to send more clothes. The cold front is gonna last a week, I heard. That is good regarding the fires, at least, but I am underdressed whenever not moving.
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