Start: 2341.8
Stop: 2369.3
Today’s miles: 27.5
Total PCT miles: 2085.9
We got started around 6:30 this morning. It’s staying darker later, so it’s either start at 6:30 when I can see, or start the day in my headlamp, and I’m really just not a fan of that. It was a cold night and a very chilly morning, but surprisingly my tent was dry, even being that close to the creek.
The trail climbed up out of the canyon and then went along the mountains following Deep Creek. The views were beautiful and I was really enjoying it. Pretty early on we passed a hot spring.. there were locals camped around (you know because of how heavy and large their tents are-no backpacker is toting those big mamas).. and there was so much toilet paper, stranded around all the bushes the trail passed by. There was trash, too. It would have been gorgeous if people didn’t ruin it.
It got hot fast once the sun was up. Then, naturally, the bugs followed. I started the day gung-ho and loving every step and by lunch time I was irritable and ready to quit. The water had a nasty taste to it, I was getting swarmed by bugs and I was sweating like crazy. We ate our lunch sitting in a nice spot down by the creek, but even this spot was littered with trash. It’s sad. We talked and considered going to the malt shop everyone talks about, since we’d be passing the road crossing for it within the next hour.
When we started hiking again and I got startled by a snake, it was confirmed: Malt Shop here we come! Ha. The trail was more sandy dirt and eroded trail after we descended down to where we ate lunch. Even with some climbs, it just wasn’t pretty anymore. There were no views and it just sucked. The dirt roads we took to get to the malt shop were all closed for some reason, there was a little wash out here and there, but it looked like the area used to be a fun place for locals to come to.. maybe it was closed because of all the trash? Who knows?
We got to the Malt Shop in Cedar Glen and got a booth to relax at. The restaurant was decorated as a 50s themed diner, with pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, records on the walls and cool classic cars all over the place. Even the burgers were named after cars. I ordered the Edsel and a caramel milk shake. And y’all. Holy hell was it all absolutely delicious! I know I always say that, but this burger had so much flavor! And I usually never get milkshakes or ice cream, so this one was really flipping good!
When we left the malt shop, instead of going back to trail, we road walked through Cedar Glen to an RV campground.. because it raved about the epic views, and we were both over the nasty water on trail-actually we were over the trail itself if I’m being honest. We walked by stunning homes, built into the hills and in a way that the snow in the winter wouldn’t demolish them. Most seemed to be 3 stories tall.. they were massive and beautiful and we were pretending to be on House Hunters.
This whole area is a winter ski destination, and the campground we got to is right across from an amusement park called Santa’s Village. Since we came wondering through in the off season, it was pretty empty all around. The campground itself was very nice. They had fire boxes with chairs laid out around them, a wash house, an area that you can rent an airstream for the night, then all of the RV spots, and a section for tent campers way up on the hill.
I called the number for the camp host, so we could pay and get the bathroom code-but no one ever answered or called me back. We wondered around looking for someone, no luck there either. So, we went and picked a campsite and started setting up our tents.. assuming they’d see us and come over. The two of us had to put up one tent at a time because the wind was absolutely insane.
We got them both up while watching the sunset, which really was something special.
We are set up with a view of the big city lights down below, and the orange glow of the disappearing sun just makes the lights and darkness surrounding them stand out so much more. I was fascinated by it. I took pictures and stared for a while before getting inside tent.. the wind was so nuts that I had to lay my stuff out in all corners so it would stop lifting up my tent in a way that felt like it was going to snatch my stakes out.
We’re laying here, yelling to each other over the wind, and still no one has come over to us.. so, no bathroom code for us. I think I’m going to put in my earplugs and say a prayer that my tent stays standing tonight.. I don’t think I’ve been in wind this strong before. It’s a little unnerving! Goodnight!