Category: Pacific Crest Trail 2023

Start: 658.3

Stop: 682.7

Today’s miles: 24.4

Total PCT miles: 870.4

Today was a long one, maybe not mileage wise, compared to other days.. but whew buddy. My feet are on fire!

We got up early and left Big Lake Youth Camp before 7am. The day started with a burn zone and cruisey flat terrain. Sometime late morning, we hit the lava rock. I saw it coming and decided to go take care of some business while I still had tree cover. I sat my pack at the trail and winded my way through the sporadic trees. I actually felt like I did a great job, a good 200 feet from trail-like I’m supposed to. I dug my hole, easily too.

Right as I was in a compromising position that couldn’t be corrected, if ya get my drift, I saw Marquis walk by. I somehow wound my way back to the part of the trail I had already covered. I was maybe 50 feet away. Holy head slap and eye roll. I prayed he couldn’t see me, because business had already started and there was no chance of pausing to move.

Then. To my complete horror, a couple we had leapfrogged around a bit with this morning also passed me, in that same compromising position. Shit. Literally. Oh well. Nothing to do now but pray they don’t notice me and finish up. No one said anything to me, so there was still hope. All of them could have been trying to keep my dignity intact by ignoring me.. if they only knew that went out the window awhile ago.

I made it back to my pack and hit the lava rock. It was intense. I put up my sun umbrella and pushed through. It looked like someone took all of the asphalt in the country and jackhammered it into pieces of all sizes-then dumped it all right here. It was hot, black rock, with rough sides. It made it so difficult to walk on. At times I wouldn’t even use my trekking poles for fear of one getting jammed and broken in the mess.

I passed the lady of the couple early on, and after what felt like a lifetime, I caught up to the man as well. He was sitting in the first shade from the first tree coverage offered in over an hour. I thought about plopping down next to him to eat my lunch, but there wasn’t much room. So, I continued on.. only to walk back into more lava rock for 15-20 more minutes.

The second I hit trees again, my pack was off and my food was out and my new shoes, who hurt like hell, were off. I don’t know if it’s the lava rock or just new shoes, but they are hurting something serious. They already have tears in the heels, I think I’m getting a blister on one of my heels, and they’re rubbing the tops of my toes funny. They DO NOT feel like my other shoes.

Anyway, complaining aside, I started to eat my lunch and wait for Margot. I got most of it down when I started to get swarmed by yellow jackets. I decided to mostly pack up, but keep my crocs on, and move down some into a different shady spot.. the trail appeared to stay in some trees for a little longer. As I was doing so, a couple passed me going NOBO and told me that there’s trail magic ahead at the next campsite! WHAT?! Say no more!

Crocs and half packed I threw my pack on like a teenager trying to be cool and “one armed” it all the way to the trail magic, where Marquis was! I had already eaten, but since they had drinks: I DRANK! Not to mention we were in the middle of a 14 mile stretch with no water and it was blisteringly hot out. I had a Dr Pepper or 2 and a beer or 2, too. I ate some fruit and pretzels and we chatted with other hikers, Margot (who got there soon after me), and the hosts.

The hosts had hiked the CDT in 2019 and the husband hiked the PCT in 2011. They had a little boy running around and a baby girl, only 11 days old, wrapped in a blanket being loved on by grandma. We asked CDT questions and talked all things trail. Margot naturally made everyone laugh. There were tons of NOBOs we didn’t know, a couple from Australia stayed and chatted the most. We just didn’t want to leave!

Eventually we realized we had stayed entirely too long and we forced ourselves to get moving. My feet physically seemed to recoil from my new shoes. I shoved them in anyway. More lava rock was on the way. The next several miles hurt. Not only because of the jackhammered asphalt on my sore feet, but also because I decided to step on a rock that rolled with my foot, sending me to the ground in a sliding kind of way.. you know, the kind of slide on actual asphalt that gives you road rash. My wounds looked exactly like that. My right calf up to my thigh, somehow my left calf and my wrists where I broke my fall. Y’all. I’m doing great over here.

I was slow going from there. Wincing with each step, wanting to whine but having no one around to listen to me. As the sun was dropping lower into the sky, I finally got out of the devil’s rock and made it into some wildflower meadows. The trail went through them and alongside a beautiful creek, the colors glinting in the sunset. There was a waterfall, and then around 8:30ish, I finally made it to camp.

I thought Marquis and Margot were ahead of me, but only Marquis was sitting there, making sure to claim as much space as possible.. so we’d all 3 fit our tents in this space. Margot was somehow behind me, and I immediately wondered if she caught my fall from a distance behind lol. Why am I like this? Haha. The two of us scoped out the area and I found a spot flat enough for my liking and got to work unpacking.

Margot got there closer to 9. Once everyone was set up, Margot and I ate dinner in our tents and then said our goodnights. It’s been dark for while now, my feet are throbbing, as are my new scrapes from the rocks. I’m really hoping tomorrow is smoother going. Maybe my shoes will feel better and I’ll be over that hump of breaking them in. I think that’s all I have for today. Time to pass out! Goodnight.

Start: 682.7

Stop: 710.8

Today’s miles: 28.1

Total PCT miles: 898.5

Today was another long day, but to where yesterday was long for not only the duration but also the work involved-today felt easy going, just a lot of easy miles were covered, if that makes sense.

There were no real climbs today. The terrain was just meadows and creeks in the beginning, a bit exposed, and then it turned into woods surrounding lakes and creeks, until hitting deep woods with lots of shade. Somewhere in the shade is where I ate lunch. Margot caught up to me and ate her lunch with me too.

A mile or so later, we came to a gorgeous lake. I had originally planned to eat there, but I’m telling you when that stomach growl gets that one deep deep rumble, all plans are thrown to the wind and I have to eat immediately. Haha. Anywho-we had to get water from the lake regardless, so we decided to swim there, too. Why not? It was beautiful and sunny, the water was refreshing and so clear.

We splashed around and then got out to dry off in the sunshine. My feet felt nice after the cold water numbed them some. If you didn’t know, I’m still mad at my new shoes. After we got to hiking again, I couldn’t keep my pace up. I stopped and took my shoes off for another little rest, when I still had 8 miles to go, and got absolutely swarmed by mosquitoes. They swarmed so fast that I just decided to put on my crocs and knew once I got a little ways away from the bugs, I’d put my shoes back on.

Except, I never put my shoes back on. The bugs were relentless that whole 8 miles, I was practically running in my crocs. When I got to camp and Marquis was there in all his rain gear and headnet, I did the same. He hadn’t set up camp yet, wondering if we’d push to the next lake. We’re at one now, but he was hoping the next one would be less buggy. They’re pretty awful.

We waited for Margot to get to camp to decide to stay or not. At least that was the plan. My feet are THROBBING. I tried propping them up on tree stumps and stretching and massaging. No dice. They still hurt. And the bugs would. not. stop. So, after maybe 10-15 minutes of waiting, I gave up and made the executive decision for me that I would be camping right here, regardless of what they want to do.

Once I was working on setting my tent up, Marquis relented and started setting up too, right as Margot appeared. She said she wouldn’t have wanted to push on anyway. We all set up and ate our dinners in the safety of our tents. My feet are absolutely hating me right now. I’ve got them propped up on my pack and I’ve taken more ibuprofen. I can only pray it kicks in. Because this is miserable. I hope y’all are much more comfortable than I am right now. Sweet dreams, guys.

Start: 710.8

Stop: 736.6

Today’s miles: 25.8

Total PCT miles: 924.3

I tossed and turned all night, I just could not get comfortable.. my legs were itchy, I was too hot then too cold then just too.. too. Nothing was working. I guess I did sleep some, because this morning Marquis told us he went to get water from the lake around 1am, and I definitely didn’t hear that, so maybe I was dreaming about not sleeping well. Same thing.

When I did wake, I pressed snooze on my phone alarm. When I rolled the other way, towards the vestibule closest to me, I startled a chipmunk, and it startled me too. It was lightly raining off and on, so maybe it was seeking shelter, or maybe it wanted to chew through my tent, who knew?
The three of us all chatted from our beds, all refusing to move with the rain. You could hear it come across the lake before it would reach us, then it would stop and the mosquitoes and their incessant hum would start up again. I had to pee, naturally, so at some point I got out of my safe haven and handled my business, only to yell to them that yep, they’re out in full force still.

I finally packed and got on trail, leaving around 7:30am. Marquis and Margot were still in their tents, but packing. My new shoes hurt like hell, so I knew eventually my pace would get ruined and I’d be chasing them the 25 miles we planned on knocking out today. The mosquitoes were biting, but the picaridin lotion was helping.. helping everything except the buzzing around my ears making me a raging lunatic.

Sometime close to 11:30 I passed a creek and stopped for water. They swarmed me. I had been non stop moving that whole time, swatting only every now and then.. now, they got me. I filled my CNOC water bag and quickly grabbed my stuff to keep moving, walking with the water in my hands. Eventually, it became too much so I dropped everything in an open spot beside the trail and put on all my rain gear: pants and jacket, plus my bugnet over my head, too.

Since I was starving, and very close to losing my mind, I decided to just try to eat lunch right there. I’d have to sneak each bite up under the head net and quickly drop it. Some of those pesky turds still managed to get in, and I’d have to smash them before I could take another bite-and before they could either.

I ended up needing to go dig a hole after lunch, which really sent me over the edge. My feet hurt. I had already put on my crocs, and now I wasn’t sure I could put my other shoes back on. I bushwhacked my way through the bug infested forest to find my safe from people spot to do what I needed to do. I can play connect the dots across my back and butt and legs thanks to the massive unleashing of all the mosquito troops to my backside during that absolutely necessary adventure. Ugh.

I was so frustrated. I was praying for rain, like hard enough rain to make these pests go away. I grumpy and my friends hadn’t come by yet, unless they passed my pack while I was busy having my butt attacked by bugs.. but I thought they’d have maybe yelled or waiting for me to come back.. so, more than likely I assumed they were still behind me.

I ended up snapping at a man maybe 20 minutes into my post lunch hike. He asked about my crocs, I explained my shoe situation and he went on to tell me about feet changing sizes after a couple hundred miles, so now that I’d walked at least that I probably needed a bigger size. I snapped back something about knowing my feet well enough since this isn’t my first thruhike and that it was most definitely the model change causing the issue, not my foot size changing. I also added in a few curse words during my rant. Yikes. Poor guy. I was in a mood.

Not much farther than that, I started to get hot in my rain gear. The mosquitoes were seeming to get better, too. My feet were still liking the crocs more than the shoes, so when I stopped to take off my rain gear, I didn’t swap my shoes out. I figured I’d give it a few miles, then do it. I still had 16 miles to get to camp anyway. Surely at some point the idea of real shoes will sound better.

Soon after getting back in my hiking groove, I came into a 6 mile burn zone. It looked so desolate, way more tragic than the others I’ve gone through, hardly a single tree still standing, dead or not. Zero grassy patches or bushes growing yet. It made me think of the elephant grave yard in The Lion King. Like the dead trees were long forgotten elephant bones. It was sandy and easy to traverse, but the sun was hot so I had my umbrella out for protection.

I got service somewhere in this 6 mile stretch, so I called and talked to Mom, then Aunt Kathy, and then Uncle Keith. My reception would drop and come back, drop and come back. I was happy to chat and catch up with each of them. It completely changed my mood (them and the fact that not one mosquito existed in this barren wasteland). As we talked, I watched storm clouds roll in.. dark and very ominous. I picked up my pace some. I also saw smiley faces and arrows in the sand, which were in obvious places, so I wondered if my friends got ahead of me for real during my bathroom break.

When I hit tree cover again, the storm clouds were starting to let out little sprinkles here and there, but no outright downpour like they looked to be promising. I crossed a dirt road right as a US Forest Service truck passed by. Another hiker was standing on the other side of the road and told me trail magic was ahead! NO WAY! I was all but running down the trail. Within 5 minutes I was meeting a sweet man with the name “Ducky’s Dad” and another thruhiker named FiddleHead. I’m not sure who Ducky is, but God I love the guy for having wonderful parents out here doing this!

Ducky’s Dad made me 2 hotdogs, a plate of chips, some Oreos and a Mountain Dew. He said ever since Ducky started thruhiking he and his wife learned about being angels and giving trail magic, so now they do it every year! They come out several times a week when they can! A WEEK! Like how incredible are they?!? I sat in a comfy chair, destroyed my hotdogs with mustard and chatted with my new friends. FiddleHead’s friend appeared and then another NOBO named ShortPants.

We sat around, eating, drinking, and being merry. And then it started to rain. I had already asked and showed pictures of my friends, they all agreed they hadn’t seen them. Ducky’s Dad also has a cool wooden bench for us to all sign, and a log book too, and neither Marquis nor Margot were on either.. so, I was again back to thinking they were still behind me. When the lightening started cracking across the sky followed by immediate rumbles of thunder, I was concerned. What if they were going through that six miles of barren burn zone?! Lightening there would be so so dangerous! They’d surely be targets!

It downright POURED on us.. and then even hailed. Fiddlehead, her friend-Banchee, ShortPants and I all helped Ducky’s Dad pack up his goodies and run it all down the side trail to his vehicle. He had so many treats and things for us hikers that it took 2 loads by him plus each of us carrying armfuls too. I was glad we were there to help him, we were all soaked completely though by the time we were done.

The 4 of us hikers huddled under some trees for a bit until the rain and hail slowed, then we each grabbed our gear and headed separate ways. I was the only one going SOBO. From the trail magic spot, the PCT climbed a bit-now looking like a little stream where the trail used to be. But I kept my crocs on. I couldn’t even pretend I was going to put those hellish shoes back on.

I was passed by a woman and her two pups, trailrunning. Apparently the PCT is part of a 100km ultra run tomorrow, and she is a volunteer, setting out signs, flags, and water stops. She passed me again on her way back down. I wonder how the race is going to work tomorrow and if I’m going to get trampled first thing in the morning.. better drink my caffeine early! As a runner, I despise having to dodge people, I can only imagine how a trail runner would feel losing their momentum in a race for a ton of thruhikers.

I crossed paths with another pup, a black and white floof with her own doggy pack on. She saw me and practically leapt into my arms. Her dad was apologetic, but let’s be honest, I loved every second getting to kiss and love on that sweet girl. I didn’t want to let her go!

I got to our planned campsite around 6:45. I scouted out all the spots around the lake (well, my side of the lake), and picked spots for the 3 of us. There’s a couple nearby and then some loud people out a ways. I set up my tent, which was wet on the outside but thankfully dry on the inside. I unpacked and then got water from the lake to make my dinner.

I sat and ate and watched a deer sneak through our camp. It was peaceful, but I was concerned for my friends. It was already after 8 and neither had shown up yet. When I was still 5 miles from camp, I got a message from Margot when I briefly got service again and she said they were just walking into the burn zone when the storm hit, so they had to run back to tree cover and wait it out. I was relieved to know they were safe, but I knew that meant they’d be getting to camp late.

Marquis showed first, sometime close to 8:30. He told me out their day, and the misery of the mosquitoes. They didn’t get my Ducky’s Dad trail magic, but they did get trail magic from someone else!! I was thrilled! He started setting up and I ducked into my tent to get warm. My clothes are still pretty wet from the rain and it’s making me cold. As I was starting to snuggle in my quilt, Margot arrived! Right at 9pm! She’s starting to set her stuff up and cook her dinner. It’s getting darker sooner now.. she came in with her headlamp on, and now that it’s 9:30-it’s almost pitch black out there. I don’t like that. I wish it was still bright until 10pm like it used to be.

Anyway, I’m exhausted. We hike 11 miles into Shelter Cove Resort tomorrow-eat at their cafe, get our resupply boxes, shower, do laundry, and then hit the trail again. An “in and out” but you can always expect those to take a few hours. I guess we’ll see how we’re feeling after we get our chores done, then decided how far to go from there.

Yay for “town” food! Goodnight, y’all.