Chilly and windy over night…glad I set up the tent. Half expected to get too cold, but was fine.
Great morning hiking with cool temps and walking bits through pine forest and the typical desert scrub that we have grown accustomed to spend our time in. Clear blue skies. Hit the 500 mile mark of the PCT.
Fairly early on we came upon a baby skunk. He was right on the trail and lifted his tail, but then scurried off into a nearby bush.
We thought we were done with the poodle dog bush, but ran into it again today as we passed through a burned area. Also, walked a bit through some poison oak sections.
Got to the Hiker Town hostel around 4pm. Probably a couple dozen hikers here. People waiting out the heat, though there really wasn’t any today. The guide books talk about this stretch being very hot, and it is believable that it typically would be, but temps are still unseasonably cool. Some folks are leaving right now as I write this, 9pm and several left about 2 hours ago. We will be staying tonight and just walking a normal day since the forecast is for the mid 80s for a high.
There are several new faces that we have seen today at the hostel. We are catching new people each day it seems. Walking and camping near them for a couple days and then getting ahead by a little bit. It is pretty easy to just be a day or half day ahead of of other hikers for several days or weeks. Yet other folks we see every couple days as we leap frog each other for weeks.
Hiker Town is interesting. It is a ‘donation’ hostel. The sleeping quarters are spread throughout several buildings. Old trailers, old RVs, some little sheds with beds. The owner did let us take his truck into a convenience store down the way to pick up a couple items.
Daily Distance: 20
Trip Distance: 433.6
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