- Date: 2023-06-01
- Pct day: 27
- Start: Mile 347
- End: Mile 367
- Distance: 20 Miles
- Ascent: 5757 feet
- Descent: 1269 feet
- Start name: Swarthout Canyon
- End name: Blue Ridge Campground
- Wake up: 06:00
- Start hiking: 07:20
- At camp: 18:00
- In bed: 19:30
- Where I slept: tent
- Shower: no
Key moments
- woke up and ate some McDonald’s apple pie and strawberry pie for breakfast. Tasted pretty good actually. Maybe this McDonald’s challenge won’t be so bad. Had a cookie as well for good measure.
- We filled up water from a water cache that is replenished daily - thankful to the people who do this, otherwise this section would be that much more challenging - a 22 mile water carry.
- We crossed a dirt road and got some trail magic from some people hiking another section up ahead of us - they offered us a can of coke but I declined - too early for that. I got their photo - Altitution, Stats, and Groundhog. Turns out they gave some trail magic to some Australians who made a PCT movie last year, Courtney and Jack.
- From here it was pretty much a slow and steady climb for the entire day, with amazing scenery - I thought I’d be in a cloud all day but I hiked above it and it was quite sunny out!
- bumped into Snaps ahead taking a siesta during the day, I carried on, with the idea of hiking all the way through to the highway to get into town before the post office shut
- I started to arrange for a trail angel to host me, hopefully that works out
- I got a text from Amelia saying that she and Adam were just a bit further ahead and were going to camp just a bit before the highway and have an easy day tomorrow and hang out at the trail angels place - this sounded like a good option to me!
- I had two McDoubles for lunch, along with some more cookies. Honestly it went down really well, just needed to add a bit more ketchup to the burgers
- Caught up with Amelia and Adam at a campground before the one we’d hike to, it was nice to see them again!
- I got into Blue Ridge campground and had a Big Mac, but poured my cold fries into the middle of it and smothered the fries in Ranch dressing for the extra calories. It was actually delicious, but that could be the trail spice talking.
Plan from here
- hike 2.5 miles into town tomorrow for a “Nero” and hang out at town, pick up my new gear from the post office, get some vegetables into me, celebrate completing the McDonald’s challenge
- Stay at the trail angels place
Animals sighted
- two whip snakes
- Lizards
- Birds
Gear thoughts
- I’d like to carve a longer wooden spoon and maybe start selling them
Physical condition
- right knee a bit sore randomly today, just some more niggles
- Ankles a bit sore when I lie down
- Left wrist a bit sore I think from having a hiking pole strap too tight on it
- right foot blister seems to have calmed down. I taped moleskin and Fixomul tape onto it today, felt like I was smothering it with a pillow and saying “sleeeeep”. But it seems to work - the blister wasn’t giving me too much strife. Also changed socks during the day, I think that helps
Thoughts and Observations
Some of the bad things
- sleeping in is really nice but in the hot weather it can mean your day is really limited. Got lucky today with cooler weather but as we drop in elevation that could change
- it really sucks when I try to call Katie to chat and reception cuts out. It’s understandable - I’m out in the wilderness - but it’s annoying
- Trying to get packages sent to places in time can be a bit of a challenge sometimes
Quotes of the day
- why is trail culture better than regular culture
#pct #pct2023 #pctclassof2023
