PCT Day 27

We started yet another gorgeous day of hiking around 0730. Again, the temperature and scenery were amazing!!

Our plan: hike 20 miles to the Cleghorn picnic area at Silverwood Lake, where we heard rumors of trail magic, bathrooms, AND pizza delivery!!!!

Matthew and I managed to see 3 rattlesnakes within 30 minutes this morning!! One was a baby that startled Matthew, one was a big one that rattled at us, and the third was one that happened to cross in front of Cheeks, a guy hiking in front of us- this last snake curled up under a bush at the end of a switchback, conveniently placed where any oncoming hiker couldn’t see it! We spent a while trying to get him to move to a less concealed location.

We crossed by a dam, then crossed through a river (I left my shoes and socks on, hoping to rinse off after I possibly brushed a plant I didn’t realize was poison oak…damnit!)

We stopped for lunch at a water source, and just as Matthew wondered out loud if our friends got vortexed into the hot springs, they showed up! Tortilla, Arc, She-Wee, and Big Mama showed up first, then Soundtrack and his friend Speedberry!

Matthew realized that he wasn’t really married to his trail name, so he decided to go back to “Matt, formerly known as One Speed.” We spent some time brain storming new names, but nothing has stuck yet. When we realized we had been sitting for 2 hours, Matthew and I quickly packed back up and hit the trail.

We ended up more or less hiking with everyone for the last 10 miles to the campsite. On our way we happened upon these big fun toys, so played around a bit before carrying on.

The last three miles again took forever! The weather was changing- clouds were moving in and it was getting windy and chilly!

Finalllly, we made it to the site, where we found the end of trail magic- some sodas, watermelon, leftover burgers and dogs, and the promise from Fish Tank, the trail angel (a hiker from last year!), that he would return tomorrow am around 9 with muffins and treats! We ate some “appetizers” while I ordered us 4 pizzas, 24 beers, garlic bread, and cinnamon puffs!

We set up our tents while we waited for pizza- since we heard rumors that PCT hikers had been kicked out of this site the night before (it’s a “day-use” only site!), we were careful to hide our tents behind trees…

When pizza arrived we feasted! And just as hiker midnight hit (9pm) we all crawled into our tents for bed. Turns out we weren’t so sneaky afterall- we all pitched our tents under the spotlight of the bathroom!! Luckily we made it through the night without getting kicked out!!

Happiness is: celebrating She-Wee’s 23rd birthday in style: starting the day by hot springs, ending with trail magic, pizza, and beer!!