PCT Day 115, Double Flip and a Flop, Day 34

August 5

Alternate trail to mile 1906.6, Shelter Cove,

no off-trail miles, 17.3 miles total

PCT Total: 1108.2

Running total: 1221.1

We strolled through the forest, enjoying the easy walking and beautiful lakes we passed by.

The trail lead us about 6 miles to a road, where we road walked a little more than a mile to a small trail that lead to Crescent Lake. We set up our tent to dry & enjoyed breakfast.

From there, we headed over to a horse camp that is super hiker-friendly. We met the camp host who directed us to the water faucets (the water was potable and delicious!), pit toilets (they were the cleanest, nicest smelling toilets I have ever been in- the rainforest mist air freshener smells amazing!), a free campsite if we needed it (we didn’t), & the trailhead that would lead us 10 miles straight to the Shelter Cove Resort.

Our first few miles were a subtle climb but I was slightly nauseous and tired, especially in the heat, so I was struggling!! It took us about an hour and 45 minutes to get to Diamond View Lake, our planned lunch spot, which we were told was only 4 miles from the horse camp- either we were really slow or the mileage was off!

We enjoyed lunch with a view and got up to leave around 2:45.

As we were leaving we met a SoBo hiker named Snooze. Snooze originally attempted a thru-hike in 2017 but had to miss sections due to the many fire closures they had that year, so he was back to cover the miles he had missed and then some- he had thought he would go as far south as he could this year, but he has found that he is not enjoying the trail as much this go-around & he isn’t sure how much farther he will go. We bonded over how different and difficult it is when you leave and return to the trail- everything is the same but different.

He also gave us some pretty shitty news: the Shelter Cove Resort restaurant, which Matt and I were counting on for dinner, just closed for a family emergency and wouldn’t open for a few days- bummer!!! BUT, the store remained open, so we still had ice cream and drinks to look forward to!

With a little less motivation, we finally got moving around 3:30. Most of the trail was an easy downhill but I was tired of hiking and looking forward to a cold beverage. I ran into another SoBo hiker who confirmed the restaurant closure but also informed me that The Mayor was throwing a BBQ for us- nice!!! (In my head I pictured Mayor Max of Idyllwild or the mayor in Luxembourg who once invited me over for champagne- but it turns out The Mayor in this case was an injured hiker who had spent so long at Shelter Cove that he earned the the name “Mayor.”)

Matt ended up hiking the last few miles with Schoolbus, a man who lives in a school bus with his wife, 5 kids, and their dog. The kids are “road-schooled” as they travel around and experience the world. Neat!!!

We made it to Shelter Cove around 5:15(the mileage must have been off- there is no way that we hiked 6 miles in less than 2 hours! I’m thinking Diamond View Lake is 5 miles from the horse camp and 5 miles from the resort…)

Shelter Cove is a beautiful RV resort with a beautiful lake that we were told not to swim in due to a dangerous blue-green algae bloom- I was shocked to still see people (some adults, some children) out paddle boarding and fishing and what not- ew! {I also got nervous- we have been, and will be, drinking out of lakes- how do we know they are safe to drink from?? Hint: we won’t. And you can’t filter out the toxins from blue green algae………..more trail anxiety…}

Shelter Cover Resort is another very hiker-friendly establishment- they have two large “PCT” tents set up with tables, a charging station, a microwave, and a hiker box. They allow camping (some people get charged, others don’t…we didn’t pay) & have showers ($2 for 3 min), coin operated laundry machines, AND flush toilets & a sink!!!!! A thru-hikers dream!

We enjoyed a snack, cold beverages, set up our tent, then headed over to The Mayor’s BBQ- for $5 each we enjoyed a burger/veggie burger, macaroni salad, popcorn, and the company of some awesome people & some obnoxious people…I guess I was super tired & grumpy ’cause I couldn’t stand a few of the hikers and urged Matt to eat and run with me – (but also, the store was closing soon and I wanted ice cream!)

We sat and enjoyed our ice cream on the picnic tables on the porch of the store. After eating the ice cream I immediately felt better, but then, within minutes, the posse of terribly annoying humans migrated over. I turned to Matt and said, “they are just like the mosquitos!” He agreed and gave them a lovely nickname that I won’t share- but let’s go PG and call them the Sierra Suckers. 🙂 They were being loud and obnoxious & we ended up getting kindly scolded by the lady in the store, asking everyone to lower their voices and to remind everyone that children are there with their families. Ugh, I hate that Matt and I were associated with the Sierrra Suckers!

{Sidenote: we have met some AMAZING people that tackled and survived the Sierra this year, but we have found that a good handful of the Sierra crew are quite loud, obnoxious, and give off the vibe that they think they are more superior than those who flipped…maybe we just met a bad batch;)}

We decided to call it a night & escaped to our tent.

Happiness is: cold beverages, a good veggie burger, & sinks