PCT Day 154, Double Flip and a Flop with a Hop, Day 73

Zero day 🙂

Matthew and I woke up just as the breakfast bell was ringing. I felt surprisingly well rested and ready to conquer the trail, should we manage to escape the vortex. We threw on some layers and walked over to the dining room, where we joined the others in a feast of breakfast burritos and fresh fruit. Once again, my food was made veggie-friendly and kept separate from the others and tasted so darn good! Mmmm!! How could we leave this?? {Spoiler alert: we didn’t.}

Matt made the arrangements in the office for us to spend another night, and we spent the day lounging around the ranch. We passed the time by playing Scrabble, soaking in the hot springs, and reading and writing. Today was the most relaxing, most ideal zero day we have had yet- limited walking, yummy food, and no chores. It’s funny- when we first booked the cabin I was a little shocked at the price, but then today when I heard the owner mention the cost to someone I thought, “that’s it??” -it’s interesting how my perspective had changed once I experienced a day here!!

And, total bonus, WE SAW SILVER!!! Silver had somehow fallen behind all of us and we had NO idea where he was- seeing him at the ranch was AMAZING!! When he saw us he sacrificed prime hiker box loot to run over to hug us- I adore him! He informed us that he has officially reached that level of hiker hunger and hiker trash where he was pocketing unidentified food in ziplock bags for this next stretch- woof!! We spent a good portion of the morning chatting with Silver before he had to return to trail- again, I was thankful that we had the opportunity to say a real goodbye, as we wouldn’t be seeing him again on-trail.

Fun fact: The Driscoll Family (like, the berry people) were staying at the ranch, too!!

It was a great day, and the idea crossed my mind that maybe I would be okay blowing our entire life savings and never leave the ranch, but alas, there was a trail to be hiked…