Day 33: Cold night

May 17th
Total mileage: 403
PCT-Section-D_403

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We camped at Little Jimmy’s campground. Had hoped we reach it with flat dry places, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. There were an estimated 50 people there, including scout and church groups. A bunch of us thru-hikers camped on a snow-covered service road. It was a very cold night and, unfortunately, I seemed to have lost one of my gloves during yesterday’s ascent.

Trail Magic Kinda

To Armstrong’s credit, just before we reached the trailhead on our descent of Baden-Powell, he found a cooler with some expired BudLight. Here you can see Armstrong, Switchfoot, Honeybadger and Mac enjoying a beverage at 9 am, hehe.

Upon reaching the pavement soon after, we were once again thrust into a dilemma. The next few miles of trail are officially closed due to an endangered species…a yellow frog of some sort. Once again, the PCTA and the Forest/Parks Service can’t recommend an official alternative to the PCT, so hikers are left to their own devices to decide which route is best. A large group of us ended up doing the road walk. There was some concern about two tunnels on the route, but they ended up having a sufficient enough medium that we felt safe and plodded through. By late afternoon, Armstrong, Honeybadger and I had managed a hitch down to Newcomb’s Ranch, a biker’s bar that was known to close relatively early. We treated ourselves to burgers and Fat Tire ale. This is also the first time where I met a Swiss hiker sitting next to us, named Recon.

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4 thoughts on “Day 33: Cold night”

  1. Your tent looks like it’s holding up great. Devin and Maya went to U2 Friday. Devin sent a text that he was “staying with the Mayas” at your house last Wednesday. Off to Bend again tomorrow. Take care!

  2. Right On! Getting close to that 400 mile mark. I don’t know how the passage-of-time feels for you. But, it’s hard to believe that you’ve been on the trail for over a month.

    I can’t wait for my pint 🙂

    1. I’ve been meaning to reply to this. Passage-of-time is weird because you are so focused on the moment…on the “now”. I think a few days ahead. And you don’t spend too much time thinking about the weeks behind until you see a face you haven’t seen for hundreds of miles. It can be challenging to place a familiar face.

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