Since where I’d left off, the PCT has been very good to us. It’s possible that it only seems that way because it feels as though I’m really getting into the groove. More likely, it’s the good weather and more frequent availability of ice cream and beer.

The day after were the last post left off, we did 21 miles, one of our highest mileage days so far. Near the end of the day, there was a couch near the trail, exactly what a hiker wants. We hung out on the magical woods couch for a little while, then made our way to camp, where there we picnic tables, another luxury.

The next morning, we were awoken by an earthquake at 4:50. I’d never felt one and it was a strange sensation, especially when lying on the ground. The early wake up call got us ten miles by ten in the morning, though, which is one of the hiker milestones we’d been trying to accomplish every day. At the end of the ten miles, we were rewarded by Twizzlers and soda!

After an easy hitch, we were in town and subjecting the townsfolk to our hiker stank in various restaurants and supermarkets. Big Bear had a lot to offer, but we were most concerned with the pool and hot tub. I realized it had been a very long time since I’d swam and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We did laundry in town and, as laundry day attire for a thru hiker is usually a rain jacket and rain skirt or pants or just underwear, we also enjoyed shocking the locals by drinking beer and playing pool in said attire. The next day, we left town for the wilderness again, equipped with dinosaur egg oatmeal and lots of tuna.

The next section was magical. It started off with a random solar power ventilated pit toilet, obviously much more new than other pit toilets we’d seen and much better than digging a cathole. Most hikers could wax poetic about being able to use actual toilets, so this isn’t weird to include. It’s not! Anyway, we did 24 miles that day, a personal record! We were rewarded by a nice creek at the end of the day and we sat with our feet in it for a long time.

The next day was even more rewarding, as we hit 300 miles and took a long break at Deep Creek Hot Springs, a clothing optional natural hot spring, with separate pools of different temperatures. The clothing optional part was interesting, with most hikers opting for underwear, and everyone else taking full advantage of the freedom, even rock climbing to give us more interesting angles. We soaked and lay on the sand and ate Oreos from an open package in the hiker box (box where hikers can leave or take gear and food). I even found a fancy backpacking meal in the box. It was heavenly. Less heavenly, but more interesting, a rattlesnake casually slithered into where we were hanging out as drying off.

The next day, we had amazing views as we walked around a lake and through a green valley. There was also word that you could get pizza delivered to one of the picnic areas. My issue was that there was more than one picnic area, spanning about a mike and a half and our group had split up. I got lost and ended up wandering into a Harley Davidson club family picnic, complete with an entire pig roasting on a spit. They were really nice and gave me directions to the other picnic areas, unfortunately over a mile behind me. I followed the directions badly and got lost, having to bushwack the last part of it. The things you’ll do for pizza…

Just one day after that, we were walking into a McDonald’s! My cup overfloweth with blessings. And Sprite. We stayed at McDonalds until the breakfast menu switched to the lunch menu, and beyond. It was Mother’s Day, so many of us took advantage of the WiFi to Skype family. We actually got the six of us in on a call, which was really cool. It was also really cool to pack out chicken nuggets to eat on the mountain that night, after a long, long climb up through and over the clouds. The day after, we were hitching to town again. However, I’ll leave that to the next post…