Day 198

Day 198 (pct 88): 20 Miles

I woke up around 9:30 and found hammer and terminator eating breakfast. The bus didn’t leave town until 2 so we hung out there for a while talking to people and rangers about the upcoming fire. It’s a few miles east of the trail.

It’s wasn’t good news. I was leaning towards probably stopping at Rainey pass (60 miles short of the border) cause there’s not any real easy evac points after that. But after pondering for a few more hours while hiking alone I determined it was probably okay to hike on. The trail organizations are usually (justifiably) pretty cautious so if the PCTA didn’t close the trail it’s safe enough. Maybe not the best reasoning but it’s enough for me.

In stehekin, Hammer and I had our sat phones on the ground a few feet from us and one kid asked us why we had them out there. I said they need a clear view of the sky to work. He then, very matter of factly said, “yup that’s how they work” as if he invented them. Little shit. Maybe he was the son of mr. garmin. Later a teenage kid was walking and texting and just stepped on both of them and kept walking.

We took the bus back to the trail around 3 and pounded some food at the bakery which has been hyped up for a few weeks now and did not disappoint. When we got back to the trail we all kinda sat there for a minute not wanting to have to do 20 miles with starting after 3. But eventually we got rolling and got to camp around 10:30.

My pack feels so damn heavy. I’m carrying 4 days of food and about 4 pounds of alcohol for the finish. It was so bad I did have to down one natty to lessen the load.

Hammer gave me his ground sheet early today cause he said he’s about done and over it. I told him I’m gonna throw mine away so he better not come crawling back asking for it. When we got to camp tonight we ended up cowboying and he kind of needed it. In his defense, he didn’t ask for it. But I was laughing that he gave it away when he actually needed it.

Song of the day: wants and needs-drake