Day 103 (PNT 8)

Day 103 (PNT 8): 34 miles

It wasn’t hard waking up on time today. I didn’t get a ton of sleep, but with the light peeking through the door of the tower it was impossible to stay asleep. I wanted to see the sunrise from this summit, and it was incredible. It reminded me a lot of watching the sunrise on the summit of Old Speck last October near the end of the CYTC.

I chatted with the other hiker in the tower for a while before heading down the mountain and into Yaak. I came across a ranger who stopped to talk for a bit about bear safety and the area in general. I also had just seen a sign about preemptive fire closures in eastern Washington but she didn’t know anything about them. She said the sign might’ve been from last year but didn’t know. When I got into town, it did turn out to be from last year. #FakeNews if any other PNT’ers see it

If I followed the official route it looked like it would be tough to hitch into Yaak on a dirt road so I made my own alternate and walked into town to save myself the stress. On a roadwalk in the woods, I did pass what looked like a militia compound which was interesting. I did a small resupply from a limited selection at the mercantile in Yaak and ate and hung out at the tavern for a while. Oh it was glorious to have greasy bar food again.

I walked out of town to reconnect with the trail and it was pleasant at first but boy my feet really started to hurt at the end of the day. I have been covering a lot of ground lately and the terrain has been rocky or road for a lot of it which doesn’t help. Give me some pine needles to walk on

Tonight I’m camping in the beginning of the Northwest Peak alternate which is supposed to be beautiful. But it is allegedly intense rock scrambling so that’ll feel great on my feet tomorrow.

Song of the day: blunt blowin-lil Wayne