22 miles
Marshmallow was gone before I got up, but Yardsale and Chickadee were still around. We talked a quick gameplan for the day to get close enough for the hike out to Trout Lake tomorrow morning. Rolling terrain today, no major climbs. 13 before lunch and then 9 after to camp. The morning was a little rough because I gambled on some water sources that turned out to be dry. As soon as we broke from lunch, Ghost walked up. He had done 42 yesterday coming out of Cascade Locks, which means about 11,000 ft of gain for the day. With 26 behind him at 2pm he still planned to hike for 6 more hours. The bugs today got bad, to where we started wearing headnets while hiking. Swatted at them all day, and occasionally applied bug spray. They only swarm when you stop moving, so we took far fewer breaks. Camp was already occupied by some day hikers. We asked if we could join them at their site, and they didn’t mind. As the evening rolled on, more and more hikers rolled in and this giant space is now nearly full. It’s a cool spot next to a river with huge trees all around. Day hikers who ignore campfire bans are idiots though. Looking forward to town tomorrow, a shower and beer awaits.
PCT Hike 