Day 79, 15.5 miles

Last night there were a couple crazy and fearless deer around my tent. This sounds like a strange complaint, but they eat quite loudly. Haha. They are constantly munching and ripping the grass with their big flat teeth, and although I knew they were deer, it was still unsettling to wake up every once in a while hearing branches snap and heavy breathing nearby! I was still able to sleep ok and didn’t feel too terribly tired in the morning. I was on the trail by 6am!

Lassen peak in the distance dead center 

The trail and grade basically all day. Pretty nice! 

You know where I’m headed!!

So, I recently passed the 1100, 1200, and 1300 mile markers without mentioning them. At this point I’m doing 100 miles in 4 days, and there is also way less giant signs that people make this far in. One thing that is worth mentioning and is super exciting is this:

The PCT midpoint!!

Ooooooo, I’m halfway there,

Oooo-OO! I’m hiking on a pra-yer!

Haha! I’m halfway there! Crazy huh?!? It feels long but still short at the same time! It took me 79 days to get to this point, with only 3 zeros on trail if I don’t count the 5 days off trail I took with Claire. She pointed out that in 2016 we got off the trail on July 7th, at mile 907, just 4 days before this day at mile 1,331 this year!! 

After this mark I was just a few more miles from the road to hitch into Chester. I flew down the hill and did 15.5 miles by 11:15am! Fireball and 2 other hikers were already at the road (the two hikers that gave me the trail mix and gummy bears at Belden). Fireball is a hiker that I met at the halfway marker and took my picture for me! It didn’t take long to get a hitch in! It was an awesome family who had just dropped some hikers off at the trailhead. They offered us a ride back into town! We got dropped off at the Pizza Factory.

At the Pizza Factory they had an all you can eat salad, pizza, and drink buffet from 11am-3pm. I didn’t take any photos because I was busy eating a WORLD of PIZZA!!! I had about 8 slices... Four huge salad plates as well as 3 large raspberry iced tea refills! Whew! I ate a lot y’all! On the way out the door I ran into a strange looking bug! I also ran into Peter (from South Africa), and remebered to take a pic this time!

A zebra bug?!

Peter at the Pizza Factory!

I headed over to the Lutheran church grounds where there was some free camping for PCT hikers. I did a nice hobo-rinse with the water faucet and set up my tent in a sweet spot! Then it was off to the dollar general store for a resupply! I was able to get all the food I need for this next short 90 mile stretch and some other supplies like shaving cream and a razor! In my next stretch to Burney (another moderately large “small town”), there are two small places each within .03 miles of the trail, (Drakesbad Hotsprimgs and Resort and Old Station), where I will stop at to eat some food!

By then of course it was time for another calorie-gorging session. What better way to celebrate the halfway point on the PCT than a nearly 40oz milkshake?! Chocolate peanut butter banana was the right choice for sure :)

Bigger than yesterday’s pinecone!!

I was one of 3 people in the place when I ordered my shake and claimed a nice booth. Not 20 minutes later the place was packed! I stayed for a few hours, enjoying the nice A/C and outlets plus the WiFi I could just barely get from the next door RV park. Within that time I watched 3 more waves of people come in every so often. This place is really popular!

After this I headed to the public shower room to shave. The bathroom had a mirror but didn’t have a sink, and I never realized how hard it is to shave without a sink! I was actually rinsing the razor with water from my water bottle, and trying to blow all the hair off so I could keep going with my crappy $1 dollar store razor! The things you learn to deal with out here on the PCT!

After all that fun I headed back to the church where many other hikers had set up their tents and were hanging out in the now-shaded porch. I spent a good while talking and catching up with people I had seen a few times as well as meeting a handful of people

I had never seen! Although I’m going pretty fast, there seems to be a few people who are doing 25 mile days consistently as well. I met a guy named Lucky today that I have seen everyday since the day I got into Belden. He hikes later into the day but then wakes up later, whereas I wake up earlier but also stop earlier.

Well, I got food, a huge shake, and I’m a liiiiittle cleaner than when I rolled in. Tomorrow the plan is breakfast at 6:30am at the cafe next door, and then back out to the trailhead!

Thanks for reading!