PCT Miles 1220.6 to 1239.4

Miles Hikes = 18.8

There was no wind last night. I slept well and woke up at the crack of dawn at 5am. Then I rolled over and dozed for another hour.😊

I was hiking by 7am. It was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies.

Yesterday I started hiking with three layers on because it was cold and windy. Today I started in my short sleeve hiking shirt and my super thin Patagonia wind jacket. The wind jacket didn’t stay on very long.

Today I left behind the Tahoe National Forest and entered the Plumas National Forest. Most of the first six miles were downhill on a smooth dirt trail so I made good time. I came around one corner and got my first glimpse of Mt. Lassen to the north. It will take me at least another week of hiking to get to Mt. Lassen National Park.

I also noticed that I had LTE cell service so I called Donna. She had an interesting night – one of the smoke detectors/fire alarms when off at 2am and scared the bejesis out of her and Beau. There was not a fire thank god. She managed to get it unhooked but didn’t have a good night sleep after all the noise and excitement. I’m sure Beau, however, had no problem going back to sleep. Gunna have to change those batteries when I get home!

Midday today I had three hills in a row that I went up and then down and then up the next one. They weren’t big hills but I think the accumulated altitude gain was something like 1800 feet. The good news is that I felt surprisingly good and was able to hike a little further than I had planned. Here are some of the views I enjoyed.

I stopped at East Branch Beartrap Creek to fill up with water

And then continued on

I passed by the Pilot Peak Lookout Tower

And enjoyed another view of Mt. Lassen

Later in the afternoon I passed by this majestic old gnarly tree that still stood proud in its afterlife.

Then I took the opportunity to collect and filter water for the remainder of the evening and night at Alder Spring

I continued on for another mile or two and then made camp

Here’s today hike profile – more downhill then uphill helps increase the day’s mileage!

Thanks for following!