Mile 1315.5 – 1343.5

A rustle, a snapping branch, and hot breath. I quickly slid my hand over to my headlamp, aimed it, and turned it on. A comically startled deer with a face frozen in surprise as it nearly fell over itself trying to bound away.  10 minutes later, another startled deer and an increasing annoyed Harley.

We realized later that the deer must have been attracted by the salt on our hiking clothes, which we had hung over or backpacks that were right next to our heads. Another hiker we met in Chester wasn’t so lucky, his shirt was full of holes where it had been bitten through by a deer.

When we rose, we only had about 13 miles until Chester. The highlight of those 13 miles was the midpoint marker of the PCT. After 3 months of walking, it felt great to reach this milestone. I remember my first goal was to make it 50 miles, which would be the furthest I had ever backpacked in a single trip. To think that I have now walked 1,350 miles, unbelievable! It just goes to show what a little persistence and steady incremental progress can amount to.

The rest of the trail was pretty calm and we got a quick hitch into Chester. We immediately got milkshakes to celebrate our achievement and started on our town chores.

Dirty, dirty legs

We spent the night in the backyard of the Lutheran Church and headed over to the Kettle for a big breakfast and then immediately to Cravings, which has had the best food on trail yet, for coffee and  lunch. Fed and chores done, we hitched back to the trail and walked about 14 miles to the border of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

7/28 – 7/29/2017