Mileage breakdown: Road walk out of town 1 mi + Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail 2.5 mi + Devil's Slide Trail 2.6 mi + PCT miles 179.4 thru 190.5 = 17.2 miles. Throughout the night I could hear rain. When I woke up it wasn't as bad as I thought. 35 degrees and foggy.
Did my best to pack as much as I could before leaving my sleeping, but eventually I had to pack it as well. I didn't really know what to expect, weather wise, for the day so I prepared for the worst. With everything packed up I went to the restroom to let my phone charge. With no sun, my solar panel and it's empty battery are dead weight.
Before leaving town, I stopped by the store one last time to see if they had any hand warmers... They did not.
I was off. Walked the roads to the Earnie Maxwell Scenic Trail which would take me to the Devils Slide Trail. After a combine walking distance of 6.1 miles, I was back on the official PCT.
By the time I hit the PCT I was in the cold wind and there was snow on the ground. This continued for the rest of the day.
At mile 186ish there was a strong flowing stream which I used to fill up 5 liters of water which needed to last the next 20 miles which wouldn't have any.
While at the water source I met up with Alex, Anna, Leah, Riley and Alyssa. I hiked with them for the rest of the day as the conditions were pretty intense and I thought it was better to hike with others.
It was long, windy and cold, but we all took our time and made it to Mile 190.5. We all made some type of comment when something good happened, such as the sun poking out for 5 seconds (which felt amazing) or the wind calming down. That helped make this section better.
Not 5 minutes after arriving, the now started to come down much much harder and the lightning and thunder were right over top of us. It was tough putting up a tent in those conditions, but I managed to do so without getting snow all over my gear. Took some pictures then hopped in my tent for the night.
It was around 6:00pm so we all are dinner in our own tents and had some funny comments, which we yelled to the group, about our current predicament. I think I was asleep by 8:00.
This picture was inspired by what my dad used to do on all of our backpacking trips when I was a kid.
