Day 134 - Campsite near PCT mile 2178 to Crest Horse Camp

After making 1 more mile last night, I decided I’ll make 2 more today, just to make tomorrow easier. Those last miles at the end of the day seem pretty easy anyway.

At the beginning of the day I had a long hike down towards Trout Creek. I got some water there, and headed on to Wind River, and later to Panther Creek, where the big climb of the day started.

It was a long climb up with switchbacks, and I slowly worked my way up there. Just after I finished the switchback bit, I met a southbounder, Alaska Joe, who informed me of awesome trail magic at Forest Road 60, about 2.5 miles further from where I intended to camp. I’d do a few miles more for trail magic.

And so I headed on, for a longer day. The trail kept on climbing and climbing, and I passed Slaughterhouse. She was also headed to the trail magic spot. Only after the Grassy Knoll Trail Junction, the climbing ended, and it was a long way down, followed by a stretch of leveled trail all the way to the end.

I finally reached the campsite, and the trail magic, at around 18:00. The place was already full of thru and section hikers. Idan was there, as well as Peanut & Dozen, and Buck-30, and some other thru hikers that actually kept on hiking later.

I was immediately invited to have dinner by Jon and Rob, which included hot dogs and meat chili. But I got an apple strudel and a water melon, and three beers. So I was happy. We set around the fire and had a nice chat until late, around 21:00, when I went over and crashed for the night.

Jon and Rob are section hiking on the PCT, Rob will be finished with Washington in a few weeks, hiking his last section. So they just wanted to come around and give back to PCT hikers. They really nailed it. They had a scale, so everyone was weighing themselves, trying to figure out how much weight they lost on the trail. I am now at 155 pounds, which means I’ve lost 36 pounds so far. I think I’m not losing weight anymore. I really hope so, at least.