PCT #55 & 56, 1367mi: Two hard days in the snow and a lot of fun.

We made it out of Chester early – as promised to ourselves. Of course not before having a proper breakfast. But at 8.15am we had already hitch hiked back tomthe trail and were walking. The first few miles again led us through thick pine forest on good trails. We saw quite a few deer which seem to not be afraid of humans at all. But once we got back into the snow it got harder and harder again. It’s this annoying mixture of slush, sun cups, the faster melt around the tree trunks which create holes and an extremely uneven surface and the lack of a trail which consumes a lot of time to navigate. But ok, we had a lot to talk about,

We passed a lake with geothermal activity, unfortunately missing the hot springs. Idiots!

We had to decided to camp close to a “PCT-friendly” resort in the park. Why? Well, there was a chance for beer. And apparently they let hikers shower for free… 😳

So we made it to the meadow where the resort is situated.

The shower was a dedicated PCT shower a bit away from the guest showers. Fully understandable… But I have the feeling that our outside shower view was a lot better:

We did get our beer and went to bed early. Not without having a visit of an adult bear with a cub. But they only checked out the campsite from a 50ft distance and disappeared again. They are out there. We made sure all our food was stored in the bear locks and there was nothing in the tents…

Next morning began promising.

But then we entered the snow again and the game started all over. Exhausting. On top everything which was not covered in snow was flooded, a big stream or lake. So a lot of log crossings today for us.

Snow, snow and snow. So we only made 7 miles between 7.30 and 1.30pm. Ridiculous in normal conditions. The lake was our lunch break. Food, washing socks and I also couldn’t resist…

The cool thing about wearing swim shorts for hiking? You don’t have to change for swimming 😉

After lunch we soon did get out of the snow again. We were relieved. And instantly started running. Finally a trail again. What can I say. Even though we only had 7 in for lunch we called it a day at 6pm with 20 miles on the clock! Really good!

Pitching tents, cooking, hanging the food in the trees and good night. Wake up at 5am to get into town early for food shopping!