Day 5 – 100 miles
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 18 miles to Warner Springs
After hiking pretty far last night, it was a short (ha, good joke) 18-mile hike to Warner Springs for my first resupply! Along the way, I hit mile 100! As I expected, people had marked the trail to let me know:
And had marked it again in a different spot.
And again.
And again.
As the 100-mile mark clearly seems to be a point of confusion among hikers, I did my best to help by walking an additional five minutes down the trail and adding my own.
Shortly after, I arrived at a beautiful water source and sat with two hikers to eat lunch. One of them was throwing around some crazy ideas like a premium PCT permit that would include “a pre-set up tent, a shower, food, and an attendant for you each night,” which could all be yours for a couple thousand dollars. He also told me “if you’re hiking more than ten miles a day, you’re unhappy and you’re not really SEEING the trail,” which I didn’t argue because I’m obviously sad all the time and I’ve been hiking with my eyes closed.
After the water, there wasn’t too much hiking left until town, but out of nowhere in the middle of some field is an awesome (and massive) eagle-shaped rock. Eagle Rock, they call it.
I eventually made it to Warner Springs around two, got my package, got a bacon cheeseburger, and headed back to the community center. Warner Springs was not nearly the awesome surprise that Julian was, but it’s a nice small town and the gathering of all the hikers at the community center is fun. 🎈🎈🎈
The rest of my day was spent relaxing and eating, two of my new favorite things to do! It was both bizarre and kind of nice to not be hiking in the heat of the afternoon, but after seeing other hikers’ feet, I consider myself incredibly fortunate. My shoes and socks have been phenomenal for me and I have had zero blisters (knock on wood), though others with the same shoes and socks have had some terrible issues. Hopefully I can continue to avoid foot problems!
Eventually, everyone I had hiked/camped with the night before made it to town and we had some nice dinner at the picnic tables before going off to prepare for the days ahead.
Pretty pretty out there.
