PCT Days 20 & 21 – Bear With Me

The wind was not really that bad last night, but because of the way I left my rain fly unzipped, the tent made this loud slapping noise all night. It kept me awake. I zipped the fly around 3:30 am and then it was perfectly quiet. Ugh!

We sleep in until 6 because our ride into town does not arrive at the trailhead at highway 18 until 8 am. The trailhead is 0.4 miles from camp. On the way to the road there is this message board.

There is one message that I particularly like.

To Black Bear Lake

At the trailhead, of course, we all check our phones. What did we ever do before phones consumed all our free time?

Our ride, a wonderful woman named Tink, arrives on time and we all pile into her little Sonoma.

Tink is pretty remarkable. She runs back and forth to the trailhead many times during hiking season, bringing PCT hikers into town. Sometimes she does several trips a day. Her license plate says it all: PCTLOVE

Chores

Town is for rest, but it is also for doing chores. I have a box waiting for me at the post office. And I have to mail two out. As usual, the postal clerks are so helpful.

Then it’s off to do laundry. This laundromat had security cameras everywhere, making it difficult to find a place where I can take off my clothes. I don’t carry extra clothes, so wash day means wearing my rain jacket with whatever bottoms I can find. In the laundromat I find a bin of abandoned (I hope) clothes with a pair of shorts that are just my size. I wear them for the hour it takes to do wash, and then put them back in the bin.

Breakfast is at the Grizzly Manor Cafe. The interior is plastered in stickers. They have drapes made from service patches pinned together. One window was for California police departments; the other was for California fire departments.

Fun

There is not much else worth writing about, except this. The bar next to our B & B has about 40 beers on tap – nothing unusual there until I see that they have Russian River beers on tap! Russian River is IMHO one of the best craft breweries in America. Their beer is extremely hard to get in Florida. I order their IPA, Blind Pig. It was delicious.

I did not drink the other beers, including the Pliny. I may never have a shot at these beers again in my lifetime, so I left that bar with some regrets, But drinking too much was not in my plan for today.

Oh, and speaking of plans, I had my fortune told. Zoltar told my fortune.

Zoltar is the same fortune teller who turned the 13-year-old Tom Hanks into a 30 year old in the movie Big. Here is my fortune from Zoltar.

It really applies to the trail, don’t you think?

It’s back to the trail tomorrow. Our feet are much better. We are stronger and rested. We are getting used to this trail. The next section should be fun.

• May 24 & 25, 2023
• Starting marker: 265.7
• Ending marker: 266.1
• Miles hiked today: 0.5
• Total PCT miles: 236
• The Russian River beers I did not drink: Consecration, Supplication, Pliny the Elder. My beer friends may never get over this!