Well today didn't go as expected. I hiked the 7 miles early until I got to the next main road. When I got there, 3 other hikers where waiting at the road trying to hitch to the town of Quincy.
It turns out that a fire near the next town of Beldin is spreading. The 20 PCT miles north of town is officially closed. The town of Beldin itself is almost shut down and evacuated. Even though Beldin is still 50 miles away, we could be stuck in town.
The advice the PCTA gave hikers is to hitch to Quincy, then take a bus to Chester where the trail can be picked back up. This skips from mile 1235 to 1335. 100 miles....
At kick off and in the guide books, we learned that this may happen. There is nothing we can do about skipping this section. It will be closed for possibly the rest of the season. For me and the dozens of other hikers re-routed by this fire, our PCT is a little bit shorter, but it is still OUR PCT thru hike. So when I get to Canada, ive finished my PCT thu-hike.
Sure, I would like to come back and hike this section. It may be in October or in a following year.
We made our way to Quincy and then to Chester. 5 of us hung out in the bowling alley for a few hours drinking beer and playing pool.
Near the end of the day 3 of us hitched to the trail at mile 1335 and camped near the road.
Pretty weak Dan...a measly forest fire. Yannick would have hiked through it or at the very least around it. That couldn't be more than a couple hundred extra miles to hike around it.
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