Day 84: Somewhere on the detour to 1912

~35 miles

This morning was freezing!! My thermometer showed 30 degrees.

So the official detour would add 10+ miles to the trail. But hikers before us had found a way to eliminate this addition.

We followed a map given to us by some southbounders. It had us follow a few dirt roads until we reached a lake. From there, we had to travel cross country (no trail) about a mile up to a ridge. Good thing Minor and I are both Eagle Scouts. Our compass skills are both excellent. After that mile through the forest, we met up with the trail we wanted. From there, it was another few miles back to the PCT. The cross country travel was a lot of fun. It changed up the monotony of following a single trail all day, every day.

We got back onto the PCT around noon. From there, we had 27 miles until Shelter Lake where we both had a package. The problem was that the store there closes at 8pm. Since we both can't stop eating, we don't have enough food to wait until tomorrow to get there. Our only choice was to book it and make 27 miles in 7.5 hours.

We didn't stop the rest of the day. Luckily there was a good amount of downhill and only one 1300ft climb.

We passed one of the best springs of the trail. It was at the base of a mountain. The water was ice cold and coming right out of the rock. I chugged down a liter, got a brain freeze, and kept hiking.

I finally made it down to the highway around 7:15 where I had a mile walk to the store. Minor has stopped to make a phone call so he was a bit behind me.

A group of 3 on bikes, all in their 20's, came riding down the road and we started talking about the trail. After a few minutes they asked if I wanted a steak. I enthusiastically said yes. They said that they would bring me one to the store.

I got to the store and bought a soda and ice cream sandwich. Once I was done with those, I see the group coming towards the store carrying a couple of plates. They gave me a huge steak, baked potato, corn, a Gatorade, and blackberry cobbler. It was awesome!! I can't believe the things do for hikers! I thanked them a hundred times.

Minor came down a few minutes later and we split the food.