Day 102

Town stops. I like town stops, and I enjoy them. Most of the towns along the PCT are the kind of towns you would only visit while on the trail. Last minute decision brought a couple of us to two different towns on opposite sides of the trail to do our resupply. Interstate 5 was not an easy place for a hitch as cars are blazing by going above the speed limit. LL and I stood on the off ramp as she performed dance moves, while I stuck my thumb out, hoping to hitch a ride two miles down into Castella. Luckily, a foreigner, who used his phone to translate to communicate with us, stopped on the side of the freeway and offered us a ride.

Another hitch then brought us to Dunsmuir, where we had lunch at the brewery, along with other PCT hikers. A half mile trek on the hot asphalt to the Dollar General, then to the local grocery store, and back to the brewery, was quite exhausting. We were glad the for the cloud cover on the one mile walk for the final hitch to Castella to pick up a package recently delivered. We then resumed our hike and camped at Popcorn Spring.

The PCT is officially 2,650 miles, and with side trails and walking around town, it's probably closer to 3,000 miles of actual walking.