Day 26: Hell Freezes Over

26. May 6: Mile 347.19 Campsite to Mile 364.30 Guffy Campsite + 2.7 miles of Acorn Trail to Camp Wrightwood 

This morning was pretty crazy. Actually the whole day was pretty crazy. At around 2:30 I woke up to Glow Worm setting up her tent (she had cowboy camped like me) and I absentmindedly put my hand on the outside of my sleeping bag and it was soaked. It hadn’t been raining, but the clouds were low and the mist had collected all over my quilt. The inside was still dry and warm, but I frantically got up, pissed the fuck off, and draped my tent over me because I didn’t feel like setting it up. So I woke up with a soaked tent and sleeping bag so I was a little grumpy, but the mood changed quickly as we began hiking. I started hiking with Glow Worm and eventually we stopped for breakfast where we dried out our tents and sleeping bags. My sleeping bag was mostly dry already because I strapped it to the outside of my pack when I began hiking in the morning. It was incredibly cloudy, but the sun came out by lunch and Glow Worm and I took a long lunch stretched out in the sun. Then shit hit the fan in a big way. We had five miles until our campsite and we were moving along and it started sprinkling which wasn’t too bad, but then a massive cold front came in and started sleeting and the temperature dropped in a big way. We barley spoke a word to each other until we got to the campsite. By the time we got there there was 40 mph winds and sleet stinging our faces. I could barely move my hands because they were so cold. We sought refuge in the latrine to warm up and dry off and I ate 1500 calories worth of the rest of my snacks before Dr. McDirty and Cougar showed up 20 minutes later. We decided to go a mile back on the trail and take the 2.7 mile Acorn Trail down to Wrightwood due to the impending snow storm. The plan was to stay at the Methodist camp, but when we got there, there was a sign saying, “sorry, not PCT hikers today”. We opted to go up to the office anyway and a young woman came out to see four bewildered and pathetic looking soaked hikers. None of us could get any words out before she offered us a few beds in the lodge and leftover dinner from the group that was staying there. We were even able to all have hot showers as well. The kindness we received was overwhelming and extremely humbling.


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