Brad's Adventure

It’s common advice for aspiring thru-hikers to never plan too far ahead. Those words have entered my ears and eyes in the past but I now truly understand them.

Day 4: We ended up going the aforementioned  5-6 miles from Burnt Rancheria campground in Mt Laguna, to Laguna campground, not in mount Laguna. (Not sure what happened there…) It was very windy, felt like 30mph gusts. But the crest we are on had some great views to the east, which makes our “desert” we’re in look like a rainforest.

We split a campsite at Laguna and saw another hiker walk in 10 min after us and invited him to stay at our site so he wouldn’t have to pay (they are $35 here). His name is Rolo, which is a trail name he got when he thru-hiked the Appalachian trail in 2021. He got the name because he had a habit of eating Rolos 5-10 mins into his day. He’s around 45  years old and started a day later than us! The average age out here is higher than you’d think. The three of us were able to make our dinner and get set up for bed right before the rain came in around 6. Hoping to get some good sleep tonight because the NyQuil has been doing strange things to my sleep.

Day 5:  I woke up and it was more rain than expected, and a little windy so I used my 1 intermittent bar of service to check the weather. The forecast had been getting progressively more unhinged over the past few days and now had evolved into downright dangerous conditions. 40 degrees, rain all morning , and 35 mph wind with gusts up to 60mph. With wind chill factored in that’s probably 15 degrees or less, in the rain, while I’m still sick. I weighed some options with Seth and made the call to ask for a ride back to Mt Laguna from the camp host. Rolo came with us and the three of us split one of the last available rentals, a reasonably priced cabin with beds for 3! We killed some time at the visitors center (I learned a ton of facts on rattlesnakes) then went back to the Pine House Cafe and tavern. The place was packed with PCT hikers and the vibe was immaculate. The people running the joint are indeed French and make incredible food. Seth and I learned how to play Gin Rummy.

The rest of the day was spent in the Cabin with Seth and Rolo. He taught us two more card games, Skat and Oh Hell/Elevator. We really liked Oh Hell. We chatted about hiker gear and our past jobs.

Even though we only made it 5 miles the past two days, they feel like the true PCT experience.