Day 2

It's 11:30 and we're still here at the campground packing up and recouping after yesterday's hike. We were pretty much on track last night to get into camp around sundown until we ran into an injured hiker about 1.5 miles before camp. His knee was busted up pretty bad and he was carrying a very heavy pack. It was getting on towards sundown and getting colder by the minute. We were very concerned about him and we convinced him to let us help lighten his load and carry his stuff to camp. It ended up taking a bit of time to get him and his gear safe into the campground and it was well past dark by the time we arrived. Navigating the campground in the dark was an extreme challenge as we were very tired and hungry and there was minimal signage. We ended up setting up near a gazebo only to find a sign a few minutes later that basically said that we were in the wrong spot and that all PCT hikers needed to stay in a different spot. We made some food to take care of our hunger and then begrudgingly moved our camp to where it was legit. By the time we got re-set up it was past 10:30, a terribly late night for a hikers.

It was a long and very cold night, there was a layer of frost blanketing us when we awoke. Not the best sleep, but restorative nonetheless. 

Anyway, we're feeling much better now and the access to flush toilets and delicious tap water has helped our morale a lot.

Our bodies are adjusting pretty well to the demands of the trail although my (Laura aka "Lo-Jo") feet got blistered pretty badly yesterday. I think it had something to do with the 6 liters of water we carried during the day - it equalled about 12 pounds, and that's a lot of weight considering that's on top of all our gear and 40+ miles of food! Each of our packs weighed in around 37 pounds before we headed out yesterday... Mike (aka "K.C.") and I are used to carrying about 20-25 lbs... So there you go.

I've taped my feet up pretty well and we've all decided to take an easier day today and only push about 13 miles to another campground down the trail. I should say as well that each of us seems to be nursing some sort of hurt - Ben (aka "Sparrow") has a sore foot, and Mike  tends to get sore knees - so a shorter day today will be just what the doctor ordered.

So far we've met a lot of really cool people and maybe a little more than half of all the PCT hikers we've talked to so far have actually been from Washington state, go figure. I guess we all just like the idea of walking home. :)

It already feels like we've been on the trail for ages and it's just the second day, lol. Yesterday was quite the day and we're looking forward to what today has in store.

More later!