More summaries

[I'm doing this one from my phone so these will probably be shorter than usual]

6/3: (15 miles) Hung out a bit more in Wrightwood at a PCT-friendly coffee shop till about 10 or so. A Christian counselor that had an office next door offered us rides to Inspiration Point and I shortly took him up on it. Hiked from Inspiration Point to the Grassy Hollow Visitor Center. As I stocked up on water I got interviewed by all the rangers, then by a group of 2nd graders who came by for a field trip. Hiked Mt. Baden-Powell (definitely the toughest part of the day) and camped at the Little Jimmy campground. We decided to hang our food for the first time tonight so that was fun.

6/4: (17.7 miles) this may have seemed like a really big day if you checked my GPS data. I hiked 4.1 miles until I encountered Hwy 2 again, then hitched up about 4 miles until the PCT crossed Hwy 2 again. By doing so, I bypassed the endangered species closure for the Yellow-Legged Frog (for a freaking frog!). Passed mile 400 today! Again- hung food

6/5: (18.6 miles) Sun warmed up my tent today meaning that I was too late to get going. Hurriedly packed my stuff and ate breakfast in a shady spot down the trail. Got to the firehouse/ranger station and filled up on water, some electricity, and ate lunch. Lots of dodging Poodle Dog Bush to camp at Messenger Flats. Was feeling really lazy and instead of hanging food, I put it on top of the trash in one of the bear-proof garbage cans.

6/6: (13.7 miles) hiked the easy 6 miles to the ranger station. This ranger station was selling ice cold sodas! Plus there was a very helpful volunteer (who provided all the PCT hiker goodness, has hiked the PCT 3 times, and looks a lot like John Goodman) that we talked to for a couple hours. After this point there was no more Poodle Dog Bush, but it was a very grueling and sweaty hike to the Acton KOA. I immediately paid the $15 to camp along with paying for a soda and ice cream sandwich. Picked up my box, then spent a couple hours lounging in my hammock. There were about 10 other hikers there and we talked until about hiker midnight (9 pm). One of the other hikers and I ordered a large pizza to the KOA and it was a super expensive $43!! Didn't sleep well at all in the hammock.

6/7: (13.8 miles) the Mojave sun is relentless! Immediately from the KOA we hiked up hills in the sun with next to no shade. Eventually I made it to Vasquez Rocks State Park and was really itching to climb (again). Luckily, about 1 mile before Agua Dulce there was a guy and a girl about my age who walked up with a crash pad and wearing climbing shoes. They asked if I wanted to climb with them (would I ever!) and I put on the guy's shoes and did maybe 20 minutes of bouldering. Got their contact info and found out the girl works at Google! (maybe a future connection to get me in?) Shout out to Alan and Marie! Spent about 4 hours at the grocery store chilling with other hikers, eating ice cream, drinking Cactus Cooler, etc. Headed out later and camped just outside town. (Agua Dulce is one of 3 towns that the PCT goes through the middle of, in addition to Belden and Seiad Valley)

6/8: (20.5 miles) got going at about 6 am. Some other hikers caught up to me just as I was about to leave and told me I should try to hit Casa de Luna (another trail angel's house) tonight. So that became the plan I pushed up hills and down hills in the horrendous Mojave sun to get there. A good bit more shade this time but still tough. Made it and am sleeping on one of the futons outside tonight.

6/9: (Zero, but progress still made) tomorrow I will be doing what some other hikers have been doing and getting a ride to Hikertown. This will allow me to bypass the Powerhouse Fire closure without doing all the road walking. I'll stay there in Hikertown tomorrow night.