Day 11 - PCT 2024

Trail Miles Hiked: 10

Total Ascent: 1,261.5 ft.

Total Descent: 1,790.4 ft.

The cottage was cute. For the three of us it was perfect. It was nice sleeping in a bed and lounging around this morning. I did my resupply at the Ranchita Bodega store this morning before breakfast and that was a mistake because I bought too much food again. I should know better. I tried to eat a bunch of it during lunch. This is such a great stop for hiker resupply. They have everything and plenty of gluten free items for Celiac hikers like myself. We grabbed the shuttle back to trail a bit later than planned but we were fine with a delayed start since we only planned 10 miles. 

It was hot and sunny today. Thankfully it was my easiest day on trail yet. Relatively flat for the most part with some minor elevation changes in comparison to the rest of the days. I sort of took it for granted. I walked through meadows, cow pastures and a bit of a forest. Hard to complain!

Eagle Rock was certainly impressive! The rock formation is held sacred by the Kuupangaxwichem. Failure to Launch, Snax and I took an extended lunch break here and admired the site. I was happy to see so many hikers enjoying the formation but I’m puzzled by the hikers who passed by. 

As I was approaching our camp for the evening, I decided to duck into Warner Springs to the resource center so that I could get clean water as the creek water looked brown and had a bit of a smell to it. I unexpectedly ran into Impulse! He decided not to try to catch the others and rather stick with us, at least for the night. We’re all happy he’s here. Legend, a thru hiker trail angel, and his wife were at the center providing hikers a free spaghetti dinner! Although I couldn’t partake, I rehydrated a beef stew to join in on the dinner festivities. Impulse shared his Reese chocolate and I can never say no to Reese. 

I wanted to make camp before dark, a 1.7 mile hike from the resource center, so we took off before Impulse was finished charging his power bank. He said he’d catch up soon. Sure enough, as we already pitched our tents and got ready for bed in camp, Impulse strolled in with his headlamp beaming. I could see him coming down the trail for a little while. 

Tomorrow is going to be a longer mile and harder terrain day. Hiker midnight is when it gets dark so we’re all going to bed early to hopefully get an earlier start for a big climb.