Day 68 - PCT 2024
Trail miles hiked: 8.2
Ascent: 875 ft.
Descent: 1,226.7 ft.
Krista and I set out from camp around 8:30am. We were meeting Tina and Wade down at Burton Flat Road and wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. Krista really isn’t a morning person so it takes her a bit to adjust to early mornings. Thankfully the trail was easy and the hike down to meet them was quick.
About a mile from the road we spotted them hiking in to meet us as they arrived early. Krista and I decided to seize the opportunity and slack pack the rest of the way to South Brown Mountain Shelter, where we’d meet Wade later in the day. He was going to park 0.2 miles from the shelter which was easy enough for us to grab our packs out of the car. I grabbed my Garmin, a litre of water, one pole and enjoyed a packless afternoon! This hike would be so much faster without the heavy packs!
Tina, Krista and I hiked the rest of the 3.7 miles to the shelter through the forest. It was a lovely walk. Easy. We met a thru-hiker, Smash, and stopped to chat for a few minutes. He’s one of the first from Campo to reach Oregon and he’s hiking 30-40 mile days with a goal to complete the entire trail in 100 days. Sort of nuts to me but I respect it.
Wade was already at the shelter when we arrived and he brought steaks to cook over the fire pit! Hard to beat that! We’re spoiled out here.
South Brown Mountain Shelter was neat! It’s a log cabin nestled into the woods with benches inside you could sleep on although I set up my tent instead. There was a wood burning stove inside and an old food cache. And by old, I mean food that had expired in 2014. Outside there was a picnic bench, well water pump and a fire pit . Someone had cut up plenty of wood which we all appreciated.
Wade and Tina were cooking up some steaks when OJ (Only Josh) stopped by the shelter for a break and to refill his water. OJ is another thru hiker from Campo, that I met way back in the early days in the desert. We both remembered each other. He’s lost quite a bit of weight since our first meeting. He was blown away to be offered a steak and asparagus dinner. He was low on food and needed a good meal. The trail provides.
The gnats came out hard while we were eating dinner and the mosquitoes swarmed as we were wrapping up. OJ took off hiking and I am hiding in my tent for the evening. Just back from a potty break sporting a few fresh mosquito bites. They're relentless.
