Monday, October 8th.

Monday, October 8th: Today's miles = 26.3. Total PCT miles = 2,557.6 . Miles remaining = 105.9.

I woke up freezing this morning! As with most mornings, all my gear (including my socks) was frozen. Taking that first cup of coffee in the morning is my favorite part of the day (thanks Monkey mom!).

Today was another beautiful day, minus the cold. It IS October after all. I couldn't ask for better weather even with the cold. Normally Washington provides hikers with a lot of rain but this year so far has broken records! The sky is blue and sunny. The only clouds in the sky were created by wildfires. I'll take wildfire smoke over rain/snow clouds any day.

I ran into Upchuck and Bounce Box today. They are two hikers who I met very early into the trail. I have not seen them since around mile 750 and I'm walking along today and there they are, perched up on a rock at the top of a climb. They were the last people I expected to see today.

Shortly after I ran into them I had a decision to make; take the old PCT or take the new PCT. There is a section of trail were the trail splits into two trails. One of these trails is the old PCT that was the official PCT up until a few years ago. The new PCT in this section is 7.1 miles and is a smooth hike to the river, where there is a newly built bridge. The old PCT is 2.2 miles and not maintained. There are countless blowdowns on the trail, sections of trail that you can't even find, and two rivers to cross without bridges. I chose the old PCT. The first half a mile of this trail was fine, and then I started to run into the blow downs. They were nothing I hadn't dealt with before on the AT. I actually found climbing up and down these giant down trees to be exciting. The two river crossings had logs over them as bridges. The log at the first crossing was a lot smaller than the second, although, the second river was a lot bigger. After the second crossing the trail disappeard. I knew that the PCT was upwards so I just started climbing up the mountain. Eventually I ran into the PCT after a bunch of bush whacking. I was glad that I had found the trail before it got completely dark. I rolled into camp around 10pm and Funk, Cowboy, Trooper, and Shep Dog were there.