PCT: Lower Deadfall Lake to Shoulder of Castle Crags

Our day in numbers:

Another cruiser of a day.   Clouds were a delight as it kept the temperatures cool and the views continued to stretch the eyes. 

We had lots of trailside chats and since are bodies are holding up, we are thinking of jumping up to Oregon and hiking back to our truck at Etna Summit, so we might see some of these folks again.  

One individual to highlight is  KZed from Australia, originally from New Zealand and with a bit of a British clip to his drawl.   I couldn’t really place his accent and he said he’s lived in all the locals I mentioned.   He was quite interesting and we enjoyed hearing about his views of the USA. 

We also met the cutest couple on the trail.

Soup and Sandwich!  So sweet.   Sandwich is 4 and seems to be loving the trail, as is her best friend.  They were a pleasure to chat with.  

Quite a few thru hikers are having the Northern California blues.   There is almost 1700 miles of PCT in California and they feel like they are never going to make Oregon.  

And what’s with this sign?  It’s the very first sign we’ve seen on the trail in kilometers.  

We are camped right before the steep descent to Interstate 5, with very fast sobo thru hikers from Sante Fe, New Mexico.   Jeff and Ella are hikers on a mission.  I’ve never seen such small packs.   They tell us they carry very little food.  They will conquer this trail, while we just kind of muddle along on the twenty year plan. Lol!   As they say on the trail, hike your own hike.