Day 72

Mile 1130.8 to mile 1147.7

PCT Miles: 16.9 (27.0km)

Total Miles: 1147.7 (1836.3km)

After having spotted a bear, we both were very happy to have other hikers camping with us last night. By the time we woke up though (around 6:30) almost everybody was gone. We decided to enjoy the mosquitoless morning and have breakfast before we started hiking. I had classic chocolate electronola and Maike had peanut butter overload: peanut butter granola, crunchy peanut butter and, instead of milk or yoghurt, it’s soaked in powdered peanut butter (plus water).

When we were about to leave camp, one hiker passed by and I recognized him: It was Rocky (the Lithuanian guy that I mentioned on Day 54)! It was so good to see a familiar face! Rocky is such a character: he was over the moon because a trail angel had gifted him hiking shoes (he was hiking on sandals and flip flops before) and he updated us about my ex hiker companions: Bullfrog was still taking zeroes in South Lake Tahoe, Geezer was 3-4 days ahead and Tangent was off trail attending two weddings but would come back. Rocky’s good mood was contagious and we left camp with our spirits elevated!

It was a chilly and very windy morning. We started hiking over a ridge and over some ski areas. It’s very interesting to see how the mountains where people ski during winter look like without all the snow. Talking about snow, we had some today but we managed everything just fine.

During our second break of the day another hiker passed by and once more I recognized him: it was Fizz! (I met him on day 42 and hiked with him for a few days in the Sierra). We chatted a bit about the past days. As always he was in good mood, saying that he was having a great time and that this is what the PCT is about: to enjoy and have fun. He always states that he will leave the PCT as soon as he stops enjoying and have fun everyday and he’s still here 😊. For me it was super cool to see Fizz (and Rocky) again and introduce them to Maike!

We decided to do a longer day today and hike almost 17 miles, so we can hike less tomorrow and arrive in Truckee earlier. Everything went fine until the last two miles. The wind started blowing really hard on the last steep ascend of the day (1.5 miles) and literally on the last 0.5 miles until campground, which was a ridge (a narrow path where you have a cliff on both sides). It was a bit nerve wracking to keep the balance against the strong wind (specially for Maike who called it “the ridge of horror“) but we made camp safe and sound. We pitched our tent, made dinner and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. There were no mosquitoes during the whole day, but the wind outside is still strong so we were happy to be warm on our tents as soon as we could.

If everything goes well tomorrow we arrive in Truckee for lunch and we will meet our good friends Chris and Jessica who are coming from San Jose to spend the weekend with us 🫶!