I’m sitting at a table on a beautiful patio, nibbling on fresh bread stuffed with garlic cloves, wondering how on earth I came to be here. When I was in Belden talking to a local about the trail I said ‘it’s amazing because you never know what’s around the corner’. The last few days couldn’t be closer to that truth.

Today has been full of so many welcomed surprises that I’m pinching myself to make sure it wasn’t just a dream. After hitting the trail around 7:30am, I found myself at the highway into Chester after 3 miles. This is where all of the folks I had camped with last night were heading. Those who got there before me had called a trail angel to pick them up, and when I crossed the highway I saw there was trail magic on the other side! When the trail angel arrived we realised she was Piper’s Mom, the one who refills the coolers with fresh fruit, sodas, packets of chips and other goodies. Not only did she satisfy my hunger cravings, she satisfied my childhood dreams of one day being famous after she asked my name and then exclaimed ‘you’re Muk Muk!?’ She had seen my recent horror films from a link on the PCT 2013 Facebook page and immediately gave me a huge hug, telling me she was so relieved I was alright. I almost got teary again. Thank you Piper’s Mom for looking after us hiker folk, we appreciate it more than you can imagine!

The next water source was Stover Spring which had a pipe gushing with icy cold water. I wet my entire t-shirt, hat and bandana as the day was already super hot! Luckily the first half of the day was relatively flat, and if it wasn’t for all the logs across the trail acting as speed humps, I would have been flying along after my Mountain Dew, banana and packet of sun chips this morning!

There were signs of horses close by ahead on the trail and I wondered if the girl riding the horse was ahead of me. I spent a long time imagining what it would be like as a horse walking the trail. Sometimes I actually feel like a pack horse with my hiking poles acting as my front legs as I plod along down the trail. When I caught up to the horses I discovered it was two men from a property close to Drakesbad. They asked me about the hike and more specifically how often I set up my tent. I told them that I may set it up more frequently after my incident with the mountain lion and relived some of the account. They reacted as if I was telling them what I had for breakfast and simply said ‘yeah you don’t want to get too close to those things’.They also told me the river a mile away was big enough to swim in which brought absolute joy to my day, but an even greater surprise was in store…

I took a fresh sandwich and a cold beverage down to the river and sat in one of the most perfectly situated spots for my lunch break during a heat wave. After gobbling down every last crumb of the delicious sandwich it was time to immerse myself in the freezing cold water. It was absolute bliss and one of those moments on trail when you realise just how lucky you are to have the freedom to be out here.

The 1000 foot climb after the river during the heat of the day was not so blissful. I felt completely lethargic and wanted nothing else than to pull out my sleeping mat and have a snooze under a shady tree. Something however was pulling me forward towards Drakesbad. I knew I didn’t need to arrive until 7:30am tomorrow when breakfast was served, but when I realised I could make it there around 6:30pm, I suddenly got the motivation to simply get there as quickly as possible. The thought of a comfortable place off trail was extremely tempting, even though I knew they didn’t let hikers camp on site.

The final 3 miles to the ranch were extremely confusing and badly marked, to the point that I found myself way off trail and had to bush whack a substantial distance to get back on track. Part of my motivation to get to Drakesbad was to fill up on water, as I’d already passed the other drinkable sources, and when I saw the bubbling lake which was the last source before the ranch, I knew I simply had to get there. Even the exit to the ranch wasn’t signposted, and Halfmile’s app sends you bush whacking down a grassy slope only to be stopped by a huge stream. I had to backtrack to the first junction I’d passed and was quite frustrated by this point as it was almost 7pm already.

I felt like a complete outcast when I arrived and was scared to walk too close to the other guests because of my stench and filth. I was forced to walk inside the restaurant which doubles as the front desk. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to ask. I said to the woman Francine that I had a reservation for breakfast tomorrow and she said ‘you must be Rozanne, we also have a table reserved for you tonight’. My mouth dropped open as she indicated the table outside with my name on the reserved sign. I teared up and gave her a ginormous hug. I don’t think she was expecting that reaction but hugged me back none the less. She even said I could shower first and then come back and eat!

I was still in shock when I sat down and they came to take my order. I had a three course meal ahead of me and I was so hungry I could have eaten the napkin! I cleaned off every plate and was the last person in the entire restaurant. On my way to brush my teeth I passed a large group of people toasting marshmallows around the fire. They asked if I was hiking the PCT, and not long after I started talking, I had my first ever S’more in my hand (toasted marshmallow and chocolate inside two gram crackers), and the speakers seat around the fire. It took me a full hour to eat my S’more as I was telling story after story and enjoying answering all of the questions they had about the trail. At one point, one of the younger boys turned to me and said ‘I’m inspired’, my heart honestly melted.

Thank you again to all of the trail angels who shed absolute joy on us PCT’ers out of the kindest of their hearts!

This morning I had my alarm set for 5am, but I barely had the energy to press snooze, let alone get up and hike. I think the lack of sleep from the night before was still lingering, so I let myself drift in and out of sleep until 6:30am. I made coffee and had granola before I even stepped out of my tent, and when I finally emerged, Lodgepole and Woozy were just about ready to leave. It took me a while of fumbling around to get my things together, so it was already 8am by the time I hit the trail.

The trail is beautiful once you’re up the mountain out of Belden. The views of Lassen on the horizon are stunning and the trail itself has a good grade and is extremely well maintained. I floated through the first 5 miles until some climbing was involved, and the scheduled heat wave began to set in.

There were a few long waterless stretches today which meant my pack felt heavy with more than two litres of water, and the heat was zapping my energy. I survived mainly on sugar snacks, Reece’s squares, jelly beans, M&Ms and Nutella tortillas. I was low on Nutella and ended up turning the ziplock bag inside out to create a chocolate glove which I smeared over the tortilla (another handy thru hiking insight). I then proceeded to lick the entire bag clean, true thru hiker style.

I got an incredible surprise today when I found out from Dirty Girl that my trail angel Jamie had offered to buy me a meal at Drakesbad Guest Ranch. I had heard that it wasn’t such a hiker friendly place anymore and after speaking with Jamie discovered that they only serve meals to a maximum of 8 hikers at a time and only offer their facilities to hikers that eat there. I never would have thought to book ahead for a meal and would have gone hungry and remained dirty if it wasn’t for Jamie’s generosity! Thank you so very much!

I had the half way point in my thoughts the entire day, but didn’t realise the effect it would have on me until I finally reached it. It was so fun sharing it with you all, I didn’t feel alone with the flood of comments that started coming through. They honestly gave me such a huge boost and made the moment all the more special. I was shocked that I had reception and was able to share the moment with UB over the phone. He was getting ready to hit the trail again tomorrow and his words of support were just incredible.

He also told me about the huge fires currently around Idyllwild. My heart goes out to all the folks affected. Idyllwild holds some of my fondest memories, having met so many incredible people during our stay there. I hope they remain safe and will be able to rebuild what is destroyed by the terrible blaze. Hope to hear from you soon Scott, our thoughts are with you.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3611519

Once I had eaten my chocolate covered pretzels I bid farewell to half way – onwards to Canada! The last five miles flew by as I reflected over the last 1325 miles and thought about how much support I’ve received from so many different people. It’s honestly overwhelming and I often feel like I’m going to wake up from this crazy dream at some point because it’s too unbelievable. I’m not alone and I will make it to Canada! These thoughts kept me going until around 8pm when the sun started getting a little low for my comfort levels. I realised the surroundings I was in were exactly the same as Myrtle Flats, but 0.3 miles down the trail as my mind was starting to flip I saw Lodgepole and a community of three tents set up. I literally cried out with joy!

I’m able to cowboy camp again tonight and watch the stars slowly coming out. I feel absolutely revitalised and ready for anything the trail has in store for me over the next 1325 miles!

It’s been difficult to process the events which have taken place over the last 24 hours. The experience last night with the mountain lion almost seems like a horrible nightmare that I woke from this afternoon. If it wasn’t for the videos I’m not sure I would have believed it all really happened. I have fallen behind on my posts for the last couple of days, so too my mileage, but it’s been an emotional few days and I’m hoping to bring myself back up to speed this evening.

I’m camped at Cold Springs, mile 1308, having only hiked a total of 12 miles today. Thankfully Lodgepole and Woozy are here as I’ve been on edge most of the day, and started to get a little panicky as the sun started to go down already at 7pm. I’m camped near a road which normally scares me more than being smack bang in the middle of the wilderness, but not tonight. Although a car has just pulled up and someone is out there filling up at the spring at 9:30pm, so I’m extra thankful I’m not camped here on my own.

To catch up on where I left off I need to go back a couple of days to my post 30 mile hike morning. I was willing myself awake with my head underneath my sleeping bag when suddenly I heard fluttering and then two feet land on my shoulder. I froze, got creeped out when the feet moved again and quickly nudged my shoulder until it flew away. I never saw it, but can only assume it was a bird who I think got the bigger shock when it realised I was a living, moving human object.

I was having coffee and breakfast when Otter walked past at around 6:30am. He too had night hiked almost to the top of Lookout Rock and camped less than a mile away right on the trail. He thanked me for removing all the spider webs across the trail and agreed it was a never ending climb! He was heading into Quincy for resupply and only had another 9 miles to Bucks Lake Rd where he could hitch from. I was envious that he was so close to his resupply town as I still had over 80 miles to go!

When I got to Big Creek I filled up two litres and then laid down in the shade and fell straight asleep. I woke to Ladykiller, a hiker I haven’t seen since the desert, and his daughter Sarah who were also looking to fill up their empty bottles. From the creek there was a large climb to Bucks Summit and the day had heated up quickly. I was exhausted and hungry by the time I reached the top and got distracted when I finally received phone signal. When I got around to making lunch I found that one of my packets of mayonnaise had burst, covering the entire contents of my food bag. I had to take everything out one by one and wipe it down with a wet wipe. Hmmm.

By the time I had moved on from lunch it was already getting late, so instead of beginning the descent to Belden I camped at Clear Creek. The campsite had a group already set up who I soon discovered to be the Tahoe Trampers, an group of incredible women (and one man) who hike together each week from Tahoe. We had a great time chatting about thru hiking, and I shared many stories and a few tips on equipment and gear. They were an amazing group of women and I felt reenergised after speaking with them. Clear Creek wasn’t that clear but I was low on water and needed two litres to cook with and use for drinking the next morning.

I cowboy camped up the hill from the ladies and was joined by anther thru hiker Jon from Manchester. Roz I did get the message to him about Belden! 🙂 I didn’t set an alarm and was still so tired from the night before that I didn’t wake until 8:30am, and by that time everyone had left camp. I had a slow morning making coffee and breakfast and didn’t hit the trail until 10am. By this time the sun was already super hot, but luckily the 9 mile climb down to Belden was mostly shaded by trees. I passed the Tahoe Trampers again on the way down after stopping at a conveniently positioned spring which had great water and gave me a chance to check out my blisters. I’ve developed blisters on my little toes in addition to my heels, but each day they’re feeling a little better, and it won’t be long until I receive my new shoes at Drakesbad thanks to Dirty Girl!!

I didn’t realise but the trail actually runs all the way through Belden. Yogi is correct in her guide which says the place is creepy, but anywhere you can get a burger, fries and additional snacks right on the trail is heaven in my eyes. I did exactly that, plus an ice cream sandwich, and joined a whole group of thru hikers in sitting out the scorching afternoon sun in the bar’s air conditioning. Bliss!

At 5:30pm I decided to hit the river for a swim before getting back on the trail for the hot climb up the burned out section leading to Lassen National Forest. There were a couple of drunk locals in the river and a group of people setting up for their famous Friday night rave while I bathed and cleaned most of my clothing. I was back on the trail at 6:30pm and arrived at Myrtle Flats just after 9pm as it got dark. This is when the encounter with mountain lion took place. I’m getting chills just thinking about it.

Today was another tough climb in the heat after the helicopter and ground rescue team departed. Harlon and Rusty were great guys and I burst into tears and hugged Harlon when they arrived, explaining what had happened with the mountain lion. They said they would have been frightened too. They never received the cancelled SOS message which is bizarre because my Spot said it had sent, but they were just glad I was alright. I was so thankful to them and the entire team that came looking for me, it was just so overwhelming. It still is!

I was jumpy at the start of the day and so tired that I didn’t expect to put in many miles, then after I realised I had signal, most of the day was spent on the phone. I was able to finally chat with UB and find out what’s been happening up north. It was so good to talk to him again after receiving mixed messages of what was really going on, but he sounded a lot better than I expected and it gave me a huge sense of relief. I believe in you UB, I know you can do this!

I can hear noises outside my tent but I’m going to put my phone down and sleep much more soundly tonight than last night. I feel a lot safer in my tent cocoon tonight!

This video records my most terrifying trail experience to date.

Watch for the glowing eyes in the first few seconds towards the top left of the video:

Thank you to Harlon and Rusty, my two ground rescuers who started at the trail head at 5am to come and find me:

Today began with coffee, pop tarts and good conversation with Fuller. It wasn’t until I hit the trail that I realised it was already 8am. My 10 by 10 routine seems to be slipping, but like I said to Fuller, some of the best trail moments are experienced between hiking. I believe it’s important to take the time to experience both.

When I did hit the trail I was lethargic and a little brain numb so a second breakfast was in order following the slight detour down Quincy-La Porte Road to a creek. It’s rare for me to go so far off trail for water (a whole 0.3 miles) but it seemed like a better source than Whiskey Spring, and in the end was worth the detour. Both Otter and Fuller had the same idea and after washing my hands and face I started to feel a little more alive.

The trail had an incredibly flat grade for a substantial amount of miles early on in the day. This meant the miles ticked over relatively fast until I got incredibly hungry and saw that Otter had stopped to snack on salami and Kettle chips, or as he refers to it, meat and potatoes. I was unsure of which way the trail went and when I asked Otter if he knew he pointed out I was standing on probably the biggest arrow created by sticks on the trail. Whoever makes the arrows and puts sticks across the paths you shouldn’t go down, thank you!

The shade was all too tempting so I stopped for lunch earlier than planned and had a good chat with Otter about his past two experiences on the PCT. He’s also hiked the CDT and is writing a novel while he’s out on the trail. He himself admits he’s a man of few words but has some extremely funny things to say once he gets chatting. We agreed to meet at the next spring for coffee as the lethargy from the morning seemed to creep back into the afternoon as well. I think it was due to the weather being pretty darn hot.

The next spring had beautifully fresh cold clear water. It was a steep 500 foot climb down but well worth it. I was hoping it would be deep enough to swim, but I would have to wait for the Middle Fork Feather River which was another 5 miles down the trail. On the way down there I caught up with Woozy and Lodge Pole who I’d only met earlier that day. They started the trail at Kennedy Meadows and were still in the honey moon period. It was great feeding off their energy for the full climb down to the river where we all jumped in immediately on arrival. The water was almost warm and felt absolutely amazing after such a hot and sweaty day. Straight from the river I knew the trail was going to climb 3000 feet over 10 miles. The thought of doing this in the morning was not an option, so I cooked dinner on the beach next to the river and hit the trail again at 7:30pm.

It got dark pretty quickly and only Otter and I decided to take on the mountain at night. I thought the moon might be bright enough to avoid using my headlamp, but there was so much tree canopy covering the trail I needed to turn on my light if I wanted to see anything in front of me. Luckily I did because there were some giant spider webs across the trail with giant spiders right in the middle of them. There were also giant centipedes on the trail. I swear I only see the really creepy bugs at night!

At about 10pm I really started to notice the pain in my shoulders. I was definitely out of my comfort zone in the dark with the spiders, and I didn’t want to stop hiking in case a mountain lion or another creature was close behind me. This meant that I hiked non stop from 7:30 – 11:00pm with a pack still full with 5 days food and two litres of water. It felt double that by the time I reached the top. I passed a few tents on the way up and found a perfect little flat spot right at the 30 mile mark for me. There was only one switch back that just went on and on and on for about 5 miles to the top after the first 5 miles of climbing. This drove me a little crazy as I prefer more switchbacks which get you to the top a lot quicker.

My body hurt so much when I got to camp that I didn’t have the energy to write, but was also in too much pain to sleep. I was happy to have done a 30 miler on my 3 month trail birthday but knew I was going to be tired and hurting in the morning!

It’s already 44 minutes past my bedtime but I’m hoping to jot down at least a few notes from today’s activities as it felt like an eventful one (don’t they all?). My alarm went off at 4:30am and soon afterwards I heard clicking coming down the trail. It sounded like hiking poles with my bandana still covering my ears but when I looked up to see who was coming down the trail so early I saw something much larger than a person. As it was still mostly dark I couldn’t make out the shape until it got much closer, then soon realised the clicking was the hooves of a large deer. It didn’t even notice me lying there, and simply went about its morning stroll straight past my sleeping bag and over the other side of the hill. Deer are one of my favourite animals to see out here and definitely the ones I’ve had the fortune to see up close.

After watching a spectacular sunrise whilst eating a pop tart for breakfast, I packed up my things and headed to the first water source a couple of miles down the trail. I had less than half a litre left and was looking forward to filling up and making my morning coffee. On the way to the lake I bumped into Fuller and another hiker named Matt who were camped close by. Fuller was about to make coffee, perfect, so I headed to get some extra water while the kettle boiled. The water in the lake was very unappealing, but luckily two women hikers I met heading into Sierra City were camped there and offered me some additional water they had already collected and treated. My timing was perfect!

After a good hit of coffee Fuller and I hit the trail and actually hiked together for some time chatting about the early days of the trail, UB’s SoBo hike and life off trail. It was the first time I’ve hiked with anyone since UB and it was a nice to have someone to chat to while the miles ticked over in the background. There were a number of water sources just off trail today and a few long stretches in between so we had to pay close attention to what was coming up. The first of which was a spring just off the trail to the right where the two ladies who gave me water this morning were sitting. Fuller and I filled up a litre each. He made Gatorade and I made my new Carnation Breakfast and granola mix. When I told him the story about the deer this morning, saying I thought it was a hiker coming down the trail because of the clicking sound of hiking poles, he exclaimed ‘why was the deer using hiking poles?’ I was in fits of laughter so many time today.

We hiked separately to the second spring where Fuller stopped for lunch and I continued on, hoping to find higher ground for my break with a view and preferably phone signal. As it often does, the trail provided me with a large climb straight from the A Tree spring to a nice shady spot over looking the valley with 4G! You little ripper! Here I made lunch and started my ‘Insights into thru hiking’ series. Then Fuller caught up and we watched one of the funniest YouTube videos Fuller had recommended after a conversation we had about my waning excitement for my resupply food. The clip was of a Norwegian called Alexandre Gamme digging out his final food cache on his unsupported expedition to the South Pole and back (he completed the first ever return trip alongside two Aussie boys!). It’s all in Norwegian (Vidar you can translate for us) but it’s absolutely hilarious!

I had to pop a blister on my heel at lunch, and once I started walking again, the pain of it rubbing on my shoe became unbearable. So much so, I had to strip off both shoes and wear my trusty purple Frocs for the next 3 miles until water. My mood turned into one of frustration as soon as I started walking again, as the memories of the first painful 700 miles came flooding back. I took a fall on a steep dusty slope about 15 minutes in and had numerous sharp rocks pierce the soles of my feet. When Bandleader past me I was super grumpy, and when he told me he was aiming to do 30 miles a day using the 10 by 10 method I simply responded ‘good luck with that’. Sorry Bandleader.

When I did reach the next descent stream Fuller wasn’t far behind, so I called for a coffee break to regroup and lighten the mood. He accepted. It was during this break that we discussed an interesting psychological theory in which people perform better when they believe they are performing better than the average. This applies to thru hiking and the frustration I had felt the other day when being passed by a faster hiker when you think you’re hiking fast. It’s not a race out here, but it’s a constant battle to hike as efficiently as possible and maintain a steady pace. If ten hikers passed you in a day, you would definitely start to question your own methods and lose confidence in your ability. Whereas when you pass other hikers, it usually gives you an additional push to maintain the speed at which you are travelling. Bizarre hiking psychology.

Before departing our coffee break Fuller and I discussed what to do with my blisters and decided using second skin with breathable tap over the top to keep it in place would do the trick. Sadly it did not, and during the next few miles it all became too painful again that I switched back to the Frocs. There were so many tree trunks over the trail and painful stones that I started to go a little nutty.

Thankfully and the next break site as I was about to get out my tiny little pocket knife and take on the heels of my shoes, Fuller arrived. He knew from the change in my footprints exactly where I’d swapped to the Frocs and he insisted before I do damage to my shoes to give the tape he used on his blisters one last try. We needed to drain both heels again, then lathered on the tape. He then gave me a pair of his toe socks to wear as an additional layer to my regular socks. For the next three miles this actually worked!

It was already 8pm when we began these last few miles to Whiskey Spring where the dribble of water was enough to cook dinner and camp with. We bumped in Otter there too and camped in the first flat spot near the spring as the light of the day quickly slipped away. It’s around 11pm and once again way past my bedtime, but a descent 23 mile day competed none the less.

A group of us were discussing the big climb out of Sierra City this morning over breakfast. I commented that we’d made it through the Sierras so what was all the fuss over a big hill about? Well this ‘hill’ was a little bigger than I had expected. In fact most of the 12 miles I hiked today were uphill, not steep, but up none the less.

After my delicious breakfast I had to pack up the rest of my gear and get moving. A new wave of hikers arrived as I was leaving including Horny Toad and Sexy Legs who I hadn’t seen since Yosemite. Most people were waiting until it cooled down before departing, but I’d already lost too much time this morning and was determined to put in a decent distance, knowing fully well I wouldn’t get anywhere close to 25 miles departing after 2pm.

I was hoping to get a ride back to the trail head on Hwy 49 having walked the extra miles into town, and knowing the way back was all uphill. I made slightly more of an effort to actually stick my thumb out which resulted in the first car pulling over and popping the boot (Aussie for trunk). I was relieved to see the passenger wearing a PCT hat and coincidently the couple (Karen and Bruno) were the parents of another thru hiker due to arrive in a few days. I couldn’t have timed it better!

We’re entering back into rattle snake territory and longer stretches without water. I filled up at the first spring but skipped the second thinking I’d make it to a campsite near the lake 14 miles in. I stopped at the 12 mile mark because I’ve got phone signal which will save me time blogging tomorrow, but I’m down to under half a litre so there’ll be no coffee or oats in bed tomorrow morning.

At about 6pm I started getting lethargic and decided to stop and cook dinner to give me energy for the final 6 miles. I chose to eat the Alpine Aire Chicken Gumbo meal I’d packed as a treat and alternative to my regular homemade meals. It turned out to be a disaster, tasting so horrible I could barely stomach it.

I started hiking way too soon after eating and experienced reflux and heartburn for the next hour until I decided enough was enough. I went to check Halfmile’s app and realised I had phone signal for the first time since before Sierra City! I had a message from UB who was almost at the trail in Northern Washington. It’s so hard to believe he’s back on the trail this evening, sleeping under the same stars approximately 1,400 miles away. He has to walk 30 miles north to reach the Canadian border tomorrow before starting his SoBo challenge on Monday morning. Good luck UB, we’re all wishing you well!

It’s now 10pm, my new bedtime to successfully complete 10 miles by 10am for the next 7 days. I’m looking forward to this new challenge and am feeling very positive as I head closer to the halfway point in just over 100 miles!