Town is on the horizon! Sandman and I were off for the races around 5:15 am so we could cover the 36 miles to town with time to spare. My pack was down to it’s lowest weight since all the food I had left was in my hip belt pockets ready to be snacked on. The miles came fast and easy throughout the day, although Sandman was hiking on another level all day. I was running the last few downhill miles to catch up. I drank extra Nuun electrolyte tablets that include caffeine to fuel me through the day. 

Towards the end of the day, I looked across the valley to see huge pillars of smoke arising from the forest. I instantly called 911 and was realized to hear they were on it. Then, I stood there to watch planes dive bomb the fire to release reddish pink flame retardant onto the fire. It was neat to watch the many planes going back and forth, but I was nervous because it looked like the fire was directly where the PCT was headed. Upon asking the fireman the 911 dispatch connected me with if it was safe to hike that direction, he said, “up to you”. 

It looked far enough away so we hustled down the mountain into the town of Castella, CA where I had a box mailed to. We arranged a ride to Dunsmier, which had a Dollar General for Sandman to resupply at and ate at a burger joint. We decided to get a hotel room for the night due to the fire.

Miles: 36.1

Total Miles: 1,730