Day 78 -81

June 30 Quincy to Home

Once again we were reminded that we cannot predict (anywhere close) to what will happen each day on the PCT.

Chester is the next town north along the PCT, so we decided to take a bus and hitch back to the trail after we bought resupplies. The bus would get us there late afternoon, but ALL hotels in Chester were booked and there are no designated camping areas. There was a place to camp behind a church, but we learned that it is no longer allowed. Hotels and Air bnb in surrounding towns were also booked because of the July 4th holiday weekend, evacuations and folks without AC in their homes escaping the stifling heat.

Darko decided to go to Chester anyway and was planning to take the 3 hour bus ride that left about noon. We decided we would go back home (again!) and wait out fires/heat and figure out resupply. Felt like backtracking- well, probably because it IS backtracking. Our wonderful neighbors Sandra and Teresa offered to drive up the 2.5 hours to pick us up.

We waited in a coffee shop across from the bus stop with Darko for about an hour. Just as we were about to leave and walk up the street to meet our ride, Darko looked up and saw Stilts and another hiker (Shooter) heading toward our table. We haven’t seen Stilts since we were on top of Forester Pass. Crazy! These two hikers were also trying to make their way up to Chester for resupply. We told them we were going home (AC) to figure out how to get back on trail. Stilts said he had to wait for 3 days in Chester for equipment he ordered. We offered our home as a respite while they worked out logistics. All agreed when Rick mentioned we had a pool. Somehow we got 7 people and 5 big packs in a 5 person car. Rough (for guys in the back), but quite a memorable ride

Fun times! Stilts in the pool. Stilts, Shooter and Darko rested for 3 days here. We are headed back to trail on Monday, the 5th.