August 2, 2021 PCT 2209.3 - 2229.9 PCT miles 20.6 + 2 for failed sunglasses retrieval.

Up at 4:15 AM this morning to race the 20 + miles to the cutoff (FS23) to the town of Trout Lake. The fly swarm experienced yesterday at Bear Lake was replaced overnight with mosquitoes. We moved fast. Morning sunrise was hazy from fires north of us, but haze provides lovely red glow.

After about an hour of hiking Chris spotted some large tracks in the trail that were unfamiliar. Then we noticed that a section of the dry trail was very wet (pee from a large animal?) Next we heard water splashing and thought it was a waterfall not noted on the map. Then, through the trees a few hundred feet below the trail we saw a herd of about 20 Elk (huge and young) splashing in a small pond. We watched them for a minute or two and Chris described their antics as ‘frolicking’, while Rick thought they were fleeing. Yet, not until Chris started speaking while videoing did the herd rush out of the pond to the trees being - clearly frolicking! Hands down.

Soon it was quiet again and we returned to the early morning smooth, efficient miles. Then, mosquitoes re-emerged with a vengeance. They seemed to be on our heels all day wanting to feast.

Saw Bumfoot and Tails again while Rick waited as Chris ran back a mile or two to look for her dropped sunglasses - no luck. She thinks the excitement of frolicking elk had something to do with lost sunglasses.

Chris scored the last available room at the Trout Lake Valley Inn and was determined to get there to enjoy the shower, maybe even two showers. We reached the trailhead at noon having averaged 3 mph for 7 hrs even with the 30 minute sunglasses delay. The thought of showers can do that.

Within minutes of arriving at the road Chris Yogi’d a ride from someone dropping off section hikers. By 2 PM we had shopped at the grocery store, picked up our resupply (filled with delightfully unexpected gluten-free pastries from Alec!), and been offered a ride to our hotel by another friendly local. Trout Lake has proven to be the model of efficiency for PCT hikers. They even have bikes available to guests to use to ride back to town for supplies. We did and thoroughly enjoyed the town and people we met.

Time to replace some calories - eat those pastries! Yummm