Today was a reroute day. It adds 20 miles to our hike but it’s what we have to do to walk around the fire closure on the PCT. It’s not too bad of a detour and doing this meant we could leave right at the Oregon border rather than skipping up over a hundred miles north to the nearest road that intersects the trail.

We started on the PCT and then began a long road walk that ran roughly parallel to the PCT directly west. Road walking is tough on the feet. We all noticed sore feet much earlier in the day than normal. We typically end with sore feet but it was lunch time by the time our feet were aching. A guy by the name of Squirell started hiking with us and showed us a route that cut through some trails and made it much easier to reconnect with the PCT tomorrow. We’re very thankful for the guidance and his comedic presence.

After some time, we come upon a waterfall with some locals enjoying the scenery before heading onward. We end up at an area called ‘Chain of Lakes’ and set up camp. It’s only ten more miles back to the PCT, but that’s tomorrows problem.

Happy trails…