May 28, 2016

Our first day back on trail began with an early wake up at 6:00am. Not wanting to stick around until 8:00am for the breakfast buffet we packed up and headed to the front desk to drop off some hiker box supplies. After waiting for the front desk to open at 7:00am we were informed that they did not yet have a hiker box this early in the season. Strike out.

It was a steep climb back up the PCT proper and the entire morning was slow going, each of us feeling the days off. We walked mostly through thick pine forests, a novel experience particularly for the feet which had nice soft trail to walk on. We also got our first view of Mount Shasta, a landmark we would be seeing for the next ~3 weeks as we walked a wide circle around it before heading south again.

After a lunch/nap break by a stream we continued into the afternoon stretch hoping to make up some mileage. Alas, that was not to be as we hit our first snow: steep iced over patches requiring slow going and careful footing. We called the day shorter than planned and camped in a nice pine forest hollow.