June 24, 2016

I woke up around 6:00am and spent the next hour writing. Once 7:00am arrived I started the walk up the village post office to intercept Alan and hopefully claim my package. Alan was there right at 7:30am and was more than happy to get the package for me. I stuck around while he finished delivering everything else to talk with him about the trail and what had lead to the decision to do it.

Repackaging food and tidying up around Little Haven took longer than expected and it was 10:00am before we had walked the mile back down to the trail. We stopped by the general store to fill in a few missing things and then geared up for the climb.

The next two hours were uphill. We climbed 4000 ft in just over 6 miles - a grade that is a fair bit steeper than most of the PCT. We stopped 5 miles in at a spring that provided some shade and a nice place for a break before finishing the last mile up to the top.

The crest began as exposed ridge line before eventually becoming more forested. Trail crews had not made it to this section yet and there were lots of trees to climb over/around and unclear trail junctions to navigate.

We ran into Moaglee, Goliath, and Little Spoon in the afternoon. More friends from Southern California to add to the list of those passing us. Napoleon was not with them and they weren't sure exactly where he was. Shortly after that we found a stream crossing where the mosquitos were bearable enough to stop for a snack break.

The rest of the day continued along the ridge until the very end when we began to drop down. We crossed the road leading into Quincy and Bucks Lake and tried hard to remember which one had the well-reviewed breakfast burritos; if it was Bucks Lake then we would have another chance the next morning to get into town and grab one.

We camped shortly after the road with a retired couple from the UK. They came over after we had gotten our things settled and we talked for a while as we prepared food before calling it a night.