Trout Lake - Yahoo!

7/28/13

PCT mile 2227.5 (Mosquito Lake) - 2237.5 (Rd 23 to Trout Lake)

Elev. 3722 - 4209

**somehow I lost day 2  (7/23/13) of the blog while trying to publish it, sorry, not sure how to insert it. That day we camped at Rock Creek having hiked 11 miles.**

This morning when we got out of our tents we noticed mist swirling in the tree tops, it was cold and damp making everything feel wet. On the trail by 6:45 we had a 1,000 ft climb in a 2 mile stretch coming up that we wanted out of the way while it was still cool.  We kept our jackets on for awhile until we warmed up.  All the hiking was in deep forest, no views, traversing slopes and winding uphill. We heard a couple of elk bugle above us on the forested hillside, what an eerie sound!  Then thundering hooves as they crashed away from us down the mountain. Wish we could have caught sight of them.  

We stepped out of the forest a bit after 12:00pm and saw a couple we'd met on our 2nd day hiking. They'd spent the night at Trout Lake and were just getting back to the trail. 

On our 3rd try at hitching we got a ride from Matt who was camping with his girlfriend (she's in the car) and his big dog.  Matt had not heard of the PCT so we had lots to talk about on the 13 miles into Trout Lake. He lives in Portland and was just camping for the weekend. Thanks Matt!

Our first stop was for lunch at a busy cafe, we sat outside and chatted with a gentleman who had hiked the trail in '73 and '84. He had lots of tales to tell. 

After lunch we walked to the store where we'd each mailed a resupply box to ourselves. We talked to 2 other hikers there who were trying to find a place for the night.  We called the Trout Lake Inn and got their last 2 bed room. So with boxes in hand we road walked another mile to the Inn.  These are very friendly, accommodating folks. We did laundry & used their 2 bicycles to ride back to town for dinner and snacks after we cleaned up. A shower was heavenly and having clean clothes was wonderful!  I finally got to call home and talk to Robin, we'd not  had cell service for long enough to call family this whole week!

There's a list at the Inn of people who offer rides back to the PCT so I called until I found a man and wife who will pick us up here at the Inn tomorrow morning & take us back to the trail. Now for a clean bed, real pillow and soft sheets, zzzzz.