Between Asphalt and Forest

1:01 PM

I still can’t quite find my rhythm. It feels lonely here. The roads are vast, the buildings spread far apart. Cars are big and loud. The food is strange — soft and bland. People seem social on the surface, but there’s an underlying sense of caution. They stand alone in corners, smoking, subdued and empty, having forgotten who they could be.

I hope the people on the trail have a more positive disposition — people who want to live, and dare to.

I take an Uber to the last motel. From there it’s one more day of travel to Ross Lake Dam, where I’ll have to decide which approach route to the PCT I can take. That decision depends on snow conditions and trail maintenance. So next up: finding a ranger.

6:40 PM

Prepping for the next six days. I’ve never been a big fan of dehydrated food — it all ends up tasting the same — but I don’t yet know what’s available out there, so I’m playing it safe.

Various quinoa meals, fruit-and-yogurt breakfasts, a pile of bars, noodles, and chocolate milk. Everything goes into an odor-proof ziplock bag, which then gets packed into a bear bag. That bag needs to be hung from a tree about 50 meters away from the tent.

Pfff. What a hassle, all over again — but still lighter than carrying a bear canister. The can is only mandatory in the Sierra, so I’ll sort that out later. For now, this already feels heavy enough.