Day 92
Mile 1357 to Hat Creek Resort (mile 1371), 14 miles
Cost: Stayed in a cabin at Hat Creek Resort for Mrs Smith’s birthday, $22 pp

I put my injinji liners on and realised they’re getting a little holey! 

Before bed last night I made a present for Mrs Smith wrapped in corn lily leaves and moss, decorated with an origami crane on top. There aren’t any shops on the trail so I gave her some goodies from my food bag – a Chia Charge flapjack bar (from the UK, she really likes them), a Kendal mint cake and Nutella sachet!

I was the last to leave around 7am and it was probably the easiest and flattest trail of the entire PCT until now! I loved it! 

Mt Lassen volcano

The nice, flat trail 🙂

I arrived at Hat Creek Resort and RV Park about midday with KC & Teflon. Shepherd greeted us with beers and Doritos, it was a lovely welcome. We had booked a hotel room at the resort but ours wasn’t ready yet so we dropped our bags in the Smith’s room and hitched 4 miles down the road to JJ’s cafe. Amazingly the car that stopped had room for all 6 of us.  

I had a really delicious lunch then hitched back the 4 miles to the RV park in a BMW… KC and I had started a bet back in Yosemite – $20 that I wouldn’t be able to hitch in a BMW, Mercedes, Lexus etc… I was just as surprised as KC that the BMW stopped and picked me up (I hadn’t yet showered or washed my clothes!) but they were very sweet and I  won $20 🙂

Back at the RV park we checked into our room, showered, did laundry, and then I worked out my resupply plan for the next 300 miles until Ashland. 

We gave Mrs Smith birthday cupcakes and a card and had a quiet night in watching TV (there’s nothing in Old Station!)

Just as I was getting ready for bed and charging all my electronics, my Anker battery broke – the micro USB port has pushed inside the case so it now rattles but won’t charge the battery. I quickly ordered a new one from Amazon to arrive by the weekend in Castella, but this means I’m going to have to be very careful with my battery life on my phone/camera/nano and inreach this week!