Day 24: Into Etna

PCT Mile 1586.1 to 1599.7

Miles Hiked = 13.6

At 5:25am the lightening sky outside my tent had me stirring

I was packed and on the trail by 6:15. As I left camp, Layla was packing up also – I told her “see you on the trail”

The trail immediately exited the forest where I had camped and began to cut across a rocky and exposed mountainside with a steep drop off on my left.

It was another beautiful morning and I enjoyed the early morning views into the shadowed valley below.

As I hiked on I could see the trail cutting across the next hillside. It became evident that there had been a fire in this area sometime in the past – my NatGeo PCT map indicated there was a fire here in 2014 called the Whites Fire.

Can you find the trail?

I passed by some pretty orange flowers

After two hours of hiking I took a break and enjoyed the views looking back at where I had come from this morning.

Layla passed by and then I continued through the burn zone.

Later in the morning the trail crossed over a ridge and I suddenly had views to the southeast.

Farmland in the distance

Mt Shasta

A few days ago I made a reservation for tonight and tomorrow at Motel Etna. Etna is known as one of the most hiker-friendly towns along the entire PCT. I was looking forward to my visit. When I had cell service I sent a text to Derek and Shannon, the managers of the motel, inquiring about a ride from the trail into town (8 miles). They were happy to come and pick me up. Awesome!

I continued hiking and ran into Layla once again. She was also headed into Etna so I told her that I had arranged for a ride into town and that she was welcome to join me.

It was 11:10am and I needed to be at the road by 12:30pm. It was three miles away but it was all downhill. As I descended I thought I could see the road in the distance.

I reached the road at 12:20 – Layla was already there. There was a marker for PCT mile 1600 but we were actually only at 1599.7. Oh well – close enough!

Shanon picked us up right at 12:30. She had a cute little 4-month old puppy.

It wasn’t long until I was enjoying a hamburger with a strawberry milkshake!

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