Day 123 (20 August) - Mile 1537.19 - 1557.74

Paved Parks Creek Road to Paved Highway 3 at Scott Mountain  (Stayed in Etna)

I was surprised how comfortable the bed and pillows were at the Quality Inn. The alarm went off at 6:00 AM and we quickly got out of bed. Brad and Share Bear are expecting us at 7:15 AM and it's a 40 minute drive at least. We went down and raided the breakfast bar of apples, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and a bowl of bacon for Brad and Share Bear  then headed up the mountain to the trailhead.

We arrived right at 7:15 AM as promised. They scarfed down the breakfast goodies and we were ready to hike at just after 8:00 AM. 

Ready to hike.

There is a road almost exactly 20 miles away that Tim is going to meet us at, so we are able to slack pack another day making us very, very happy.

The hike started off quite easy with little ups and down and some beautiful views:

Morning view

Just after noon we came across this amazing view. Mount Shasta is way in the background kind of blending in with the sky.

Mountain lake

Just past the lake was a trail junction pointing toward Highway 3 where we are meeting Tim today.

PCT sign of the day pointing to Tim.

We stopped at the Kangaroo Lake junction for lunch. Unfortunately the lake was about 1 mile off the PCT and we just don't have time for that long of a side trip.

After lunch we headed back on the trail and a few hours later we came to the 2,500 Kilometer mark on the PCT.  Share Bear, who is Canadian said that 2,500 km is a lot. "It is halfway across Canada.", she said.

2,500 Kilometer marker

We were only 3 miles from the road and took a little break. Behind me a chipmunk took a break as well:

Chipmunk on the PCT

I have been hiking in front today so it was hard to get a picture of Share Bear with Brad close behind. I turned around and got this shot:

Share Bear & Brad hiking along

As we were hiking a deer appeared on the trail in front of us. We took a few steps and it took a few steps. I knew it wanted to go to a spring that was coming up.  It stayed in front of us and finally left the trail just before the spring and watched us pass by. I'm sure it got back on the trail behind us to finally make it to the spring.

Deer leading us on the trail

Almost to the end of the day and the views just keep on coming:

Wow!

Finally, right at 7:00 PM we made it to Scott Mountain Summit and Tim.

Scott Mountain Summit

Like last night, Brad and Share Bear decided to camp by the road and I went back with Tim to Etna to stay in a motel. Tomorrow we have to leave the motel at 6:40 AM to make it back to the trailhead to meet Share Bear and Brad. I should go to sleep now, but instead I will stay up way too late watching the summer olympics.