Day 26 (128)

Miles: 26.4

Mileage: 2,646.4

Like I said, you never know what the mountains will bring. Most of the day was warm and sunny. But as we crested our last PCT climb, we saw a storm a few ridge lines over. As we walked, it came toward us, making every ridge in between disappear until it was on top of us.

It had been a chilly night, so we got a later start because the first 30 minutes of the day were spent in our sleeping bags, avoiding the chill of the morning.

Once we got moving, it warmed up as soon as we got into the direct sun.

We met a ranger today. He was the first (and probably only, seeing as we’re 4 miles from the border) ranger we’ve ever seen anywhere on the PCT.

I was so surprised to see him that as Richard hiked up behind me, I pointed at the ranger and said to Richard, “look, a ranger.” They are the rarest of species out here.

He was nice and we chatted about solar panels.

The rest of the day, the ranger was all any of the hikers could talk about, as he stopped us all to chat while he tallied our number in his notepad.

He told us there would be a 20 percent chance of rain tomorrow. With the rain we had this afternoon, I’m hoping that was the precipitation predicted and it just came a little early.

We’ll see. We’re hoping to take a break at the border at enjoy the moment a bit. But if it’s raining, I will be less inclined to just hang out without cover. We’ll see.