Today was nice and lazy, my first actual zero on the PCT. Granted, I only put in a half-mile day when I went into Warner Springs, but that day didn’t feel like a zero, in spite of the distance covered essentially being a rounding error.
I slept in, not actually getting out the door until almost 9:30. The first order of business was breakfast, which was an extremely delicious waffles, eggs, and bacon at the Red Kettle. Following breakfast was a nap — I was pretty exhausted.
After nap, I did my first on-trail resupply, which was extremely light. Somehow, between eating less than I should have, and overpacking, I wound up with four extra dinners, and way too many snacks. I picked up two more sets of dinners, and six days worth of pop tarts for breakfast. (This, of course, involved two trips to the food store, since I forgot to get pop tarts the first time.) I couldn’t find the specific tuna packets I was looking for, so instead of tuna two nights, I’m having spam, courtesy of a hiker who accidentally ordered 96 packets of spam rather than the 48 he intended.
I also took the opportunity to dry out my tent, which was still a little wet from condensation yesterday morning, as well as turn it inside-out and shake out dirt and leaf debris that got inside. (It was a bit more of a nuisance than with my old tent, which I could just set up, open the zippers, and pick it up and shake everything out, but it wasn’t too bad.)
Thanks to the laundry service from my hotel, I have all clean clothes for the first time in two weeks.
Dinner consisted of a small pizza (I should have gotten a 12-inch, rather than 8-inch), and another round of flights from the Idyllwild Brewpub.
Feeling awfully tired for most of the day, I extended my stay through tomorrow, making this potentially a double-zero. However, as I write this, I’m feeling a bit anxious to get back out on the trail, so I’m thinking of slackpacking part of the trail (and some side trails and peak summits) tomorrow that I’d likely miss if I just hiked out. We’ll see how I feel in the morning.
