Distance hiked today: 21.2 miles / 34.1 km.
It's about a 6 mile road walk into town, which is probably the longest we've had to road walk so far. It's pretty impressive that the trail is otherwise nearly one long string of wilderness across the country.
We passed the "1000 miles left" mark which is at 1650.1. The mile markers are ticking by… so close yet so far.
In Seiad Valley we got a delicious breakfast at the general store/restaurant, where hikers lined their backpacks outside the building. A hiker who is attempting the "Fastest Known Time" for a PCT thru-hike also came through - he's on day 34, averaging 50 miles per day, and currently 5 days ahead of the record holder. Incredible.
The tiny post office here is only open from 12-1:30pm today so I had to wait for it to open to get my package of food, and my shoes which I forwarded here when they didn't arrive in Etna. I was glad to see them - they deserved a kiss on behalf of my feet!
I also had my insulin resupply stored here with a trail angel. He brought it over so I could resupply and I shipped it forward to another trail angel in Washington.
Now the issue was the heat… this is probably the hottest place on trail, 33 degrees C in the shade at least, and there's a huge climb out of the valley which is the largest gain in elevation in a single climb of the entire trail. I was trying to wait it out but it really just kept getting hotter… finally at 4pm I headed out into the heat, with still 15 miles to do. It was slow going trying not to overheat, and the trail turned into some bushwacking for a bit through thick bushes where I happened to see a rattlesnake slithering across through a gap in the bushes, right where I was about to step.
I hiked into the night until 10:30pm, checking behind me occasionally to make sure I wasn't being stalked by a mountain lion (which does happen!). I only saw a deer and a frog.
Total trail mileage: 1670.7 miles / 2688.2 km