Day 113 Nero or zero?

When i woke up I noticed more mosquitoes on the outside of my tent then were there when I went to bed. I again got everything packed up inside and then jumped out of my tent to throw it all in my backpack. The  mosquito attack commenced and I was hiking at 5:50 

Today’s trail seems to have more blow downs than yesterday not sure why. Some of them have been like a jungle gym going over and around, but I am excited to continue down the trail today because I will only be doing 14 miles into Elk Lake resort where I will start a quality Nero. Technically it’s not a Nero because I’m hiking more than 10 but close enough.

As has been kind of the standard scenery for this leg, I pass by another small pond. With the sun coming out there’s a light condensation rising off the surface.

I came up a little hill and I’m in this incredibly green forest area with a little stream running through it and birds chirping in the trees. It is very serene. Shortly after that, the trail became lined with ferns on both sides.

This is one of the first Meadows I have seen in a while. Most wide-open areas have been flooded into ponds or lakes.

The trails come across another one of those geologic features where a large pile of rocks just come up out of the Earth in the middle of a forested area.

I arrived at Elk Lake resort. It was a 1.4 mile off trail hike to get there from the PCT. My daughter, Alyssa has a friend, Kate, who volunteered to help out when I was in Oregon. She is coming to pick me up. Until then I sat in the restaurant and ate two lunches. A Reuben sandwich and fries followed shortly by a Philly cheese steak and fries. I topped it off with a scoop of ice cream. My hiker hunger is returning. 

Kate showed up with her friend and brought me down to the hotel I am staying in and dropped me off. Again the kindness of people is one of my why’s on this trip.

My hotel is .3 miles from REI. I walked over, returned a pair of thermal pants I have been carrying for 1400 miles and have not worn once, bought a new pair of hiking pants as the ones I have will not stay on my waist anymore, and headed back to my hotel for a shower, laundry, and Jacuzzi. 

Once my laundry was done, I was feeling hungry again, so I went to a Hawaiian restaurant called Big Island Kona mixed plate. I got a local Moco. After I was done, I was still hungry so I went a couple stores down to Hola, a Mexican restaurant, and ordered a wet red pork burrito with beans and rice on the side. Back to the hotel to update my blogs and relax in a bed!

My feet are pretty sore from the shoes I have been wearing and my new ones should come tomorrow. Originally I planned to be back on trail tomorrow morning, but may give my foot another day to rest. My part time Tramly (Trail Family) Take Charge and Jelly are also in Bend and returning to the trail Sunday. I may ride with them and spend a few days hiking with them again. I’ll decide in the morning.

Today’s PCT miles hiked 14.3

Total PCT Miles hiked to date 1411.3

PCT mile marker 1952.6

(Flipped over 542.8 miles)