15th May 2025

It was the coldest night on trail so far. I woke a few times experiencing the loss of feeling in my feet and a numb nose. Despite being able to see my breath the entire night there was no condensation in the tent. We’ll take the small win! 

We began our descent, walking from woods into exposed burn zone. The blackened remains of trees stood like skeletons lining the way to the road. We don’t have wildfires in England so I have a limited knowledge of them. My understanding is that while wildfires are a natural part of forest life with many benefits to the ecosystem, the rate and intensity of them have been escalated due to global warming counteracting these benefits. In the case of the Bridge Fire, arson was to blame which feels so wasteful, especially when walking through the wreckage it caused. 

As we reached the road we spotted Lieutenant Dan, a hiker who walked the PCT in 2016 and now offered trail magic. He had a tarp coming out of his truck, under which was a rug, and coffee on a hot stove. Our morning then got better when another trail angel, Patrick, showed up. Double trail magic! Before we knew it Dan was tucking into a freshly made chilli dog and me a grilled cheese. Amazing. 

We finally left the side of the road full bellied and buzzing from coffee. The next section of PCT was closed due to conservation efforts. The mountain yellow-legged frog is endangered and has recently been discovered in this area, subsequently, this part of the trail has been closed to protect it. We took the quiet road following the tarmac as it snaked its way around the mountains. Walking was fairly easy going and, while heavy on the joints, made a nice change. There was an abundance of roadside toilets and picnic benches to break at. Dan and Chapstick even made use of the data available to watch an episode of SpongeBob while walking. 

By the time the strain of road walking outweighed the novelty, we were back on trail and quickly arrived at the 400 mile marker. Here Chapstick announced he was willing to change his trail name to Sweet Rolls. He was named this for his appreciation and promotion for Hawaiian Sweet Rolls to be used for hiker lunch’s instead of wraps. 

Shortly after this mile marker we made camp at Camp Glenwood. We had walked with the same group we camped with last night making us a party of 10. Luckily, the camp was big enough to fit us all plus 2 extras who joined us in the evening and would continue to walk with us the following day. Realistically we couldn’t stay a party this size, but it was satisfying to see two picnic tables cramped full of happy chatty hikers.

At dinner we realised we could order pizza to the place we planned to camp at the next night. As we were settling in the tent Sweet Rolls read out the menu from the pizza place. A hikers lullaby if you will, helping me fall into one of the best nights sleep on trail thus far.