Day 64 – Thursday, July 27

PCT Mile 951.7 to PCT Mile 970.6
Day Total: 18.9 miles

Today we saw the first trail crew we've seen on the entire hike!

We came across a California Conservation Corps backcountry trail crew working on removing overgrown branches along the trail and replacing water bars. They were very friendly and we were grateful for their work. The trail looked great through that section.

I've done a little trail work with the YCC program in Yellowstone and it is grueling work. I have nothing but respect for the strong people who maintain trails.

We had lots of steep up and downs today, steeper sections than is typical for the PCT. We crossed some small creeks, but fortunately nothing too fast-moving or deep. The cool thing about all the water on the trail is there were lots of waterfalls!

We hiked over Benson Pass this afternoon, which had a little snow near the top, but nothing in comparison to the high passes we've done.

After Benson Pass, we met a PCT hiker who started at the Mexican border like we did, only six weeks earlier. He had flipped north to Ashland, Ore., because of the snow in the Sierras when he got there in early June. He was now hiking back south to where he had left off, and then will return to Ashland and continue hiking north.

On the trail, this type of hike is called a flip-flop. With all the snow this year hikers have had to get creative to create a safe hike. I feel lucky that we happened to start late enough that we've been able to hike straight through.