After taking a zero to rest in Stehekin (and since it rained all day, it was a good day not to be on the trail!), we had an easy short ride into Rainy Pass today, our last road crossing before Canada. There I was the lucky recipient of a whole lot of the trail magic that the PCT is so famous for.

First, my friend Nathan, who I had met at Cayuse horse camp, kindly drove out to meet me with his wife and family from their home in nearby Winthrop, bringing with him the large cache my mother had left for me at Goat's Beard outfitters in Mazama, the closest town to Rainy Pass. She left feed for Shyla that I would carry with me for this next section to the end of the trail, as well as hay for us for tonight, as we camped at Rainy Pass, and more food for me as well. It was really nice of Nathan to volunteer to bring me these supplies so that I didn't have to leave Shyla tied up somewhere while I hitched into town to get it.

On top of that, there were some people cooking chili dogs at Rainy Pass as a treat for hikers, and since I was the only one of the crew that was camping at High Bridge who left that day to continue on the trail, I was the only one eating chili dogs! I think the trail magic people were a little disappointed and worried that they had missed all the hikers, but I assured them that there were plenty more to come; they were just waiting it out for another day. And in the meanwhile, could they pass me another chili dog . . . ?

#2016PCT