PCT day 56 - mile 1141 to mile 1157 (Truckee)

I count today as the second worst (after descending from Sonora Pass) day on the PCT. I knew it will rain but forecast said that it will be just a light shower and perhaps it even was, somewhere down below, but at 10000 feet elevation it was a hell on wheels.

I started walking at 5:10am and as I was getting closer to the Tinkers Knob peak it started to rain, nothing heavy to start with just a light shower as anticipated, after half an hour clouds moved on top of the mountain obscuring the view and the heavy rain and wind commenced. On couple occasions wind pushed me away from the trail, snow got even more slippery and I fell and slid twice and had to plunge my fingers into the snow in order to stop sliding off the mountain, but the 'funniest' thing happened when I jumped off the snow on to a table sized flat rock in order to drop down to the trail and it started to slide down with me on top for couple of metres until it finally plunged itself into the trail. I was wet to the bone, freezing cold and angry at myself for whatever reason. Luckily at this point I only had 5 miles left to reach civilization.

A lot of other hikers went through this baptism of water and wind with me today, few as I learned later on in town from a rescue guard pressed the infamous Garmin button (it's the emergency device you press to call rescue services in life threatening circumstances) due to hipotermia. I decided to give up few extra miles today and get an unscheduled hostel night in Truckee as this situation went well beyond my own comfort zone.

I'm staying at the Redlight hotel in Truckee, which apparently used to be a brothel and it proudly kept its red and glamorous vibes until today. I'm in a bunk bed shared room with few other hikers. 

Positive highlight of the day was the exchange of my Darn Tough socks which are guaranteed for lifetime and since mine got few holes in them over the last couple of days I literally walked soaking wet into Tahoe Mountain Sport in Truckee, took them of my feet, put them into a special bin and got presented with a new pair which I immediately put back on. That's what I call an reliable and edge cutting company! Thank you Darn Tough, you made this miserable day a little bit better!

I'm also sending hopefully one and only package tomorrow morning and it's going back to England. Micro spikes along with few other bits I'm not using much are going home making the pack just that much lighter, I think now I can finally call my backpack truly 'dialled in' and it only took twelve hundred miles.

If I won't see a day like this until the end of the through hike I won't be mad, I won't be mad at all.

Mordor approaching:
Burger at Jax at the Tracks:

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