PCT day 63 - mile 1318 to mile 1331 (PCT midpoint, Chester)

"I got my trail name when I ordered 250 bags of Yorkshire Tea from England, I just couldn't drink any other tea. I carry them all in my backpack" Cuppa.

"I'm dislectic, one day I got drunk and decided to tattoo the number "116" on my arm to help me during the army drills, lots of Americans reads it now as "911" Pussycat.

Only short stroll today but I hit a major landmark and decided to have a Nero in a town called Chester.

The crew consisting of Mooch, Alex and Ben woke up with me at 5am and we set off twenty minutes later to reach the PCT midway point located five miles away. Weather was sunny but still cold and about two inches of snow were covering the path before us.

We reached our destination at 8:30am took few pictures, signed the trail register and savoured this special moment for a moment, then there was time to pick up our backpacks and walking poles again and walk those few remaining miles to town.

I walked a bit slower, stayed behind and arrived at the highway 36 leading to Chester at 10:30am, but no one wanted to pick up a scruffy looking single hiker, so I stood by the road for almost an hour with my thumb up until Johnathan, owner of Antlers Motel drove by, he was dropping off a bunch of hikers back on trail and picked me up on his way back. Very friendly guy, we had a chat about the Dixie fire and how it affected local life, he told me about a pack of wolves that has been introduced to the area and managed to survive the fire by going down to a meadow with a strong flowing stream which saved their lives!

Jonathan dropped me off at the Holiday Market where I did most of my resupply, then I called local trail angel Michelle, she said that she will be out of town until 5pm but if I can stay in town until then I'm welcome to stay at her place tonight. I felt that I need a reset as the last (emergency) stop in town I had was in Truckee nearly 200 miles ago so I said yes. In the meanwhile I visited my favourite stop in any town - the laundromat! But this one failed me horribly, the washing machine was faulty, clothes came out dirty and full of washing powder stains, so I had to wash it under a sink and it took forever to dry. Looks like nothing is perfect, even the laundromats.

Michele and her husband arrived as agreed at 5pm and they took seven of us: Rip, Fomo, Cuppa, Jedi, Hades, Pussycat and myself to their stunning house by the Lake Almanor. We all got a shower, drunk couple of beers and then our hosts made us a buffet style dinner consisting of grilled chicken, mixed salad and roasted vegetables - exactly the things you are not able to eat on trail, it was perfect. After that most of the crew went to chill out in the outside jacuzzi which I opted out of and decided to indulge myself in a conversation with our hosts instead.

They were as expected very wealthy people who loved nature and travelling, their open mindedness to invite a bunch of wandering strangers into their home impressed me. It's the second year they are helping hikers on the road and they are planning to continue doing so. Being able to have a roof over my head for one night, have shower and a nutritious food without expectation of getting anything in return is unique and mind boggling to me. There are really humans like this on the planet!

At hikers midnight around 9pm we all got assigned beds and floor spaces, I got quite lucky and others agreed to let me sleep in one of the two available beds from which I'm writing it all right now.

Perfect reset day, we are off to stacking miles again tomorrow morning!

PCT midpoint signpost:
Mooch and the Ben and Mooch:
Fomo:

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