PCT day 67 - mile 1411 to mile 1432 (Burney Falls)

"Do you guys think I need to sleep with my filter tonight? No? So what if I'm lonely" Fomo.

[We had to sleep with water filters inside our sleeping bags during high Sierra Nevada section because if they got frozen inside overnight the filtration system would get damaged.]

One thing's for sure, sleeping in a massive hall with a bunch of hikers, listening to their crunchy sleeping pads, their farts, coughs and sleep talking does not provide a good night's sleep, especially when the temperature is way above the norm.

Everybody started to wake up and slowly move around the building around 6am, I grabbed my peach lassi and three bananas I got yesterday in Grocery Outlet and went down for the first breakfast. I had a coffee, few sweets provided by the church and went out looking for more food around 7am. I found a food truck selling breakfast burritos outside Safeway, so I got the chorizo one and went back to the hall. At this point people started slowly leaving  back to the trail, I had to wait until Sporting Goods opens at 9am to exchange my Darn Tough socks all nicely cleaned and dried for that occasion.

I finally left the church all packed up and ready to go with half an hour to spare before the shop opened, so I went to a nearby restaurant to have a coffee. Inside I met Rip having breakfast, he decided to take a slow day and get out of town later this afternoon. After a good dispute about our PCT adventure I said goodbye and left to exchange the socks. The process went surprisingly smoothly and I was on the road trying to catch a hitch back to trail ten minutes later. After ten minutes of sticking my thumb up a gentlemen called Ron stopped and took me back after picking up another hiker Steady along the way.

Before the path got steep again as it always do, it lead us next to the most beautiful waterfall on trail so far called Burney Falls with lots of tourists and day hikers walking around it's proximity. Rest of the shorter than usual day was spend walking uphill towards the designated campground. 

Group we assembled two days ago in Trail Angels Cafe is still surprisingly intact and we are only missing Rip from the original squad, so there's nine people camping with me tonight. We will most likely end up hiking together to the next town called Dunsmuir which we should reach in three days. It's definitely a nice alternative to hiking solo, so I'm looking forward to it. I doubt the group will stay intact after Dunsmuir, but who knows I might still end up walking with few members past that point.

It's hot and it will remain so for next couple of days, I can hear thunder in the distance, there might be an unexpected storm visiting us tonight which just changed the plans of three cowboy campers in our group and I can hear them setting up their tents just in case it happens. Better safe than wet and miserable.

Burney Falls:
DJ Sweetheart mixing his food:
Mosquito protection vs no Mosquito protection:

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