PCT day 73 - mile 1577 to mile 1607 (Etna)

"They fixed the road for us last year and even painted this yellow line in the middle just for me! But I don't really care about it" Molly.

Good day, I hiked into Etna, resupplied and decided that if I catch a hitchhike back on trail within 10 minutes I'll go back, Molly was there, saw my thumb sticking up and stopped.. fastest hitchhike in my life, this is the way.

Camp Host managed to catch me up yesterday evening, he rolled in to the campsite I was just before sunset along with Can't Touch This who went the wrong way yesterday evening and ended up doing 38 miles to catch up.

Trail leading to town was quite steep but at least there was a lot of streams available so we didn't have to worry about water carry. Everybody were rushing as people had hotel rooms booked, packages at the post office etc. I didn't have any reason to run except topping up my food so I was taking my time and enjoying the trail. At my final stop before town two bold chipmunks were approaching me to get some food (usually they are easily scared), so I fed them some tortilla I was eating and they seemed to enjoy it.

I arrived at the road leading to Etna just before 3pm, Camp Host joined me few minutes later, it was hot and the parking had no shaded area so we stood by the road frying for 45 minutes, only two cars passed in that time none willing to give us a ride. Soon after we got joined by Ping Pong and her daughter who were section hiking PCT from Burney. Almost immediately a pick up truck stopped and offered us a ride! It took nearly half an hour as Etna was 10 miles away from trail head and the driver didn't want to injure us. We got off in the town centre and I went straight to the Dollar General to resupply, plugging in my phone to charge at the laundromat first.

As I was trying to cross the street a guy stopped in front of me and asked if I want some watermellon, he said his name was OG and he is a trail angel from Oregon doing some trail magic over here as the the section he's usually at isn't very busy just yet. Of course I wanted some watermellon! The day was awefully hot, he gave me a big slice on a paper plate and drove off towards the trail head where he could feed and give rides to other hikers.

Etna was a small, quiet town with only 750 population, it had gas station, two stores and a couple of restaurants. It felt like something out of David Lynch movie. After resupplying I made a decision to try my luck and hitch back to the trail, if fortune wasn't on my side I would stay at the local campground but I had to give it a go. And it worked, Molly 83 year old ex-professional ice skater stopped and offered me a ride. She was a delightful companion telling me stories about how she ditched her husband for a man who took her travelling around the world and how her disabled granddaughter loves to drive with her on this road while she takes unexpected cuts and speeds up - oh yes Molly definitely had her Formula 1 moments!

I got back on trail, but since I failed to study the map beforehand I realized that I'm walking through a burned area for next ten miles (I was only planning to walk five) which meant all campsites in the area were out of bounds for safety reasons, so I had to improvise. There was also no water for the next eight miles so I scooped some snow from the patch on the trail (yes the snow is back, but in moderation) and started to scout for a place to camp. Finally after seven miles I managed to find a decent, safe from dead trees area - I set the camp and ate just before it got completely dark.

Deer seem to love this area, I kept on walking on them eating and scare the crap out of them, even in Etna they were grazing literally in people's front yards! When I tried to take a picture of a couple, dog started to bark at me, unphased that he had two deer grazing in his own garden!

Plan for tomorrow is to have a fairly big day and walk into Seiad Valley the day after, as far as the weather is on my side it should be doable.

Hitching out of town with Molly:
Hitching into town with Ping Pong and Camp Host:
Can't Touch This zooming out:
Etna:
Deer in someone's front yard, cat and dog are not bothered:

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