Post PCT - Oregon Coast Trail day 5

[Three Rocks to Beverly Beach State Park]

"I don't take seriously anyone who talks about the environmental issues in this country anymore" Rad, the biker.

Today kind of sucked but at least it had a good beginning. I went down from the Three Rocks and followed the road back to Highway 101 where I got a fairly quick hitchhike to Lincoln City. Once here I went straight to Safeway', did a small resupply and an obligatory Ben&Jerry's ice-cream, it was 'Topped Dirt Cake' today. I sat down on the bench outside the market and started to eat my breakfast. Then a guy walking to his car asked me if I hiked a lot so far, so I told him about my PCT adventure and current Oregon Trail travel he seemed impressed and handed me a bunch of banknotes adding up to 23 dollars, it was the second time it happened to me on trail, very generous gesture and actually helps me quite a bit since I can't currently withdraw any cash because I don't have a working bank card. I thanked Gary as that was his name, he asked me to mention him on Facebook which I don't have and drove away.

It was definitely pinnacle of the day and it wasn't even 10am, from here on everything seemed extremely slow going, I didn't manage to catch another hitchhike for the rest of the day, I think it was due to the fact that it was Sunday and people were late and/or stressed out about getting back home or to their holiday destination. The line of cars on 101 was neverending, it was taking me ages to cross the road as they kept on pouring both directions.

Today's hike consisted of either walking on beaches or next to that busy 101, I don't think I even saw Oregon Coast Trail sign whatsoever. Just before 5pm I decided to lift my thumb up for the last time and I managed to catch a.. bus. It was going where I wanted to go so I just paid 2$ and hopped in. Driver was very friendly, she told me about hiker/biker campsite just before Newport city I could stay for the night which was a perfect option, she dropped me off in the area and even refunded 1$ for the shorter ride, great lady.

The state run campsite was very nice and  completely full, only the hiker/biker area which allowed people arriving on foot or cycling in was fairly empty. I ended up talking with Rad the biker who was staying the night and after an hour another two hikers came in, both of them dropouts from the PCT due to various reasons. Overall a pretty mediocre day but still I made a decent progress and ended up roughly where I wanted to be.

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