PCT Trail Journal: Day 30 Bear Camp to Lake Hughes Road

Let me start by complaining about the stretch from Bear Camp to Lake Hughes Road:

🌿It was covered in poodle dog bush

🌿I got poodle dog bush on my pants – boo!

🌿Long downs suck and feel never-ending

It was a hard day of hiking. Even with a late stay (we hit the trail at 9 am). The first 10 miles felt long and painful mentally. We wanted to break at a stream that another hiker told us about.

Right from the get-go there was poodle dog bush. I saw it in the morning when going to the bathroom and I was like is that what I think it is? It was. Then we saw it everywhere for the rest of the day.

We hiked several miles through the burn area with poodle dog bush through forests of it. Of course, I got it on my pants and was paranoid about it for days. I probably shouldn’t have Googled “poodle dog bush rash.”

There were burn scars, pine forests, grassy mountain sides with huge trees, burned hillsides with damaged/sketchy trail, and finally we arrived at the stream. There wasn’t a great sitting area but it was wonderful to take a break and eat.

The last 9 miles felt like forever. I was struggling. There was a huge down and my feet wanted to be done. It was down and down forever. The worst part was we could see the road at the bottom and it didn’t seem to get any closer.

We finally made it to the bottom and found a great campsite. It’s along a stream with huge poplars. It’s super sandy and I walked around barefoot a lot. It was heaven to put my feet in the cold water and rinse out my clothes.

Something was up with today. I was in a mood or something. My mental game was not there.

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 29: Hikertown to Bear Camp here

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 28: Mile 528.0 to Hikertown here

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 27: Mile 549.0 TO 528.0

✨3 Things I’m Grateful For

1. Slow(er) morning with more chill time
2. Hiking through so many types of scenery
3. To be finished with poodle dog bush

✨3 Things I’m Excited About

1. Getting to Acton
2. A shorter day
3. More rest time

🌟How Was Today? Did I enjoy it?

The evening chilling by camp was the best. The hike felt super hard. I felt beat up by the end.

⛺How Was My Gear?

My pants protected me from poodle dog bush. Now I might have to throw them away.

💪How did my Body Feel?

Not a good body day. My feet hurt today. All day. Not blisters. Just my feet. My back in the normal spot was hurting. My knees hurt a little but not too much.

🍴How was my food situation?

I still have a ton of food. We are only 2 days from Acton. So I will have a lot of extra.

🤔What did I learn and how will I action it?

Poodle dog bush sucks especially when it’s everywhere. My plan is to avoid it.

Read Other PCT Trail Journals

✨ Day 29, Day 28, Day 27, Day 26, Day 24, Day 23, Day 22, Day 21, Day 20, Day 19, Days 15-18, Day 14, Day 13, Day 12, Day 11, Day 10, Day 9, Day 7 & 8, Day 6, Day 5 , Day 4 , Day 3, Day 2, Day 1

Map for Hiking the PCT

Maps are fun. Plus you should always have a paper map.