Daily Mileage

9.51

Elevation

2776 feet up
663 feet down

Campsite

Mile 549.0

Total Miles Hiked

248.6

Hours Spent Hiking

3 hours 32 minutes

The Best Part?

🌞Slow morning in the hotel & trail magic!

What Did I Learn?

👉I like hiking when it’s warm (the sun was out and it felt good)

Date Hiked

May 7, 2023

 PCT Trail Journal: Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0

Day 26 on the PCT from Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 started in my lovely king size hotel bed. Being on the PCT makes you appreciate things more. I’ve never appreciated beds more.

The Tehachapi trail angels are amazing. Thru-hiking pro-tip: get on the PCT trail angle Facebook pages. It will connect you to people that want to help.

This is where I got with a trail angel named, Split. We texted and and he picked me up 2 hours later to take me to the Willow Springs trailhead. I decided to skip the 8 miles between highway 58 and Willow Springs. Everyone said it’s kinda boring and just a windmill farm.

Today’s hike was 2000 feet up over 9 miles to a cute little area that trail angels set up. There were a lot of cool views of the windmill farms and a gazillion wildflowers. Entire hillsides were covered. The incline wasn’t too bad and it was a pretty easy 9 miles. I made it to Mile 549 in 3.5 hours.

At Mile 549.0, trail angels set up chairs, an umbrella, water, a pantry, a library, a trash can, and a hiker box. It was so nice! It was sunny and I just chilled with 2 hikers. We ate snacks and talked about the trail.

More hikers trickled in and I just decided to stay here for the night. I intended to get a little further to not have huge days to Hikertown.  Everyone says it’s creepy. I have a box there so I had to stop. One guy suggested a couple of 20-mile days to get out of Hikertown.

The sun went down and it started getting cold. But was nice and warm in my sleeping bag 🙂!

Note about my rest day in Tehachapi

People are so nice! Split, the trail angel, cruised me around to get my package. It was so nice because the weather was bad and everything is far in Tehachapi. Then I met a random lady at the hotel breakfast who offered to drive me around to run errands. My mind was blown with how much people wanted to help 💛💛💛. 

I won’t bore you with the other details of my rest day, like how I drank chocolate milk while taking a hot bath, ate a lot of food, and watched a ton of Naked and Afraid 🤣.

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 24: Mile 578.1 to Tehachapi here

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 23: Mile 597.3 to 578.1 here

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 22: Kelso Road to Mile 597.3

Trail Self-Reflection

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 rest day

✨3 Things I’m Grateful For

1. Rest days
2. Good smelling clothes
3. The sunshine 🔆

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 Ready to Hike!

✨3 Things I’m Excited About

1. More hiking
2. Becoming an Olympic gold-medal level thru-hiker
3. Looking at wildflowers

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 snow capped mountains

🌟How Was Today? Did I enjoy it?

It was a good day. I slept in a bit in a real bed and then hiked to a chill spot with some trail magic.

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 wild flowers

⛺How Was My Gear?

My new food bag is starting to rip. Maybe I have too much food? All good on the gear front otherwise. I installed my new backpack stays and have a nice little arch in them.

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 views

💪How did my Body Feel?

My knees felt ok on the hike. My right neck/shoulder didn’t like the heavy pack. I didn’t even have a lot of water. It’s all the food.

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 trail magic

🍴How was my food situation?

I might have overcompensated on the snacks. I bought a lot of stuff from Walmart and now think I have too much food. I may leave some at the trail magic.

PCT Trail Journal Day 26 Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 zpack freeduo

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

People are really kind and like to be helpful. I should remember this and be more kind myself.

Read Other PCT Trail Journals

✨ 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. 

Nat Geo PCT Map Pack Thumbnail

PCT National Geographic Maps

Map pack for the PCT (affiliate link)!

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