PCT Day 6 – A Nero and a New Name

Started: 07:45 @ MM 101.1 – Barrel Springs

Finished: 11:20 @ MM 109.5 – Warner Springs

Water: Drank 2L. Used lots for laundry, shower and foot spa!

Wildlife: 1 Hummingbird, 0 Snakes, 0 Bears and a huge stone eagle

Health: 0 Blisters. Molluscs still entrenched! 

 So finally the easy day! This was to be my first Nero (a day when you walk nearly zero miles) and I was super keen for it. We had a relaxed start to the day, not setting off from camp until almost 8am. The hiking was easy on a gentle downward gradient across impeccably smooth trails. We passed through rolling prairies of purple wild flowers and lush clusters of woodland. It was beautiful and a welcome change after 2 days in the desolate desert. About 1 ½ hours in we reached a big highlight on the trail … Eagle Rock.

After faffing about at the Rock for a while, we pushed on for Warner. I was really looking forward to a shower and some rest time. When we finally cruised in it was like arriving at a thru-hiker oasis. This place was amazing and provided absolutely everything you needed. We were each issued up with a 5 gallon plastic bucket for washing and laundry. They also gave you detergent, a clean towel and the hiker boxes were overflowing with soap, moisturizer and all manner of goodies. Chance and I even found ourselves a foot spa!   

A wonderful local lady called Mary took us to the Post Office to collect our resupply packages. I had fan mail from Hawaii, which caused much interest  amongst my fellow hikers and immediately cemented my trail name … Hollywood! 

 The rest of the day was devoted to sorting out food packages, doing laundry, eating the wonderful fresh fruit and indulging in a great pasta dinner provided by the Warner Springs community for a minimal donation. I even got my long awaited ice-cream! 

 The evening was spent mingling with other hikers and there was a fantastic festival atmosphere, just without the drugs and alcohol, and everyone was tucked up in their tents by 9pm … officially Hiker Midnight.

 Tomorrow it’s back to work and back to the big miles. This trail is not going to walk itself …

This post is dedicated to the Trail Angels of Warner Springs and April Bates of Hawaii … Thank you!