Day 75 - Mile 1016.42 to 1018.3

June 28

Definitely no hurry today.  I had enough water to dry camp, but there was a stream just a short walk away.  Got to have a second cup of coffee after breakfast.

It was still cloudy and a couple of times I thought it might rain.  Laid in the tent for awhile just in case.  Around noon I decided to head down to the highway.  Who knows, there might be some trail magic there.

It didn't take me long to get down.  There was just a small dirt parking space with a couple of cars and a small monument.  This is where I was going to be spending the next four hours.  I took my pack off and wandered up the hill to look around.  And then trail magic.  A man came up the hill and asked if I wanted a ride to Bridgeport.  Hadn't been part of my plan, but it sounded more appealing than what I had planned.  I got in touch with Greg and we arranged our meeting spot.

Turns out Cuddles has hiked the PCT twice.  He and his wife were on their way to Mammoth.  When he stopped he saw my pack by the road and figured it belonged to a PCT hiker.  Then he saw me and the way I was walking and knew I belonged to the pack.

I got dropped off at Burger Barn where I enjoyed a BBQ  Bacon Cheeseburger.

Afterwards I wandered down the street a little ways to hang out with other hikers.  Mahalo and I sat on a bench waiting for Greg to show up.  We took Mahalo as far as highways 50 and 28.  He was heading to South Shore and we were going north.  It was a long drive up 395 as there had been a bad accident earlier.

A shower and real bed tonight.  Ahhhhh!!!