Jammin' with Jameson

13.8 miles. A somewhat sad day. Woke up at 5:30 to the crack of dawn as the Germans were packing up. We went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until 7. We started up the mountain for a long day of uphill and we’re starting off slowly. Evan wasn’t feeling very well but playing some music helped make the time go faster. My hip was feeling a little off in the morning but not too bad. It took us a while but we finally made it up to mount Laguna. The site of the tavern was incredible and we got beers and a salmon burger that was absolutely delicious. Some tennis was on the tv which was an extra treat. The sad part was that Evan was feeling terrible and changed his mind from dipping at Julian in 35 miles to leaving today. It took us a while to decide what to do but we got to relax, call our moms, and talk to Matt before he headed out on Machu Picchu with Ben. I still was feeling great and wanted to get some more miles in instead of camping there for the night, so I initially was only going to wait with Evan for a while until Hailey came to pick him up. In the search of another beer, we waited outside another tavern that ended up being a few weeks away from opening for the first time. Eventually they invited us in to join their whole family and we had a lovely time talking to the new owner Derek. They gave us some pizza, berries, and beer, which I can and will claim as the first PCT hiker (of many) to ever have a beer there. They asked me a ton of questions about the hike which I found somewhat comical because I’m sure they’ll be overwhelmed with pct hikers and stories by the end of the summer. After I said my goodbyes to Evan and Hailey, I headed out for a very cold and windy sunset hike. What started off as not great conditions ended up turning worse. The wind was absolutely whipping and I was right on the trail line. It got so powerful at points that it almost blew me over and I was able to see the clouds flowing right over my head. I hiked as fast as I could so I could make it a campsites that was lower down and more guarded and ended up running into the Germans. I quickly made camp and had my first cold soaked ramen which wasn’t half bad. I can do this.