Tuesday July 28
It was windy until midnight last night. I camped in a burn area, but I was sheltered near a growth of new trees. During one gust, I heard a loud "crack" and then the screech as a tree was falling! It hit not more than 20 feet from my tent! I guess that's just one more thing I need to watch!
Also, my air mattress still has a small leak somewhere. I had to blow more air into it twice during the night. I'll check it out again when I get to Big Lake Youth Camp.
I was on the trail at 5:45. Fortunately the trail was easy walking; no more lava rocks! I reached the camp shortly before 8 and got my resupply box.
They have a special building for PCT hikers. First, however, I had breakfast at their cafeteria. They serve only vegetarian dishes. The scrambled eggs had broccoli in it. I also had hot cereal and two bowls of cold cereal along with slices of pear.
I put together my food for the next 5 days. I still need some snacks, but the camp store didn't open until 9:30. One of the camp staff was headed shopping, and she agreed to pick up some pastries for me.
I took a shower and assembled my dirty clothes. They do your laundry and have it ready by 6 PM.
I took my air mattress down to the lake, inflated it, and checked for leaks. I couldn't find any for the longest time until I spotted it. I brought it back to the hiker building and put a patch on it. Hopefully it is fully repaired now.
While at the lake, some of the campers were out boating.
I had lunch at the cafeteria. There was cheese lasagna, cooked green beans, and a crisp apple. I went back for a second helping!
The camp store had very little in the way of snacks. I managed to get enough to last me for the next five days.
The camp does not charge for their services, but will accept donations. I put a good sum into their donation box.
At 6, the camp had a fire drill. Everyone evacuated to the parking lot. I checked to see how our laundry was doing; they hadn't even finished washing.
I went to dinner and had watermelon, pizza and green salad. They also had chocolate milk which was "oh, so good!"
Camp policy requires PCT hikers to camp offsite. I needed my clothes from the laundry in order to pack up and leave. After dinner, I found all the clothes still in the washing machine, so I took out my clothes. My socks will dry hanging from the back of my pack and my hiking pants will be dry after a half hour of hiking.
I left camp at 7:30 and made it back to the trail by 8. I quickly found a flat spot and was in bed by 8:30. I think that's the quickest I have ever set up camp!
The Big Lake Youth Camp was an extremely enjoyable time. Good food (and lots of it), lots of friendly staff, a great hiker cabin, phone service, WiFi, showers, and a camp store. I even got pastries delivered to me! The only improvements would have been to let us do our own laundry and to have a better selection of hiking food.
I am camped tonight at PCT mile 2003.8. The elevation here is 4,702 feet.
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