After a nice night in a real bed and a real shower, I was originally planning to wait for the cafe to open at 9 AM.

But I decided that the egg and sausage burrito that I had bought the day before as a backup to the cafe was good enough for breakfast.

So it was a little later than normal, but I hit the trail well before 9am.

There was still a strong wind, but it wasn’t as cold as the previous morning.

Forster Point allowed for a very beautiful 360 degree view of the area.

Remember when I said it was not as cold as the previous day?

The afternoon changed all that. It was freezing cold at times. Since I was hiking along a ridgeline that just amplified the effect of the wind. I must’ve switched between my windbreaker and my puffy jacket several times that afternoon.

Seeing Garnet Peak was nice, but even nicer was what I saw on the trail…

“50” spelled out in rocks. Odd. What could it mean?

Oh! It’s the first milestone… literally. The first mile marker I’ve seen on trail (except for the 1 mile marker seen beside the trail at the start) and it’s made out of STONES. 😀 Mile-stone.

I officially made it to the 50 mile point of the PCT!! 😄

Only 2,600 more miles to go… 🫨

A picnic area with a water spring was a chance to remind myself of how far I still had to go and to get some water.

I reached a point called Kwaaymii Point (yes, that is spelled correctly). There were a number of tributes and memorials to local people.

As the sun started to dip below the hills and cliffs to the west, I started looking for a campsite. I passed up some listed on the FarOut app and some I found since they didn’t have a decent view or any wind protection. Sometimes, it was hard to get both.

I ended up going pretty late into the evening and stopped to get some pictures of the color from the setting sun.

And ended up finding a good campsite nearby with a great view (plus an even better view if I took a few strides away from my tent) and some wind protection.

I think I chose wisely. 😃

My search for a better campsite ended up getting me to hike almost 14 miles for the day. Longest hike of the trek, so far. And it was where I wanted to be for as many days as possible. The younger hikers talked about 20 and even 30 mile days, but this 59 year old wasn’t going to be able to do that.

Mile 42.8 to 56.7 – 13.9 miles hiked on the PCT