DAY 98: CHESTER DREAMIN'

miles: 22? I actually don't remember.

It's July 26th.

AND WE REACHED THE HALFWAY POINT.

The halfway monument was the carrot at the end of the rope for me. Today was mentally difficult.

Difficult to stay focused.
Difficult to not be bored.
Difficult because of the heat and monotonous scenery.

Hiking all day, every day can be mundane at times. It typically isn't because of the ever changing ecosystems we pass through on a daily basis, but there are definitely those days that are less than exciting.

Today was one of them.

I'm not sure what it was but I was struggling today. Perhaps it was the heat? No option but to keep moving forward. I kept picturing the halfway monument and that is what kept me moving at a fast pace.

We reached the halfway point in the early afternoon and were the only ones there. There was a trail register there where everyone signs and writes a little bit about how the trail has been for them up until this point. It was so much fun reading who was ahead of us and when they passed through. Trail registers have been hard to come by these days, it seems as though when we were in the desert they were everywhere! The trail is one long grapevine and it is a real highlight to come across a register. I frantically flip through pages, searching for names, checking dates. A lot of folks we used to know and hike around have passed us and are seemingly un-reachable, if you will. Will we ever see them again?

It's interesting because you always know who is in front of you and by how far... but the crowd behind you is a complete mystery. I don't think we've even met most of the people behind us yet. This is because in the beginning of the trail we were agonizingly slow-paced and we continued to be passed by hikers day after day after day after day... but we have gotten stronger and our pace has picked up quite dramatically, so we are finally catching up to some old friends. No one will be passing us any time soon....

Volcanic

What we stare at all day. The ground. The footprints.

Lassen in the distance!

HALFWAY MONUMENT!

YEAHHHHHHHHH!

We are excited for the upcoming walk through Lassen Park, to reach Mt. Shasta, to reach Oregon....

After spending a very short amount of time with the monument, we pushed on so that we could make it to Chester before the Post Office closed. We heard we had packages to pick up!

The last few miles leading down into Chester were brutally hot and dusty. I was losing strength, stamina, and my wits. We coasted through a series of private properties (as in - Kimberly Clark the toilet paper giant and other corporate forest demolishing companies) and were appalled at the state of the forest in these areas. It was one private property announcement after another and then we were on a ranch? Which was bizarre... and eerie.

I fell behind and was literally dragging my feet only miles from the highway. Then the trail threw a nice, steep, rocky, .5 mile uphill at me and I nearly lost it. The last half mile to the highway was a hot climb out of an oven. WHEN YOU ARE BEING BAKED ALIVE.

But I made it, we made it, made it down to the highway and were greeted with amazing trail magic provided by Piper's Mom! I nearly cried, I was so happy. Cold coolers full of pop and snacks. This could not have been more perfectly timed and I am forever thankful for the trail magic on that day. Thank you Piper's Mom! We basked in the trailhead magic glory for a brief moment but quickly found a ride with Craig and his dog Lance (THE SWEETEST YELLOW LAB).

***Craig is out west for a few weeks (all the way from Oklahoma) helping Nurse Betty on her thru-hike, and he is AWESOME. He has provided beers, offered us food, and given us rides.***

He drove us in to Chester right away and dropped us off at the Post Office.

Post Office love made it's way from Oregon and we were happy to find a surprise care package from our friend Aileen (Thank you Aileen!) - home made cookies, injinji toe socks, and more!

Chester is a hot little town. We wandered around searching for a hotel room that had AC and found the Chester Manor, which was surprisingly clean and cozy! Chester Manor is fantastic! I recommend it.

Oh how I love to walk into a fresh, clean, hotel room. The night ended with the usual - pizza in bed, one beer each, and crashing obscenely early.