PCT 2023 – Day 8 The one with the frigging scary rattle snake and moms pie! #2

☀️ Weather: We decided to stay in town for most of the day and then hike out around 4 pm to stay out of the heat of the day. We camped just as the sun went down.

Food: LOTS!! Breakfast was a Giant breakfast burrito from Julian’s Bakery (thanks DinkyDi, who shouted us for brekky). Then I ate a free cherry pie and ice cream from Moms.  They give all PCT hikers free pie. I’ve also snacked all day. I wasn’t hungry tonight so had a hot chocolate before crashing into my tent.

Sleep: Last night was awesome. A super comfy big double bed all to myself. I slept like a baby.

Snake count: 3! Omg, see the full story below for today's encounter. I’ve never been so scared.

People update: We spent all day with Harry & Amber (UK). Harry is now known as Princess. He was originally “Prince” but after screaming like a baby when a bunny rabbit jumped out in front of him, he graciously accepted the trail name of Princess.

. Harry is actually nothing like a Princess. 12 years in the army and he took charge on the snake encounter today. We are lucky to have him in our trail family. I personally call him King Harry!

There is always room for warm cherry pie!

8 am – Slept like a log in the cabin and enjoyed a long shower first thing. My feet are patched up and we are ready to hitch into town. A huge thanks to Paul & Soup for their kind PCT POT donation which paid for this wonderful cabin. You guys rock (thank you). Xxx

Sad story, one lady has been bitten by a rattlesnake and helicoptered out. The bite went through her shoe and then the person she was hiking with started bashing her walking pole on the ground and it slithered away. They got her to a road where they called 911 and she was taken to hospital.

Yesterday I purchased a new sun hoodie. “Julia” would never wear anything like this but “Jukebox” loves it! Be loud and proud! (See photo).

8.50 am – Di and I leave the cabin and start walking into town. It’s just over a mile and all uphill. Eventually, a car pulls over and a lady winds down the window. She has scabs all over her face and it’s rather scary. She explains that she had a fall last week and tells us to hop in and put our packs in the boot. She’s a lovely lady and does trail magic for hikers every day. She even has a trail book on the dashboard that she asks us to sign. Her name is “Fossil lady” as she is a palaeontologist. (Not sure if I spelt that correctly?)

9.00 am – First stop is Julian Bakery and the service is slow but we are not in a rush. Di & I are joined for breakfast by Amber (Bless) and Harry (Princess) and Disco Daddy. I had the giant Burrito breakfast with extra sausage and I couldn’t eat it all. Bless her, DinkyDi paid for all our breakfasts!! How kind is that? She is one in a million. Love ya Di. Xx

1.05 pm – It has to be done, we stop for free pie at Mom's shop. All you have to do is show your PCT permit and they give you a free pie of your choice and a drink. I had the cherry pie (warm) with vanilla ice cream. Amber had pumpkin pie. We then got together to do the Chandler dance in front of the shop (Me, Amber and Harry). I’m not sure that Harry enjoyed that part!

2.05 pm. Disco is teaching us Switzerland tongue twisters. I was useless at it but we did have a giggle.

2.50 pm – Well, this is an adventure! I’m sitting in the boot of an SUV with all the backpacks as I’m the smallest person. We are getting a hitch to Scissors Crossing with two random American guys. This is totally illegal in the UK but it seems acceptable in the US!

16.00 – We arrive at Scissor Crossings and I feel sick from travelling backwards in the back of the truck. I unfold myself out of the trunk and the two guys that are transporting us give us snacks, Gatorade, coconut water and they even have weed! this is such a weird experience.

Oh no! DinkyDi has left her poles in town. She calls Disco Pete who is still in town and he finds her poles. Phew!

We say goodbye to our two trail angels and then another car pulls up. A tiny lady with a big floppy hat and a blind tiny dog gets out of the car. She is very excited to see hikers. “Please have these bananas and also this green tea”.

We are already carrying so much, including 5 litres of water but it feels rude to say no. She gives us her number and tells us to call her when we are near Idlewild and she will bring us pizza! The hospitality here is on another level. It’s just incredible.

4.35 – We are now all sitting in the shade in the subway under the highway. A man called Ghost turns up. He’s another trail Angel and his stories had us all mesmerised. Such a great character and gave us loads of advice. He then went over to the side of the underpass and grabbed a 4ft long snake to show us what one looked like for real. Luckily it was dead (run over by a car earlier today) but it was still rather scary (and huge!). Its body was thick and its head was tiny. This was a Gardner snake, and it was not poisonous, but it was still gross!

5 pm – Ghost had suggested that we wait until 5 pm ish until we hike out. It’s only 5 miles and it will be cooler. So at 5pm, we set off leaving Jesse, Rose, Sorry and Handyman to enjoy the beer that they had brought. So, Di, Amber & Harry grab our extremely heavy packs and start the climb out of Scissors Crossing. There is no water source for 14 miles, so we are all carrying around 5 litres of water. It’s heavy!!

The pace is good and moral is high. We are laughing and singing as we hike.

We bump into a guy called “Smokey Beard” who warned us of a rattler on the trail. He said it was in the sun not far from here. He had been throwing stones at it to move but it wasn’t going anywhere. Apparently, the snake was a bit pissed! (Ie: angry, not drunk). A drunk snake would be funny!

Our eyes were now pealed and we bashed our poles as we hiked.

18.51 – Once again, Di walked by the rattler without realising (it’s becoming a habit of hers, lol) Amber saw it, and then it rattled and she jumped back. Harry was behind Amber and he turned and ran right into me. It was like a comedy sketch but also one of the scariest moments of my life! So the snake was curled up with a stick and it was about 5ft in length. We tried all sorts of things to get it to move. Harry threw some rocks at it and it moved from the side of the trail to smack bang in the middle of the trail. Ghost had told us earlier how fast these things can move, especially if they are feeling threatened or angry so it was scary. We were there for around 30 mins and it was now gone 7 pm. The sun was setting and we only had 20 mins of daylight left and this snake was going nowhere! Eventually, we decided to climb up and over the rocks above the snake which was sketchy. I fell over and was like a dying fly with my heavy pack keeping me down. Harry led the way, whilst Di stayed below and gave us instructions on what was happening with the snake. We descended on our bums and the snake was still on the trail.

We continued walking for another half a mile and then set up camp. My adrenaline is still pumping through my body and I doubt I’ll sleep well tonight but I’ll give it a go.

Life is an adventure, right? I’m so glad I’m not on my own doing this!

Thanks for listening to my rambles. Night night