Trail Magic!

Flew out to meet Ryan on the trail this week. I flew into Sacramento and I just love these artsy columns in their baggage claim area. Ryan's birthday was this week, so I totally embarrassed him by greeting him with balloons and a birthday cake. But of course he did enjoy the cake and the other PCT hikers enjoyed it also.

As a birthday treat, Ryan got to "slackpack" for the days that I came to visit. This means that I would drop him off at the trailhead and he would hike with only a day pack. Then I would pick him up at another trail head later in the day and take him back to a motel with soft beds and hot showers!
A pretty sweet deal for a thru-hiker. Ryan would still put in a 10-12 hour day of hiking and while he was doing that, I did some touristy things in the area, visiting local ghost towns and happening upon a summer festival in the town of Graeagle, CA.
I would also do trail magic for some other hikers on the PCT while waiting for Ryan to show up at the trailheads. I made sure that I had a cooler of cold sodas and lots of candy bars and fresh fruit.

Ryan was also able to catch up on his own blogging. We always have to get a room with wifi. The other plus of "slackpacking" is that Ryan gets to eat real food and doesn't have to whip up his trail food on his homemade soda can stove. We had dinner at the Polka Dot last night. You know you are in California when the local Burger stand has fried green beans as an option. And they have avocado as a choice to put on your burger.

Don't forget to check out Ryan's blog detailing his hiking adventures,

http://www.anotherlongwalk.com

And remember that we will be raising money for the Washington Trails Association with hike-a-thon in August. Be sure to check us out on the WTA website

http://www.wta.org/hikeathon

http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1468&AID=1098&PID=149244

I hope to hike at least 40 miles on my own at home, on my layovers at work and while joining Ryan on the PCT. If you don’t want to donate via credit card on the website, checks can be made out to WTA and sent to me at the address below. Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

Amanda Arkebauer, PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116