September 26

Back on the PCT and another brutally cold night. So cold, in fact, I had trouble sleeping even inside a shelter and out of the wind. I wrapped up in my rain jacket and my core stayed warm but kept waking up with freezing legs. I chose not to put on my rain pants as it would require getting out of my sleeping bag and being exposed to the frosty air. We got going at a reasonable time and hiked about 3 miles to highway 88 where there were trash cans and pit toilets waiting for us. Around 10:00 I noticed Louis limping and asked him about it. He is having trouble with shin splints again, and is thinking about having to take more time off the trail. He had an incredibly frustrated look on his face when I left him, and mentioned that he thought he could still make it to our intended campsite at Eagle Creek, 27 miles from our shelter last night. I walked right by Eagle Creek because it was completely dry and I mistook it for a seasonal dry run. I am stealth camped in a nice sheltered spot about a mile past the Eagle Creek campsite. I am above the site and with a little effort can see it so if he is there in the morning I will wait for him to come up the hill and find out more about his ability to hike further. 

That being said, the freezing cold temperatures are discouraging. I have passes higher than where I am now and the cold is already almost unbearable. It took until 3:00 pm for my water to thaw completely today and snow fell in the night. Snow is falling again tonight, as I type this I can hear it hit my tent.