September 14

It's been great having civilization stops every day for the last 3 days, I could get used to this. We made it to the highway and were standing on the side of the road for a hitch by 1:33 pm. I remember the time exactly because Louis and I bet on our arrival time in the morning and he said 1:33. The hitch was pretty easy I think the 15th car stopped and we rode the 7 miles to town. I was so excited for grandpa and grandma's package which I knew contained a large order of delicious cookies. I had her send it to Cedar Lodge because I knew I would be there on a weekend and needed to be able to pick them up from a place that would be open so the post office wasn't an option. That detestable lodge doesn't deserve to be mentioned in this blog post anymore with the reception I got upon arrival. The owner looked at me with disgust and told me in a contemptible tone that they do not accept hiker packages because of hikers like me who do not call before they send packages. Every place on the trail that has treated me well will be one that I intend to visit again, and this is one that I won't recommend on any occasion. I do understand the issue, but a simple explanation would have been sufficient. This incident almost ruined my day in Chester, but I knew from experience that a full belly and some ice cream would take my mind completely away from this inconvenience. Louis and I had a big lunch of Mexican food, and made our way through the town in search of wifi. We found Internet near an ice cream shack and set up for a couple hours talking on the phone and using the Internet. It was disappointing to use my wallet for a full snack resupply for the next 6 days when I knew that grandma's cookies were sitting inside the post office a block away. I left a note for the postmaster at the post office and Louis and I started to try to hitch out of town. It was getting dark and I was feeling skeptical on our chances when the local trail angel "Piper's Mom" happened to be driving the opposite way on Main Street. She stopped and for the first time we had someone who was genuinely excited to give us a ride to the trail. I'm sure it was well out of her way to run up to the trail, but she was happy all the same to see hikers again as all of the nobos are far past Chester. It was really nice to have a good ending to what could have been a negative impression on the little town of Chester. Louis and I night hiked to a spring with good, cold water and have 5 miles to go to reach the official halfway point on the PCT.