Where am I? 
On Tuesday, May 31, I hitched from Kennedy Meadows an hour and a half to Inyokern airport to pick up a rental car. From there I drove over the mountains, up Highway 99 to Oakland to spend the night at a friend's house. On Wednesday I drove several hours northeast to Truckee (near N Lake Tahoe) to check out PCT trail conditions (mile 1000 of the PCT, where elevations are lower). From there I drove along Rt 89, paralleling the trail, passing near Lassen Volcano National Park (closed due to snow) and ending the day in Red Bluff, CA.



Above 6000 feet I was getting heavily snowed on. Above 7500 feet the ground was very much covered completely in snow. Between 6000-7500 feet the ground had patchy snow. Below that, no snow. In general, Northern Cali is being slammed with rain or snow.

On Thursday I drove several hours to King Range Park to day-hike the Lost Coast Trail. It was a bit busier than I expected, but at least I saw a lot of seals hangibg out. I spent the night in Eureka since I'd always wanted to see the town. I was let down - it was a bit too strip-mally and generic for my tastes.

On Friday I left Eureka, drove all 25 miles throught the Avenue Of The Giants (a narrow road flanked by giant Redwood trees) and proceeded to drive coastal route 1. I stopped in Fort Bragg and Mendocino before heading east to Healdsburg where I spent the night with my friend's, Steve and Jen.

It's been a whirlwind tour of California, some of it PCT related, some personal. My game plan for continuing the hike is still coming together, but now I at least know that the trail in much of Nor Cal is easily passable. Personally, I am still happy to wait for the cold rains to let up and more snow to melt before resuming the hike. I simply would rather hike dry and comfortable and not be cold and wet. I have nothing to prove by tackling a snowy, muddy, cold trail. I'm old enough that I can pamper myself by waiting for ideal trail conditions.

More to come once I get access to a laptop. I plan on adding my driving route to the map, and recounting a few tales from the trail.

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