PCT day 22 – Zero in Wrightwood

0 miles

I had decided to stay in town for a couple of nights and give my body some time to rest and repair some muscle damage from the hike.

Wrightwood is a nice and small mountain town where I could reach everything by foot. Of course I had to take care of my gear first, did some laundry in the sink (after I used the small washing machine provided by the Canyon Creek Inn) and finally had a shower myself.

Next point on my list was planning the next section to Agua Dulce and doing my resupply. I split my resupply and bought some stuff at the local supermarket “Jensen’s”, the Hardware store (where I also exchanged my Darn Tough socks with a hole into some new ones) as well as the Wrightwood Market. All businesses in Wrightwood are very hiker friendly and provide extra food, charging stations and other things that make us hikers happy.

After having all my town chorus done it was time to relax and I laid down in the very comfortable bed to watch some movies on Netflix.

In the evening I met Warren who checked in next door and we decided to go out for dinner together. We went for the Grizzly Café which was recommended by all the locals. I ordered some pasta with Italian sausage and a pasta meatball soup as a starter. It was delicious and way too much to eat it all!

Warren told me about his reason to do the PCT and it is a tragic one. He used to run a farm with walnut trees and some other stone fruits. Until the farm burned down in one of the wildfires last year and he lost everything. His farm was close to the town of Paradise that burned down completely.

It is one thing to watch it on the news and it is a completely different story to meet someone who is affected directly. It was shocking to hear that he had no more than one hour to leave his property before the fire hit. He’s still struggling to get the money from his insurance and I hope it all works out. I also hope the PCT gives him the strength to start over again somewhere new.