PCT Day 24 – Silverwood Lake Campground to PCT mile 343.6

April 28, 2025

Total PCT miles: 14.8

Non PCT miles: 1.7

Total: 16.5 miles / 26.6 km

Total elevation gain: 2257 ft

Total elevation loss: 2677 ft

Steps: 37507

Woke up this morning to a significant amount of condensation on my tent. Probably cause = camping near a lake with cold temperatures. One of the great things about this campsite was access to flush toilets and nice hot water. There were showers but you needed may dollars of quarters to make them work and I had only two. The full 5G cell service was also nice. It was great to wake up with people to talk with after being alone the last few nights.

I hiked with my new friends for a few miles until they stopped for breakfast and I continued on my way with plans to meet up at McDonalds at Cajon Pass. This McDonalds is a must stop on the PCT as it’s only 0.4 miles off trail!

The morning hike was easy enough but there were significant lengths that was slanted down to the right which was painful on my injured ankle. Going down into Cajon Pass was absolutely breath taking with incredibly views of the mountains range I’ll be climbing the next few days. It’s really quite amazing how quickly the landscape changes from large trees to shrubs to meadows and canyons.

The sight of the Golden Arches was an incredible thing to behold. The short walk off trail is on old Route 66 which I guess has been replaced by a very busy interstate next to very busy rail lines. There are a few plaques and signs that I didn’t read which likely tells some of the history about the area.

Entering McDonalds I found 5 other thru hikers enjoying their meals. 2 of which I had previous met. I didn’t eat as much as I anticipated likely due to the pizza last night. There is an unoffical PCT challenge here – basically resupply completely from the McDonald’s and see how many days you can go just eating from that resupply. I elected to not partake partially because I started feeling nauseated (later resolved-probably too much real food and sugar too fast).

Today is Mel’s birthday and I ordered flowers to be delivered to our place. Really wish I could have been home and not 3751 kms away as the bird flys. She called me at the McDonald’s after she got home and found the surprise!

About an hour after I arrived the 3 people I was hiking with showed up. In the end I spend about 3 hours sitting in the McDonald’s. Certainly a record for me. I left with Ness and plans to camp with Sage and Pinecone at a campsite 2.7 miles away.

The short trek to the campsite for the night passed under the highway which was quite creepy. The trail then passes along where the trains come by. These are really busy rail lines – we even needed to wait for 5 mins to cross the tracks before continuing on the PCT.

Set up camp all 4 of us with Durston tens (3 x domes and 1 x-mid.) and were later joined by a 5th hiker.

The next section involves a pretty significant water carry up 5000 ft of elevation. The next water source is 3 miles (a water cache) then 15 miles after that. Should be… fun?