When my alarm went off at 3:30am I felt surprisingly rested. Maybe because I was already halfway up since 3:00am because my hands were a little bit itchy. We packed everything and at 4:15 headed out with our headlamps on because it was still dark. Somehow it was quite nice walking through a burn zone in the dark. Everything was super still and quiet. It did not take long and the sky started getting brighter and brighter with a gorgeous sunrise upon the horizon. Nevertheless it was also getting warmer so we picked up our pace. There were two rather small climbs today which we did with ease maybe because an important milestone was ahead of us. The PCT halfway marker! That means halfway done! That means 2 132km done and 2 132km to go! I still can’t believe it. 

We got there at noon doing 18.8 miles (30.8km) by then. Probably our record. Of course we took several photos with the marker and had our lunch break there as well. It felt almost as good as touching the southern terminus ok the Mexican border. Somehow that feels such a long time ago though. So much has happened since. We have definitely come a long way already. Around 1pm we left the halfway marker and started descending to the highway where a trail angel – Judy – would pick us up and let us stay at her place for the night. We got to the trailhead at 5pm, several minutes before she arrived. She was so kind to bring us to the local store to do our groceries and then drove us to her place. It was devastating seeing how massive the burn zone is but in the middle of it all there was a gorgeous lake – Lake Almanor – with beautiful houses all around it. Judy parked at one of the houses. We were staying with her and her husband Neil at a breathtaking lake house. When she showed us around I was left speechless. The house was gorgeous and both me and Stefi had our own bed. A luxury I haven’t had in more than two months. We took a shower first, did our laundry and prepared dinner – pesto&pasta of course – for all of us together with a delicious salad and chicken sausages that Judy made. We sat on the porch, ate, talked and watched an amazing sunset above the lake. This was more than we could have ever dreamed of. Too bad we are only doing a nero day here tomorrow. I could stay here forever.