Mileage breakdown: Cougar Crest Trail 2.1 mi to meet PCT Mile 177.4, then continue on PCT. Last night was the first time sleeping on a mattress in over 2 weeks, and it was way too warm. A heated room and a heavy comforter had me waking up at 3 am to throw all of the blankets off.
Woke up to a couple of inches of snow outside the hostel. 32 degrees and calm wind. The radar showed a lot more on the way. It was obvious all 11 of us heading out to the trail this morning were questioning our decision to do so. But the trail calls even though it began to snow harder as we loaded our bags in top of Gracen's car. We fit all 9 of us (including the driver) in a classic 1980's wagon. We all had our jokes about the snow. Gracen continued to tell us, "you're more than welcome to stay another day and night at the hostel."A weird thing after taking a zero day, is that it's tough to get back in a hiking rhythm. Especially with a lot of weight from food in my pack.
I jumped ahead of the group and around mile 5, for the day, the snow on the ground was beginning to melt. I decided to make Eggs with Ham and Bell Peppers. I could have eaten 3 of them easy. I believe my hiker hunger has kicked in.
Hiker Hunger - After eating, the feeling of being hungry doesn't go away. Is common after week 2-3. Can lead to upset stomachs.
My legs and feet were really tired for the entire day. It could be from not moving to much yesterday or the fact that we walked downhill for 16 miles a couple days ago.
Skinny Thor and I met up with Leah in the early afternoon and the three of us walked together till we got to the campsite. Because it wasn't very warm today, I never took a very long break. The benefit of this is we got to camp around 3:30pm. This gave us plenty of time to chill by the river (largest on the trail to this point). Soaking our feet in the ice cold water was quite rejuvenating. Ate dinner then worked on getting a fire going. Relaxed till dark, then everyone was off to bed. Of course I didn't get a picture of the fire... Or camp because I'm pretty bad at remembering to do so once I'm in camp. All I want to do is relax. I'll take a picture in the morning. 
