Castella June 19

DISCLAIMER: Although the locations and the route that John and Anthony are taking are true, I am making up the conversations between John and Anthony. I have no way of knowing what they are saying to each other. I am sorry that I scared a few of you. I thought that my previous disclaimers were enough to make it clear that this is a fictional account mixed with the actual journey progress. When I wrote about the puma on June 17th, I ended my post with a reminder that this is fiction: 

"Do you think that Mushroom is writing about us?" Anthony asked. 

"I know he's been tracking us and letting everyone know where we are," John said. "Knowing him, he's probably making up stories as we go along."

I will continue to post their progress and whatever photos they post on Instagram. And I will post photos that others have taken along the PCT.
Please remember that there is no way I know what John and Anthony are saying to each other as they hike. I have no way of knowing what buzzards say to each other. I do not know what animals Anthony and John see or hear unless they post photos on Instagram, such as the bear, the lizard, and the snake. I am doing this to keep everyone's interest in their journey. 

Where did I come up with the puma story? That is my true event that happened more than 30 years ago when my friend and I were backpacking. We saw puma prints on the trail and the following morning, we found puma prints all around the one tent that we shared. Maybe our snoring kept the puma from making a meal out of us. I used my 30-year-old event to make my current post more interesting and fun. 

19 June 19 A couple of backpackers were complaining about the snow to John and Anthony. "I didn't sign up for all this snow," the other backpacker said. "It's too much work and it's getting too hard keeping track of where the trail is," Anthony and John took what they heard seriously. They hiked down the trail and got picked up and taken to the City of Mount Shasta along I-5. John called me from there and told me that they are going to get a drive to Etna, California and pick up the trail there.

While John and Anthony waited for their ride at the intersection of the PCT and I-5 they heart a noise in the bushes. John pulled out his camera and got ready. "Oh! my gawd! I always thought those were fictional."