Changing plans

 Arthur got off the trail Wednesday and the next day got a ride to Trail Days, a festival with music, events, food, raffles, all to celebrate the PCT. He had a great time and reunited with some friends, and anticipated hiking north into Washington with them to continue their hike and leave the smoke of Oregon behind. But then the smoke descended on Washington. Now it seems that most of Oregon and Washington are socked in with smoke and terrible air quality indexes. So now Arthur is going to make his way back south to the Sierra, where the snow has melted and the river crossing have calmed down, making conditions ideal for a through hike. 

He's getting a ride to Portland where he will spend a couple nights with our good friend's sister and her family, and then he'll get a train to Sacramento. From there he will transfer to Truckee and spend a few days at Donner Summit -- from where he started north at the beginning of July -- gathering supplies, and then start heading south.