We met at 7am at Sunset TC. 3 cars for 8 of us, as we needed car shuttle for this one way hike. The TH is inside a locked gate. So park outside of the gate and walk till the end of the short gravel road, and onto the trail. Plenty up and downs. According to the event post: 4227', but didn't feel that much. I lended my rain jacket to Maddie who kept it on even when not raining - turns out she was cold, and she was the only person who didn't bring any rain protection. I'm glad that I brought my umbrella. It was in the 40s when I left home at 6:30am. I had down sweater, a fleece vest, but quickly stripped down to a single base layer. Plenty upslope that made me sweat from time to time. 
The trail is smooth, not muddy yet despite of the rain. The fall color was just starting. The ground was more colorful due to the fallen leaves. Water level was low. It should be prettier in a few weeks. Can hear the highway noise most of the time. The mossy trees and tall ferns made the trail look prehistoric. A couple of very nice bridges.We had lunch at Tillamook Forest Center's deck. See my earlier blogs for photos. It was open today, so we could use the restroom and vending machine.
Met 3 interesting people today. Maddie, first hike with any meetup. She's in her 20s. She volunteered for 2 years in various farms in Israel, and then an NGO for 7 months in Nepal (she just came back this June). At the end of her sejour, she spent 2 weeks on Annapurna circuit, certainly not because she was slow! There were plenty side trails marked on her map. The trail is easy to follow. She sometimes joined one group, then another. Villages are less than a couple of hours apart, so she didn't bring any food, just purchased along the way. She used iodine pills for all water, so never got sick. She took high altitude medication while on the trek. The temperature wasn't too hot nor too cold (early June, high elevation), except for the last day (hot, lower elevation). She didn't bring a sleeping bag, nor rain protection. There were some hot springs. She longs for going back to Nepal. After she came to Portland, she worked for a suicide hotline for 2 months. This lead to a long discussion on gun control, as well as elderly care. Matt suggested that there should be a program to adopt older people. Martin, a retired anethesiologist, also his first hike with a meetup group. He's from Basel, Switzerland, but lived in Portland for 28 years. He started PCT this year, but illness and depression (not sure if one causes the other) took him off the trail in southern California. He just completed PCT WA, and loved it. It's fun to hear about his past and impending travel destinations (he's leaving on Tuesday), and his 7 PCT boxes that will never be sent to post office. This is what he described what he did to Nanee (whose English is pretty bad): I put people to sleep, and on a good day, they wake up. He also volunteers in Africa (last one was in Nigeria) with some medical NGO. I rode with Tracy, who just started hiking last year. She's also retired, very fit. She took me closer to home instead to Sunset TC. It's interesting to hear her description of her last Golden Retriever, and her current cat. We bumped into a car backing up in the parking lot. Had to leave a note for the other car. That took a bit time.
