I was on the trail by 6:45 this morning and as I was packing up my tent, I started feeling tiny rain drops. I got out my pack cover and rain jacket and hiked the rest of the day in WA weather – cold, windy, wet mist. I loved it. It was a perfect break from the desert heat and I hike faster in the cold.
Some of the trail felt like I was at the beach, in the dunes walking through sand surrounded by bushes and the fog over the water. But there was no water, just desert. I saw a rainbow, which I have always taken as a good sign – again making me feel at home.
I listened to music. I tend to listen to indie/folky bands, mostly men with breathy voices singing about nature, love or whatever. I needed more energy, so naturally I listened to my favorite Mexican gangster rap band, Cartel de Santa. The lyrics are… not great. But the beats are so good.
I only encountered one other person hiking the whole day and that’s only because I dropped my sunglasses and went back on the trail to find them. The first woman I came across, I asked if she had by any chance seen some sunglasses and as I was asking, she pulled them out and handed them to me. Thank you trail angel! They had fallen out of my phone pouch.
I kept on, and Cartel de Santa turned into Ariana’s greatest hits. I was singing down the trail, in a much better mood from the day before, almost to PVC (Paradise Valley Cafe). I came across a “Hi Centipede” sign written on the trail. It was for me!! Someone ahead of me wrote that. I wrote some notes for Eden and PP, Michelle and Grace. Michelle and Grace were camping a bit before PVC but I was planning on meeting Eden and PP at PVC.
When I got to PVC, I went to put my backpack down outside near all the other backpacks and saw one that looked just like Pink Panther’s. And one next to it that looked just like Eden’s. I went inside and saw them sitting at a table. What!!! I thought they were behind me the whole day, and they were the ones who wrote “hi Centipede”.
I saw Food Truck and Waterboy one last time as PVC was the end of their section hike. I picked up my second resupply box. I knew where to find it because Jenna had texted me a picture of it! In the box were my winter hiking boots, now too small. Immediately into the hiker box. My third pair of shoes now donated to the box.
I got a burger and some coffee and warmed up. We were watching a group of 5 that became 7 hitch hikers trying to get a ride out in the rain and taking bets on how long they’d be out there unless they split into smaller groups. While we were sitting at the table, Dan came over and asked if we wanted a ride to Idylwild. His daughter was picking him up in 20 minutes. We didn’t even have to leave the table to get a ride. We’re such good hitchhikers.
We got to town and immediately did laundry and showered. Our hotel room has memory foam mattresses. Heaven. We went to the market to get some beers and snacks and then went to get some pizza. I ran into Rocksie, Evan, Lori, Silver Lining, Kyle and Ole! I thought I’d never see them again. It was nice to catch up. They hiked down from Saddle Junction but told us our plan of hiking straight through was good too – we’d avoid the steep trail up and down.
We went back to the hotel room and had pizza and just laughed most of the night. A perfect end to this stretch. We’ll stay here for a couple days, Eden and I are planning on seeing Morgan from Blaze Physio while we’re here. I also need to pick up my Amazon package and submit my visa paperwork. There is a library in town so I’m hoping I can use a computer to do that. Then we have to plan our next section and provision. But mostly just relax, let our feet and Achilles rest.
Tomorrow we’re getting pancakes for breakfast with Jenna since we’ve finally caught up to her!
Today marks the end of exactly 2 weeks on trail and I’ve hiked over 150 miles now. I think I finally feel like a backpacker and a thru hiker, but it does feel nice to sleep in a real bed once in a while.
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