I want to say that today was rough, but we really only hiked around ten miles. The first six or so flew by. It was around 9a when we left camp, the heat of the day was still setting in. It was early enough that the sun wasn’t directly overhead. As we hiked, much was in the shade so the path was cool. We took a break at the edge of the mountain overlooking the valley below. Chips, Blaze, and Scribbles stopped there too while we were there. They also planned on going into town for Dairy Queen.
When we got to the road crossing about seven miles in, there was a previous thru-hiker giving rides into town. Seven of us piled in; two in the front, five in the bed of the truck. He dropped us off and went right back to the road crossing to pick up more hikers.
Warthog and I both got lunch meals, two orders of potato skins, and blizzards. In total we spent about an hour and a half to two hours at DQ. Our packs were lined up outside as we sat in the air conditioning. I was excited to have some indoor plumbing to take advantage of. You don’t realize what a luxury running water is until you don’t have it anymore.
We got the easy ride into town. Getting out was much more difficult. We hiked about a mile down to the highway that would take us to our road crossing. After throwing our thumbs out for about twenty minutes or so, a truck finally stopped. This time there were eight of us; the normal crew plus a guy named Huckleberry. Seven got in the bed of the truck, Huckleberry sat in the front. It reminded me of riding in the bed of our truck growing up. After going to the beach, my mom and dad used to let Jenny and I sit back there until we arrived at our lot. It brings a natural joy to me sitting in the bed of a truck. A joy slightly tempered by the fear of an accident. Funny thing is, I never had that fear when I was a kid.
We got back to the road crossing accident free. There were other hikers hanging out there still. We sat for a while trying to line up our hotel stay for the weekend, when we go into town for Trail Days. Once that was done we hit the trail again. We had about a mile or so of road walking and then a 1.3 mile push up for 650+ feet of elevation gain. It was a hot, sweaty push up, but we made it. A mile or two after that we hit a shelter. It would be our last opportunity to grab water for the next eight miles. The bummer was, the shelter was .3 miles off of the trail and the water was another .2 down a steep hill. People did it because we needed the water. Wonder Woman and I stayed back with all of the packs.
After filling up, we hiked on another two or so miles until we hit an established campsite to set up at. It was a fantastic feeling being done with the day. It was even more fantastic that we had a nice spot, complete with a campfire. We sat together around the fire. Tonight was the night for technology. Most pulled out their phones to update blogs, make plans for the upcoming miles, or check in with the world. We actually have reception tonight, something we can’t always count on.
We were short our goal miles, but had a DQ run instead. Tomorrow we will make up that mile or two and still be in camp at a good time.
– ansel