I wasn’t the only braying ass around here last night. Hiker Heaven has donkeys, horses, dogs, cats, and roosters all of which like to be heard. Surprisingly, the donkey had to wake up the roosters to get them going, but once they did, everyone was up. We discovered for certain that Ivy is a cat woman. She was fawning all over Spoon, One Piece’s cat, as soon as the roosters woke us up. It was an animal extravaganza.
Wolf cooked breakfast for himself and was the first to leave. He’s an early riser even without animal assistance. Ivy, Bunny, and I opted for the restaurant on the corner on the trail. There will come a time in Northern California where we won’t have the option of restaurants and I have no intention of kicking myself then for skipping a restaurant now. It’s also a great way to meet locals. Several older men started talking to us about their past dreams of hiking the trail, but their 15 years of procrastinating and eating breakfast at this diner has rewarded them with protruding bellies, high cholesterol, and no will to walk. I’m expecting a good meal here and am not disappointed.
We started off with a couple miles of road walking before getting back on trails. Then we had 5 miles to gain a couple thousand feet to look back at Agua Dulce and Vasquez Rocks. In total, we walked a little over 7 hours today. I only mention this because as soon as we got on the trail, an old man ran by us. He would ultimately run by us a total of three times today . We walked 7 hours while he ran 6 hours covering more than twice the distance we did.
The landscape today was not as exciting as yesterday. Yes, we had amazing views. Yes, we could see the trail below and behind us giving us a sense of accomplishment as we climbed. But we get that every day. It’s old hat. Come on California, give us something new for a change.
The camping spot we had agreed to meet at is known to be dry (since it sits near the top of a ridge under some power line). The electromagnetic radiation from the power lines is so intense, all water is boiled off underneath them. This is my best chance for sleeping through the night without having to get up to pee with my urine boiling away in my sleep. We’re also hoping to fully charge all of our electronics without having to plug anything in.
There was a water cache at the bottom of the climb which we used to fill up our bladders (both drinking and urine reservoirs) so we will have enough to cook supper and breakfast. 50 yards after passing the cache, we came to a flowing stream. Too late now. We wished we hadn’t taken from the cache with the stream flowing. In the not too distant future, the stream will dry up.
Wolf and Ivy made it to camp a good hour ahead of us. They were doing something we didn’t think we’d ever see anyone do on this trail when we arrived at camp. They were sitting outside their tents enjoying the evening. For the first time on this trip, it was warm enough at the end of the day that we didn’t have to crawl into our tents and sleeping bags to keep from freezing. All day long, in fact, has been pretty pleasant. In fact, I even broke out my chrome dome the final mile into camp to shield myself from the sun.
We set up our tent and joined them for supper. The four of us sat together, talking, and eating. The only exception was as each one of us took our turn, as in a wave, to get up and relieve bodily functions.
I’m in a mellow mood tonight, so I’ll make a few minor revisions in the rules of our drinking game. If you are over 60, you do not have to double the amounts consumed. I’ve heard too many of you old farts complaining about that one, so I’ll set it aside. You whine, I listen. You bring wine, I drink. We will institute one new rule, however. If you have ever been bitten by a poisonous snake and the snake died, triple the amounts. Rest your livers and get ready.
EFG