Some late arrivers didn’t show up until almost 8. If they had been relatively quiet, I might have shared the knowledge that they could still get pizza delivery up until 9, but they weren’t, so I kept my mouth shut. A Herculean task for me. I’ve given up on the “I’ll get even in the morning when we get up early” scenario since it never happens that way. Sure enough, everyone else was gone (except for Cliff Hanger) when we started to emerge from our tent.
It rained most of the night. Some desert! When our alarm went off at 6:30, I looked out and saw nothing but fog. It wasn’t raining, at least. I made the coffee like a good husband does and then went back to sleep until my dearest started stirring. She had her choice of protein bars or leftover pizza for breakfast. She chose the bars. I complied with her wishes and then ate some of my pizza for breakfast desert. Yes, there is such a thing—now.
Cliff Hanger is almost as slow as us, both getting ready and hiking. Even though we’ve only been hiking together a couple of days, she’s a good fit for us. Were going to miss her when we jump north…wherever that may be. Daniel is another one that likes to enjoy the trail. He left us last night with the intention of hiking another 12 miles to Messenger Flat Campground. It was drizzly and miserable when he left and we were worried about him. We were relieved when we started hiking and saw that he had only made it a mile before he gave up and camped.
Where were all the hikers today? We only saw 4 people total all day long—just Cliff Hanger, Springsteen, Daniel and Kevin (not that Kevin). This was another Kevin that we just met today. He hasn’t gotten a trail name yet. We offered “Home Alone” as that is the most obvious choice. He declined saying we weren’t the first to offer that suggestion. He didn’t understand the reference being too young.
As predicted, pizza carried us through the day. Bunny ate all of hers at our first stop about 6 miles in. I tried to get her to pace herself and savor the leftovers, but she had no self control. She had not partaken of breakfast dessert and was too hungry. I only ate half of mine fully intending to savor the other half in front of her, later, when she wouldn’t have any of hers left. Much like my youngest dog, Ilana (who we just killed in February of this year) used to do to her older sister, Nutiket, with pigs ears. Ilana loved to tease Nutiket with her pigs ear after Nutiket wolfed it down. Bunny won’t be able to not drool at second break.
Bunny’s hip was acting up again this afternoon. It worked pretty well all morning, but when we were almost through our second big climb, the old gray mare just gave out. She applied some k-tape and about 20 minutes later, she was contemplating doing a 20 today. Cliff Hanger had passed us at our last water stop and said she was feeling so good, she might go another 3 miles further than we planned if there wasn’t water at the ranger station.
When we saw the North Fork Ranger Station ahead of us, we also saw a duplex tent set up by the outhouse. We took this as a good sign that there was plenty of water and Cliff Hanger had decided to stop. When we got there, we found out it was Kevin’s tent but Cliff Hanger had decided to stop and was set up in a horse corral on the back side of the hill. We headed that way to scout out the camping. It looked wide open and windy, but she came up and told us that it was actually pretty calm. We went down and set up in the stall next to her. It hasn’t been used by horses for a few years so no horse hockey pucks were around.
I went up to get water and met Todd, the caretaker. Todd gave me 2 cuties each for the three of us. He then told me we could get sodas if we were interested. I went and took orders from Bunny and Cliff. Of course, Bunny had to be difficult and ask for root beer. Surprisingly, Todd had it. I talked with him about how he got the job of caretaker. He gets use of a house with a small monthly stipend. In my opinion, he has an ideal gig. He told me he was a thru-hiker in 1998 and met a ranger on the trail who tried to offer him the position when he found out he was a carpenter. He said no. A few days later, he met the ranger again at which time he said he’d try it for a year. He’s been here 20 years, now.
There is the sound of rain on our tent once again tonight. The big difference tonight is that it’s just the sound of electricity coursing through the high energy lines above our heads. I did hear Daniel come in to camp, between crackles, right at dark. Hopefully we’ve oriented ourselves properly this time so that our electronics are fully charged in the morning. Was that parallel or perpendicular to get a full charge?
EFG