The climb to Mike’s place

Last night in the cabin was indeed a pleasure. It was very nice to lie in bed not feeling sticky for a change. As soon as I hit the lights I fell asleep. No howling wind, no cold, no flapping tent-fly. Just comfort and quiet. I was still sound asleep when the alarm rang, but resisted the urge to snooze and got up at 0500. After packing up my gear I hiked about twenty minutes back to the trail-head. Yesterday the others and I had discussed planned mileage. The next 40 miles we would take us lead us to Paradise Cafe. Everybody is crazy excited about this, because supposedly it’s the place where they serve the best burger on trail. I suggested to get there by evening time, to have it be the ultimate reward after a long day. The place closes at 2000, so we’d have a deadline. This would mean two pretty big days. The trail continued today weaving through the same beautiful grasslands I enjoyed so much yesterday.

After crossing through the fields we’d have a very big climb ahead of us. The trail led us up green lush hills and at lower elevation we stopped for a final water filling. With a steady morning pace we were ascending rapidly, resulting in some more magnificent views.

After the early morning water resupply at the creek we knew that the next option for water would be at Mike’s Place. Mike is a trail angel who provides water and campground for thru-hikers. Mike’s Place is located at approximately 17 miles from Warner Springs, and some suggested we might camp there. If we’d wanted to make it to what’s supposed to be the Best-Burger-On-Trail, we’d then have a very big day (23 miles) to do before 2000 the day after. I therefor wanted to push on. But first we had to get there. The climb was tough. I plugged in my earphones and was able to power through thanks to the greatness of Greenday’s album American Idiot. Somewhere around noon, Thad, Jimmy and I caught a break in a shaded area with massive boulders and a great view. As we sat there snacking and enjoying our little break. Thad spoke in awe as he looked out to far-stretching lands: ” I can’t believe this is our home “. It took a while for me to sink in, but then I couldn’t agree more. It’s pretty amazing.

We made it to Mikes Place around 1500. Not a bad effort with already 17 miles in. We chilled out there a bit, filled up our water bottles, released our feet from our warm,sweaty and dusty shoes and had a proper lunch. Today I’ve been eating like a beast. For two reasons mainly; because my food-bag is way too heavy, and because hiking long days makes me very hungry.

Around 1700 we all decided to push through, the Hamburger was in our sights and constantly on our minds, we had to pursue it! Winding mostly downwards for a couple of hours we finally made it to a camping spot. Minor nuisance of the day; because I had a shower yesterday, the protective layer of dirt on my skin was now gone. Because I didn’t realise this, I didn’t put sunblock on my calves. And so my Day-Walker-Heritage yielded me some nice and crispy legs today. Hoorah! Today was tough on the feet, because it was my biggest day yet; 22 miles! Tomorrow only 18 miles to go to Paradise Cafe. Now let’s hope that the Burger lives up to the expectation that’s been building in our heads for the past 4 days.

I’m walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line of the edge
And where I walk alone

My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I walk alone

Boulevard of broken dreams – Greenday