So yeah, last nights sleep was miserable again. Pretty soon after finishing up writing yesterdays entry, my pad started deflating rapidly and I knew that my attempts to patch it up had been futile. I had one tiny piece of ‘repair-kit-tape’ left, and after fumbling with the patched-up area a little bit, I thought I had an idea about where the air might still be escaping from. I carefully applied the small piece of tape on the punctured part, but after inflating it again and getting comfortable, I was pretty soon feeling the rough surface underneath my tent poking through my pad again. No luck. I laid out all my spare clothing underneath my deflated pad and got ready for another rough night.
I did manage to get some shut-eye, but two consecutive nights of not resting after hiking long days made me made up my mind. Today I would get off trail after 15 miles, to try and hitch into Quincy, a town 26 miles away from the trail. According to my information it would not be an easy hitch, but the thought of sleeping on rocks for another 4 nights just seemed unbearable. Yesterday I already felt the effects of the poor sleep on my hiking so I was pretty adamant to find a replacement for my Thermarest Neo-Air. Today the groups projected mileage was ambitious: at least 25. If I would be heading into town, there’d be no way of telling how long it would take me, but at least I could hike the first 15 miles with Rocket, Bird-man and Photo-op. We caught the sunrise and I was the one first to hike out at 0630.
There was lots of smoke hanging over the mountains. Today I learned that there’s another forest-fire nearby which has been going for several days now and has not been contained yet. The early morning hiking was enjoyable, because of the cooler temperatures. I could tell early though that today would again be another hot day.
The morning was pretty uneventful, other than that we were cruising hard. When we got to the road where I’d try to hitch out it was around 1300 and we’d already done 15 miles. I was fairly confident the others would hit their mark. They left me on my own, and I started signalling down cars. There indeed was not a lot of traffic on the road, but because there was hardly anything but the PCT trailhead between the 2 ends of the road that connects Quincy with La Porte, I was hopeful locals might be aware of the trail and the hikers passing through. This might increase my chances. After 45 minutes a gentleman pulled over, saying that he could get me all the way to the junction that would leave me another 2 miles to hitch into town. Great!
After being dropped off at the junction it only took me 10 minutes to get the final ride into town. I was getting a hitch from a father and his young daughter. The dad had hiked several sections of the PCT himself.
At the local hardware store I found one of those thick inflatable air-mattresses you can buy pretty much anywhere these days. It’s mega heavy and clunky, but for 15 bucks I figured it would do the job for the next 4 days, as I would hike towards Chester. I got some extra snacks at the grocery store and used my good cell-service to upload several entries which had been on hold for the past days. Then I went back to the end of the parking lot to hitch out. It took me about a half hour to get a hitch from a friendly gentleman in a gigantic tow-truck. “Where you headed?”
“La Porte Road”
“I can only take you the the corner of the junction, I’m not going further up there”
“That’s perfect for me!”
“Great, get in”
Within 10 minutes I was back at the road which got limited traffic. Hopefully I would make it back to the trail-head before dark. Time for hitch number 4 of the day, time to get lucky. As I was enjoying my music and waving over the few cars that passed by, I thought about how so far my endeavor to find a new sleeping pad had gone pretty smooth. However now it was around 1800 and if I didn’t get a hitch, I needed to think about a possible camp-site off-trail. Fortunately I didn’t come to that. A super friendly couple pulled over and were willing to take me all the way to the PCT, even though I believe that that wasn’t where they needed to go. The lovely lady of the couple asked me all these questions about the trail (she’d picked up hikers before, and was super interested) and we had a delightful conversation. I expressed my sincere gratitude several times, because I was real happy to get back to the trail today in pursuit of my friends. 4 hitches within 5 hours, nice going!
Around 1830 I was to continue on the PCT again. At the parking lot where I was dropped off, stood a camper-van, and the owner told me he was day-hiking bits of the PCT, and he also occasionally did trail-magic. We chatted a little bit, and he gave me a banana and an apple. I was glad to accept, because on hiker-diet it’s not always easy to replenish those vitamins. I said goodbye and hiked out, and I was very conscious of all the kindness that all these different strangers had shown me in this very short window of time. I knew I would never catch up with my buddies before dark, but I did want to get as many miles in as I could. I started crushing the trail and soon got to the last water source for the next 12 miles. I filled up 3 liters and kept pushing on again. With the extra water and the extra food and the humid evening setting in I was sweating like crazy, but I kept a swift pace. I was grooving to Justin Biebers new single when all of a sudden I was pulled back into reality. On the trail, some 60 feet away from me stood a fairly large animal of gold-brown skin color. My first thought was: Alpaca! But that would be weird… the size of the creature stopped me dead in my tracks, and I guess it was startled too because in a split second it bolted away into the woods. I believe I’d just had my first real bear-encounter in the wild. To make sure that I would not end up as bear-dinner I did what we are told to do when in proximity of bears; be loud. Sing loudly a ridiculous la-la-la melody I pushed forward, the adrenaline still rushing through my body. The rest of the evening there were no more wild-life encounters however. After 5 miles I found a tent-spot in a clearing of trees (which I tend to like because it’s cooler with generally less mosquito’s). After getting in my tent I couldn’t help but laugh at my new air-bed. It is so large and heavy I don’t think that any thru-hiker in their right mind would consider carrying this along. Very bougie, I feel like I’m glamping (trail-slang for glamour-camping, i.e. bring luxurious items onto a camping trip that defeat the purpose of being outside/in the wild). I wonder if tonight I will get the solid nights sleep I’ve been longing for. Sweet dreams!
Ghosts on the corner
I used to think that’s all we’d ever be
Come home to California
Hey, wild heart, I’d give up everything
To see the world in blinding color
I keep going back there
To the crowded street where
I could see you walking in my sleep
I’ll never stop trying
You’re my silver lining
Even when I’m walking in my sleep
In my sleep, sleep
Even when I’m walking in my sleep
In my sleep, sleep
Even when I’m walking in my sleep
Sleep – Andrew McMahonn
