Properly wrecked from last two days, I fell asleep instantly last night and woke a little before my alarm rang. I peeked outside of my tent to find that I was the only one awake. First thing on my chore-list was laundry. During the morning I made a few phone-calls with mum, dad and brother which were all fun. Leaving the campsite I noticed that even in the tiny town of Etna it was smoky.
After laundry was done I strolled back into the town-center. Firstly I wanted to pick up a shower-token at the grocery-store, but saw Peach-man and Freewheel through the window of a coffee-shop. I decided to join them for a quick brew. Even though it was early morning, it was already hot out, so I downed an ice-coffee and then went to collect the shower tokens. I threw my clean laundry into my tent and finally enjoyed 10 minutes of hot-water-bliss in the shower-cabin at the park.
Refreshed I went back to pack up my gear on the now vacated campsite. I felt like I was running on fumes, so back at the coffee-shop I enjoyed a nice breakfast burrito as I researched what other chores I had left. After breakfast I moved over to Paystreak Brewery where I’d had dinner yesterday. There they had the better Wi-Fi. Gladly I sorted out my backlogged entries. As I was typing away, one by one familiar people showed up, until finally it seemed that pretty much every hiker in town was there, either enjoying drinks or some great food. I was joined by Canadian gentlemen Gord, Johnny and Alex, who according to plan, had just made it into town today.
I ordered a new pair of shoes to be delivered at the post office in Ashland (approximately 100 miles from here, and the first stop in Oregon!), and quickly nipped into the grocery-store one final time to finish my resupply. The others were kind enough to wait for me before we’d all try to hitch out together.
The 8 of us (Photo-op, Jukebox, Pops, Freewheel. Peach-man, Benjamin Button, Rocket, and I) tried to hitch out, and I felt excited with the prospect of hiking out with this large and fun group of hikers. It was great to see Photo-op and Rocket again after such a long time; It’s good that we’re all back together again. Free-wheel had made a sign in order to improve his hitching-experience and it cracked me up.
After almost an hour, the first car pulled over. The gentleman told us he could fit 4, so Jukebox, Pops, Free-wheel and Peach-man went ahead. As the car drove by, Pops opened the window, pointed to the people in the front-seat and said: “Scout & Frodo!!!”
Wait, what?!
Scout and Frodo are the generous couple that hosted hikers at the Southern Terminus, in their home in San Diego. I myself had stayed there for 3 nights, and have very fond memories of my stay with them; it marked the beginning of this unbelievable adventure. Could it really be them, out here in Etna?!
We pondered about what they might be doing here, and I was a bit bummed I wasn’t in that car with them, because I had a ton of questions, and wanted to thank them once more. After another 45 minutes my mood was uplifted significantly though. A gentleman pulled over in the coolest ride we could imagine; we could imagine; a crazy old, convertible Toyota!
When he cheerfully asked us: “you guys about ready then?“, we couldn’t believe our luck.
We cruised through the hills, as he drove us back the Etna Summit trail-head. Oh the sheer joy! We’d told the others when they got their hitch, that they shouldn’t wait more than an hour for us, because we already learned that hitches were not abundant, and felt bad to keep the waiting. Our excitement doubled upon our arrival, when we saw they were all still there! They told us Scout & Frodo were in Etna, because Scout was hiking a section of the PCT this summer. They had hosted 1100 hikers in their home this season. Unbelievable. Around 1830 all of us hiked out, and once again I felt excited to get back on trail again.
I’m not sure what it was, but approximately an hour before getting to the designated campsite (after having hiked 7 miles or so), I started to feel faint. A slight sense of nausea crept over me and I started feeling dizzy. Really wanting to make it to camp before dark, I just kept hiking. I was last one of the string of hikers, because I took some time to prepare my cold-soaked dinner such that all others had hiked past me. When I made it to camp I still felt a bit ‘off’. It was a good thing I could finish my meal though, and drank plenty of water, so hopefully it will pass. The next 100 miles will take us into Oregon, the first state-crossing on the PCT! All of us are excited, and for me this marks another important mile-stone. To finally make it out of California is a big thing. For almost 1700 we hiked through this beautiful state. But I feel now it’s time for something new. Oregon here we come!
In the same reckless city
Where great Antonio died
On the island in the river
With a mountain at its side
I came to scatter ashes
Of the bridges I’ve burned
And I know the name of the song that I heard
Yeah, I know the name of the song I heard
From the corner of my eye I caught the shadow of a girl
But my shoes were tied together and my face was in the dirt
Her gentle eyes said everything before she said a word
And I knew I was changed by the song that I heard
Yeah, I knew right away by the song I heard
Song that I Heard – Barr Brothers
