Today was another day of lovely leisure. As predicted, it was raining for most of the morning and afternoon and it was lovely settling in the feeling of knowing I was going nowhere else, but the store, the cafe and our sleeping accommodations. I didn’t sleep as well as expected in the bunk-beds, waking up often. It might just have to do with the fact that I’m more accustomed to sleeping on my pad on and hard surfaces now. The windows on the men’s sleeping dorm had large shutters, which kept the room pitch-black, past sunrise. So fortunately I did get to doze for an extra hour compared to usual. After getting upup, Coach and Benjamin Button were down to head out to the cafe and get breakfast. It was crazy busy, being a cold and rainy Sunday morning, but considering the many people we were served fast and the food was good. I felt my energy returning, and after the meal, all was good again.
The remainder of the day consisted of sorting out my previous entries, buying food for the next (short) stretch, and just hanging out.
I had a great time chatting with Coach, who showed me lots of pictures and videos of all the outdoor activities he engages in back home in the area of San Diego. Ranging from fishing to bouldering, surfing and hiking, he seems to do it all in his spare time. Some of his instagram photo’s and videos are really impressive, and featured with beautiful and spiritual words, and I told him I thought he’s a real good writer. He inspired me, and made me realise how much more is out there in this world that I still want do and explore. I felt grateful for him sharing his experiences, so Thank’s for that Coach!
I bought a pint of caramel ice-cream, headed back to the Jonah Camp retreat center and sorted out my groceries. The pint of ice-cream served as dessert after having just feasted on a 1000 calorie burrito at the store earlier. After the ice-cream I felt nauseous. But just for a little while. Then it was nap-time.
After a glorious 30 minutes power-nap I spend the evening by walking back to the store once more, hanging out with the other hikers and thinking about the stretch ahead. There’s 60 miles to White-pass, where I will be picking up a box of food and my new rain-pants (courtesy of my beloved mum). From there its 52 miles to an amazing cabin along the trail, accessible for hikers, with a wood-burning stove. I talked to a hiker today who said it was a total must-go-to, so I’m excited. Tomorrow I will hop on the 0900 shuttle back to the trail-head, and I know that at least Coach and Benjamin Button will be heading out also at that time. Looks like I won’t be hiking alone anymore! The weather is supposed to be good too the following days, so I’m really excited about the next stretch. The views are about to get great, so I’m curious what more the trail has to offer.
And late December
Can drag a man down
You feel it deep in your gut
Short days and afternoons spent pottering around
In a dark house with the windows painted shut
Remember New York
Staring outside
As reckless winter made its way
From Staten Island to the Upper West Side
Whiting out our streets along the way
And the snow is coming down
On our New England town
And it’s been falling all day long
What else is new
What can I do
But sing this valley winter song
I wrote for you
Valley Winter Song – Fountains of Wayne
