Day 46 - Hex - May 21

June 10, 2017

Day 46 - Hex - May 21

I didn't sleep well last night. Every time there was a noise, you would hear the rustle of twenty hikers shifting on their sleeping pads. We're just so close to each other. I sleep better on the trail.

I did little chores until around 10, then we rode in a van shuttle to REI and the grocery store. I picked up just some water treatment at REI. The grocery store was overwhelming, so much stuff in large portions. I had a list, but they didn't have some of the stuff so I had to improvise. I got bagels for lunch, some vegan cheese, couscous, lots of granola bars, nuts, dried fruit and other stuff. I picked up a pint of non-dairy ice cream. Yum! We had only 1 hour to get everything, and I felt rushed. I like to take my time at the grocery store.

We repackaged our stuff on the porch at Hiker Heaven. Donna Saufley washed my sleeping bag with another girl's. She got it nice and fluffy. Donna is awesome. It might be too warm for the desert now, but it's going to be great in the Sierra. I was planning on washing it in Tehachapi, but now I get to spend that time with Ian. He's visiting and hiking with me!

We grabbed some banana chairs and laid in them, eating snacks while chickens pecked around us. My chair had a leak, so my but started to hit the ground.

I went to mail my food and the volunteer who helped me thought I had a hex because the internet stopped working. I also told her about the helicopter ride to the ER that I took. Donna Saufley came over and worked her magic on the computer. She's so generous, she also gave me postage to mail a few postcards. I went to take down my tent and another stake broke coming out of the hard ground, it left the tip in the dirt. That's three crappy carbon fiber stakes broken here. The ground is so hard from so many people camping here. One of my aluminum stakes was stuck so hard I couldn't pull it out, so I went to borrow a hammer from Donna. The volunteer kept her distance in case the hex was contagious. I don't believe in that sort of thing, but I thought it was amusing. The hammer worked for stake removal. I also spent some time repairing my pack at the circle of haybales. Vegan Daniel came by and said he hair cooked some lentil soup I'd we wanted some. I had two bowls, it was good.

Soon after eating dinner, they called out for a ride to town and trail. Brain Turtle, Roadblock and I were ready, so we jumped at the opportunity to miss a road walk. Rocco gave us a ride in an old Ford truck. We sat in front and the Bridge People piled into the back with all the packs. They got dropped at town to grab some groceries before hitting the trail and then we got in the trail. We met Nihls from Denmark, a physicist, he had done the roadwalk, but he soon passed us. The sun was setting as we climbed in elevation. There were many trashed vehicles in the valley below, done kind of junkyard. They even had a large Boeing with the wings removed. We were night hiking for the first time, since it was going to be over 90 degrees for a few days. The trail wound up a hill. After dark, we saw the Bridge People coming up behind us, their headlights gaining on us as we hiked. We pulled aside for each of them as they passed. Matt was in front for a while and he saw a Kangaroo Rat. He said it had a long tail and hopped away. You see different creatures at night. There were huge centipedes, about 5 inches long. I got ahead of them at one point, trucking my way up the hill. I waited a while, wondering what had happened. When they caught up, I learned that Brain Turtle had fallen with her shell side down! She had tripped and landed on her back on her pack underneath and needed Roadblock to help her up. Turtled! We finally reached camp, a dirt road with a few flat places, around 11pm. We set up as quickly as we could and went to sleep. Tomorrow morning was going to be early.