Mile 2614 to 2589
Miles: 25
Woke up in another landscape painting. I was sore and achy, but felt energized and like all I needed was a good stretch to start hiking.
James had already packed up and left, as usual, before I got out of my tent. He usually hits the trail at 6AM each day. Maybe someday I'll start that early in the morning, but for now I'm happy to maximize my sleep and recovery time.
I paced back and forth to avoid the packs of mosquitos as I packed up camp and made breakfast. The carnation instant breakfast went down easily. To get away from the mosquitos, I tucked my granola bar in my shorts to eat once I started hiking. Unless I'm significantly above the tree line on a ridge or mountain, the mosquitos are abundant and ravenous. I don't mind it that much but they keep biting my head through my hat; apparently that's where I draw the line.
I took off right at 8AM. Today's theme, as we had seen from the maps, was ten miles of downhill followed by ten miles of uphill. I had not taken it entirely seriously and thought of it more as ten miles of downhill "on average." I found out very quickly that is was, simply put, ten miles of steep downhill switchbacks. I descended from the ridge where we had camped down an enormous slope of gravely switchbacks, into a valley where the trail was overgrown and every plant looked like poison oak, and then up miles and miles of switchbacks onto another ridge.
The morning was my longest segment of solitude on the trail so far. I hiked for five hours, about 13 miles, without seeing another human being. My mind was full of thoughts about the trail, missing Emily and home, and what I hope to get out of this whole endeavor. I grew introspective to the point that, at the 10 mile point when I stopped at a creek to refill water and rest, I practiced some tunes on the harmonica and my eyes teared up. I was surprised at how my emotions were so close to the surface. This hike strips you down.
The views from the afternoon ridge were the best so far. I could see layers of mountain ranges in the distance, a valley below that scooped up into the ridge across, and I could see the trail extend for miles along the inside of the ridge and onto a distant crest.
Arriving at the top of the ridge, I caught up with James who was resting in the shade of a pine. He takes the approach of hike early and take breaks often. James and I sat and chatted, eventually Hayden caught up with us as well and the three of us talked about the trail and our sore parts. A few minutes after Hayden's arrival, two hikers that I had met on the trail a couple hours earlier walked up, Badger and Jabba. They asked us if they could interview us for a trail documentary about the social aspect since we were "a group who are hiking together." James chimed in that "we're not really a group." But they said that since we had camped together a couple nights and seemed to be hiking the same pace, it seemed like we were, at least in the moment, the type of group that forms on the trail. We all said "sure" to the interview request and they filmed us individually and asked us questions about our highlights and lowlights of the trail so far.
The others departed but I lagged behind for a moment on the ridge. I was so used to hiking alone, that is was almost automatic to give them some space before I set off down the trail. James and Hayden hiked together, I could see them a half mile or so ahead. I stopped to purify water and the gap widened.
We had talked about hiking 20 miles to a campsite. Though I kept it in mind that I'd likely meet up with them there, hiking far behind them I finally realized that this might be the first night I camp alone. I was excited by the idea.
After traversing the ridgeline and climbing right over a peak, I caught up with them a couple hours later. They were resting and chatting about hiking five miles further to a campsite t a parking lot on the trail. I felt strong and my feet were holding up well, plus I was elated to have company again, so I said "sounds great!"
The three of us hiked together for the rest of the afternoon. My first time this trip hiking with others and chatting as we went. We talked about our lives, Hayden's time as an Australian Football player and James' Buddhist studies and world travels. We made an effort to let each other catch up as we went so that we could tick together. That might sound like a small effort, but on a hike with the motto "hike your own hike" where people are expected to take care of themselves and not others, adjusting our paces to match each other seemed significant.
James joked that I'd have an Australian accent before long.
We set up camp and chatted over dinner. We're all excited to be making good progress so early in the trip, and to have some company, at least for the moment.