Day 8

April 23rd, 2014
Mile 68 – mile 78
10 miles total

My alarm went off at 5:10am but I ignored it. I was finally getting some sleep. I got out of the tent at 6:15 and did my shuffle of pain caused by Plantar Fasciitis. I hobbled to a nearby Bush that was out of sight from everyone else and I quickly urinated. I was a little slow in getting my stuff packed up but I eventually got everything back in my bag. Some day I’ll figure out the most efficient way to do this.
I wrote a quick note in the sand with my trekking pole for Cody telling him what time I was there. If he was behind me (which I doubt) then he might see it and know approximately where I am.

The first hour or two I was walking on the side of the cliff that covered me from the sun. Quite enjoyable. Eventually the trail led to the other side of this big hill and I was now in the sun.

Today was flippin hot. A bunch of hikers passed me and said they would see me later. One guy, Michael, said that I should plan on starting really early in the morning and take a siesta in the afternoon to avoid the sun. I agreed with him and wondered why I’m not doing that already.
I walked and I walked.

I saw two snakes in my path and tried to shoo them away. They would not be shooed. They did slither off after a minute of me telling them to go away. Michael told me I don’t need to worry about any snake but the rattlesnake. All the other snakes are harmless. I want to believe him but what if he’s mistaken.
I got to mile 74 and was so grateful because I knew that I was close to the road. I felt miserably hot. I took off my backpack at one point and poured water on my head. Ahhh, refreshing.

I made it to the road and saw a sign that gave me two choices. I could go left to Julian to stay at a hotel (risking that it might be full) or I could go right to Stagecoach campground to stay the afternoon. I decided to go camping at Stagecoach because it was only 8 bucks to stay there.
It was only one more mile to the Scissors Crossing cache so if I couldn’t hitch a ride three miles to Stagecoach then I would just continue hiking.
A nice lady named Linda picked me up after 20 minutes of sticking out my thumb. She new exactly here I wanted to go which I was grateful for because I didn’t need to scan the side of the road for the campground.

After dropping me off I went into the small grocery store and bought some snacks and a soda. I sat my dirty self down on the picnic tables in the shade and started texting my mom.
I asked if she had heard from Cody because I haven’t seen him in a few days. She said no and asked if we got in a fight. No, I responded, he’s just faster than I am. I told her to go head and order maps for him and put them in his resupply boxes so he won’t get lost.

Fancy and her nice looking Kale salad.

After I was done chatting with mom I went to take a long shower. After I did laundry for $1.75 and dried the clothes in the sun after. I finally felt clean again.

Map of the campground

Clean Marcella

Surprise! Jen & Whitney showed up. I didn’t know they were going to be here. They quickly picked a site close to the showers and set up their hammocks.
We sat around the picnic table, cooked and talked until dark. At 8:50pm I was too exhausted to call my mom like I promised so I texted her that I was going to bed.
I really wish I could post videos on here because I was taking a short few giving little updates everyday. I’ll see if I can post YouTube videos when I get to Idyllwild.