- Total Miles: 23 (9 to 32)
- Days since last shower: 3
- Morale: wet
- Climate: High Desert
- Temps: 54/37
"I always say the Appalachian Trail changed my DNA. So be prepared for your life to change." -Bluejay
Because A&L are pack animals, they quickly started building a crew. Night one they collapsed at their first opportunity, an unpaved jeep road about 9 miles in. Soon after hunkering down on a hill overseeing Campo, another weary hiker joined them. Looking like a bean pole, standing over six feet tall, hauling a massive backpack from the 90s with a bandana on his head and sandals on his feet, he greeted A&L with "Aren't we crazy people to go hiking in the desert for fun?" They nodded in agreement, and then he hung around explaining how his feet were aching and barely able to set up his tent. They soon learned that he was 21, had decided three weeks prior to hike the PCT, had no backpacking experience but took comfort in Wild, and had purchased all of his gear on Amazon. His food consisted of 48 honey oat Nature Valley bars and a few baggies of trail mix made of honey roasted peanuts, sunflower seeds, and raisins. He doesn't like sunflowers or raisins. In his words, "no Bueno."
Early morning miles. Completely beautiful.
On Day 2, A&L departed camp extra early in hopes of avoiding the heat of the day. By 10am, Liz was in full blown headache mode, and they decided to pause in a shady patch in the valley right before the big climb of the day. About an hour later, who showed up but Nature Valley - in real shoes! He was stoked to share that just as he was considering pushing the SOS button on his Spot for a helicopter rescue, bandaging his poor cut up feet, who arrived but Rob, a trail angel. Rob noticed his sad state and literally took off his shoes and socks, electing to go barefoot for the rest of the day. Nature Valley was saved! " As soon as I got these shoes I started flying down the trail. It's like bandaids for your feet!". NV thought resting sounded like a good plan, so he plopped down and entertained A&L for hours, sharing stories about his vast internet knowledge, love/hate relationship with Amazon, and attempted business ventures. And just like that, A&L became a trio.
The rest of the day was a breeze, and they arrived at camp by 6pm to find more than a dozen other thru-hikers. They showered (kind of), set up camp, and had a little dinner.
The morning brought rain, so the trio slept in. In fact, they were the last ones to leave camp, joined by Chz-It and Elizabeth, a couple from Tallahassee. The five cruised 12 miles in the rain, not even slowed down by headaches or heat. Now they are all hiding in their tents, trying to stay dry even though at least half of everything is soggy.
The crew! Left to right: Matt (Chz-it), Adam (flow?), Liz (edit?), Elizabeth (+1?), Jake (Nature Valley)
