Miles: 478 to 492 (Road detour by Lake Hughes)
“Well, Tiger Wiggles was a nightmare.” - The caretaker of Tiger Wiggles, Bacon Supergirl, and Donut
I took the 6 am call for pancakes very seriously and was one of the first in line... meanwhile the rest of our group trickled in as late as 9, and Mr. Anderson still served up some flapjacks. Honestly, making pancakes for 40 hungry hikers every morning sounds like my nightmare, but he handled it in stride.
The day got HOT. We had thought we would leave around 3, but at 3 the heat was steaming off the pavement, and we were in for a road walk due to another trail closure. Adam and I came up with a brilliant plan to walk to the gas station and get a half gallon of ice cream, which we devoured in about 20 minutes to one lactose-weary hiker's dismay.
At 4, we bit the bullet, wetted our shirts and hats, and headed to the street, where we attempted to hitch back to the trail - just 2 miles down the road. There were at seven of us trying to hitch, so we split into a couple groups. Our driver was a guy on his commute home from work - with an open Stella in his cupholder. Dayhike, Boom, and I got dropped on the side of the road, and shortly after Cappy and Spearhead arrived in a cool-looking jeep, and finally, Jetpack and Animal Style showed up in a huge pickup truck with a bumper sticker that said PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). Jetpack hollered over to us: "Hey, this guy will drive us all the way around the closure if we want!" We swiveled our heads to look at Spearhead. "I'm walking," she said. "We're walking," we said.
[Our mascot (thanks to spearhead designs), the scene at The Andersons, Jet and Dayhike headed to the only diner in town]
And so we proceeded to walk 12ish miles on the side of the road in a single-file line at dusk. This walk lifted my spirits; I've realized that in the nature/culture dichotomy, Boom is nature, and I'm pretty firmly in the culture camp. I loved looking at the houses, the cars passing by, watching the dogs bark and run along their fences. With the sun setting and the relatively flat walk, I felt at peace. Boom came up behind me and promptly started complaining about the harshness of the terrain and being altogether a Debbie downer, and it made me laugh to realize just how different we are. We can be marching uphill for miles in full-body sweats, and he has a grin on his face from ear to ear.
Dayhike is an awesome leader and never turns down an opportunity for a little comfort, so as we walked into the neighboring town, he announced that he would be stopping at the Rock Inn for dinner, and as Slow Magic does, we trailed in behind him to enjoy burgers and fried foods of all varieties. At dinner, Animal Style told us a bit about his sister; she is my age, and she is an artist and musician. She opposes the compulsory military service in Israel. Animal Style told us there are only two ways to get out of serving in the military: make an appointment with a military psychologist and explain that you are suicidal, or, if you are a woman, claim to be Orthodox. Animal Style's sister was coming of age just before the dawn of social media, and she dressed up as an Orthodox woman, which could not be verified through a simple internet search, and therefore, she did not have to serve the mandatory three years. Animal Style is not proud of her choice but respects her integrity - "whether it's right or wrong."
After dinner, we carried on with the road walking - now in the dark with headlamps. Traffic had mostly subsided, and it was quiet and peaceful under the round moon. We walked by an ostrich ranch and curiously peered over the fence with our headlamps as the ostriches peered back at us with their silly legs: "hello ladies," Spearhead crooned. Shortly after, we passed a herd of goats, who bleated as us disapprovingly. It sounded like we were being loudly booed by a crowd of grumpy old men. At first, we found it funny, but their booing grew so loud, that we quickly became uncomfortable. "They don't want us here," Animal Style inferred. We got the message; they were not impressed by us and our silly walk to Canada.
Not long after, I grew dismayed at what I became more and more sure was a ghost looming several hundred yards away in the middle of the road. Nope, not a ghost. Just a resident of the local area - dressed all in white - who had taken an interest in hikers. He was a bit quirky, walking three dogs - one little white mutt (Tiger Wiggles) and two young pitbulls (Bacon Supergirl and Donut). He decided to walk the rest of the way with us to our re-entrance of the trail, about a mile down the road. The dogs trotted along with us, the two little pits connected so that they moved at the same pace and Tiger Wiggles frequently being reprimanded for getting too far ahead. We asked the caretaker how he got so good with the dogs (see the quote above), and he explained that he watched a lot of Dog Whisperer. Near the end, he snapped a photo of us, and we waved goodbye.
As soon as we got on trail, we pitched camp; I've never seen Animal so depleted of energy, and it kind of freaked me out. We set up our tents in a line and fell asleep beneath the moon.
[look at that delicious road, all smiles, Animal and I started a band on our walk (Boomimal), Night time road walking!, Bacon supergirl and Donut being the best, Tiger Wiggles!]
