Day 22- Nero Day On The Interstate Exit Ramp

May 24, 2016

High Voltage Tower/Dirt Road(338.1) to Cajon Pass(341.9) 3.8 Miles 

I had an absolutely horrible nights sleep last night. Just as I was posting my blog, Uturn let out of few expletives that quickly got everyone's attention. Apparently he had an enormous spider crawl into his sleeping bag. Before that we had a creepy looking guy walk through our camp. I'm pretty distrustful of anyone that is on the trail late at night without a pack. I think there was a pretty good chance he was an illegal. I was feeling pretty exposed out in the open on a dirt road. Just as I was drifting off to sleep a truck came driving down the dirt road next to us. Between spiders, aliens, and possibly being run over you can imagine why I didn't sleep very well. Oh, I also forgot to mention the 50 mph winds. When my alarm went off this morning I immediately jumped up and began to pack my bag. It was McDonalds day, I mean nero day. It was the fastest I've ever gotten my things packed up. I was on the trail by 5:35. I practically ran into town. By 6:45 I was enjoying two Mickey D's breakfasts. I waited a respectable amount of time, one hour, and then I ordered another breakfast. 

Sunrise from the power lines

Cajon Pass

Hiker trash Unite!!! 

Hawkeye, Uturn, Evac, and I booked a room at the Best Western, but we couldn't check in until three. I sweet talked the lady at the front desk and she promised me that as soon as they got a room cleaned it would be ours. Since we had time to kill I called my mom and dad. They have been out of the country since I started the trail and we have only talked for a few minutes since they left. It was great to hear about their trip and to share all of the details from this hike. 

The hotel did a great job and got us into the room by eleven. Spaceman decided to zero here so he is staying with us as well. We exploded our packs all over the room and quickly destroyed it. This was one of the best showers of my life. I'm squeaky clean. Laundry was taken care of and we were well fed. Unfortunately the computer here doesn't work very well so I wasn't able to do a lot of the things I needed to get done. I was hoping to edit my GoPro videos and put a slideshow together of all of my pictures I've taken so far. I did get some new gear ordered. I bought a Zpacks cuben fiber stuff sack to attach to my shoulder strap. I'm about ready to ditch my hiking pants, but I need a place to hold the things that I put in my cargo pockets. I've also broke a few of my tent stakes so I ordered replacements. We planned the next few days and loosely planned the next week. After that it was time to eat again. We went to Del Taco. I've never eaten at one before. It was similar to Taco Bell. It wasn't exactly gourmet dining, but it hit the spot. 

Lunch

The next order of business was cleaning and repairing gear. I had one of my dirty girl gaiters break so I used some dental floss and a needle to repair it. I got most of the sand out of my pack and let my sleeping bag air out. I took some time to catch up on social media and posted some new pictures to my Instagram account. If you are interested in following me my account is WanderingWoman8. I went to the convenience store and bought a few things to hold me over until we get to the next town in a day and a half. This next stretch will be difficult because there is no water for 28 miles and we gain 5,000' of elevation. 

After looking ahead and planning things out we decided to go to Subway. I was still stuffed from lunch so I only bought a footlong sub to pack out for dinner tomorrow. We are all excited to get back on the trail in the morning. After all the miles I've hiked I'm still shocked by how quickly our time goes by on town days. I still can't account for what I did all day. 

This is where most of the day went

To live is the rarest thing is the world.  Most people just exist.

- Oscar Wilde