Day 29- Zero At Hiker Heaven

May 31, 2016

Hiker Heaven(454.4) 0 Miles Hiked

One of my favorite pictures to date

I had a pretty good zero day today. I tried to sleep in, but by 7:00 it was really hot inside my tent. I finally pulled myself out of my tent to find a cooler place to sit. I finished my blog post from last night and made a list of things I needed to get done today. It was a long list. I sorted my laundry and cleaned my gear. Around ten o'clock I caught the shuttle into town to grab some breakfast. I found Outro and Evac at the cafe and caught up with them. Yesterday I only knew a few people here, but going into the cafe was like a family reunion. Everyone from my bubble was finally rolling into town. Evac and Outro caught the shuttle into Hiker Heaven and Uturn and I enjoyed a great breakfast. I had a chocolate milk, bacon, eggs, and two blueberry pancakes with chocolate chips. I love being able to eat whatever I want without gaining weight. 

Unfortunately I left my phone behind to charge so I don't have any pictures. 

Uturn and I caught the next shuttle back to Hiker Heaven. We sat around with Evac and Outro for awhile to catch up. Eventually we all went about getting our town chores done. I attempted to upload all of my photos into a slideshow, but I couldn't get it to work. I fixed my MP3 player. It wasn't playing any of my audiobooks. This took longer than I thought it would. I sewed a hole in my pants pocket, repaired a hole in my food bag, attempted to fix one of my dirty girl gaiters, but I couldn't find a hook to make it work. I sent a few items home that I wasn't using. I fixed a problem with my blog. Apparently I changed a setting that allowed comments to post. I waited all day for my food mail drop to arrive, but by 6:00 it still wasn't here. I spent a lot of time talking to people I haven't seen for awhile. Around 6:30 we decided to go back into town for dinner. We went for pizza and it wasn't great, but it was cheap and big. I gave away my last piece so I would have room for ice cream. Once my belly was full we went back to Hiker Heaven to relax by the fire pit. 

My food drop finally arrived so I went through it, repackaging food and trying to figure out why food weighs so much. I accomplished almost everything on my list. 

Part of hiker heaven 

Me and L-Rod(Donna Saufley, owner of Hiker Heaven) and my new friend Tiny

We fit 20 hikers into the truck 

Only 2,196 miles to go. 7 more miles than the AT 

Waiting for the shuttle home

Zero days are never as relaxing as I want them to be. I assume they are pretty boring to read about. It's pretty much chores, eat, chores, talk to other hikers, eat, chores, talk, eat. 

Here are some stats from the trail so far

Miles hiked: 454.4 

Miles remaining: 2,195.6

Zero days: 3

Average miles hiked w/ zeroes: 15.7 miles/day

Average miles hiked w/o zeroes: 17.5/ day

Average start time: 6 am

Average stop time: 5:30 pm

Nights camped solo: 0

Nights Cowboy camping: 6

Nights in my tent: 14

Cabin/Motel/Hotel: 5

Trail Angel: 4

Lost gear: 1 lost contact lens

Broken gear: hole in food back, ripped pants pocket, broken gaiter, broke tent stake

Longest mileage day 24.9

Shortest day 1.1 

Times I've fallen: ZERO!!!!! 

Blisters: ZERO!!!! 

Weight lost: 18 lbs

Person I've hiked the longest with: Hawkeye/Evac 

I'll head back out tomorrow night. The next few days we are under a heat advisory, with temperatures topping out at 110 degrees. I'll probably start hiking from 3:30 am to 11:30 and taking a siesta from 11:30-5:30, hiking a few more miles and then going to bed. The next 150 miles promise to be very brutal. 

"There are two types of seeds in the mind: those that create anger, fear, frustration, jealousy, hatred and those that create love, compassion, equanimity and joy. Spirituality is germination and sprouting of the second group and transforming the first group."

- Amit Ray