Day 31- The One With The Heat Wave

June 02, 2016

Bouquet Canyon Road(465.6) to Casa De Luna(478.4) 12.8 Miles

I actually consider today's mileage as part of yesterday's. In theory I did a twenty four mile day with a four hour break/nap in between. I woke up at four o'clock and immediately went back to sleep. I finally made myself get up at 4:50. I was hiking by 5:15. This was by far my earliest start. I thought day one was hot, but it was nothing compared to this. By 6:30 it was really warm. At seven o'clock it was slightly uncomfortable. When 7:30 came around it was very uncomfortable. Needless to say at ten o'clock I was miserable. 

Our camp last night

We ended up camping right next to a road. With the noise of passing cars and hikers going by I didn't sleep very soundly. I was pretty groggy for the first few miles. I hiked as fast as I could for six miles. I didn't want to even stop for a snack. I knew the longer I hiked the hotter it would get. Finally I had to stop at mile seven. I hadn't eaten anything and my energy level was low. I came across a memorial bench partly in the shade. I decided that it looked like a good place to have a snack. Miraculously, I had a Snickers bar that wasn't melted. 

Snack time

Famous race

It seems that no matter what trail I'm on Scott Jurek's name comes up. Apparently there is a famous race in this area. It coincides with the pct for a brief section. 

I had two liters of water left and six miles to hike. I really wanted to drink both liters at the bench, but I forced myself to wait until I got closer to the trailhead. I decided to listen to an audiobook, but I discovered that I had left my headphones buried deep in my pack. I settled for listening to music from my iPhone speakers. The next several miles where a blur. I don't remember much about the rest of the hike. I was just too focused on making miles as fast as I could. 

A pretty water source too far away to help

I made it to the trailhead at 9:20. I found a nice place in the shade to wait for Evac and Outro, but after thirty minutes they still hadn't arrived. I decided to head into town without them. We were all going to the same place so I knew I would see them there. Just as I started to walk away Outro caught up. She decided to wait for Evac, Homegrown, and Sprinkles. We had a two mile road walk and I just wanted to get it over with so I agreed to meet them at the convenience store. We have hit another fire closure and are forced to do another road walk. I thought the trail into town coincided with the trail closure so I decided to walk instead of hitch. Long story short, the trail closure went the other way. I walked two miles of road for nothing. Outro and Evac hitched so they got to the market before me. I was pretty pissed off at making such a rookie mistake. We bought some Powerades at the convenience store before walking to The Andersons. They are trail angeles who run a hostel type place for hikers to rest. They are known as a party place on the trail so I was skeptical about staying there. It wasn't as packed as Hiker Heaven. The camping spots are located in the back yard in a grove of manzanita trees. Terri Anderson greets every hiker with a hug. I was able to relax in the shade and hang out with a lot of other hikers. By two o'clock, even in the shade, the heat was unbearable. I took an ice cold shower and attempted to take a nap. Although I was unable to fall sleep I did get some rest. I finished my blog from last night and waited for it to cool down. 

At 5:30 I went to the driveway to chat with everyone. Terri cooks dinner(Taco Salad) every night for the hikers. We had a community style dinner that was nice. She had us all do a little dancing and as a reward gave us a cool class of 2016 PCT bandana. I stayed up past dark talking with a few new people I have met recently. I even got my toenails painted by a nice guy named XO. Although I think he might have a foot fetish considering he was painting everyone's toe nails. After the grueling heat it was nice to have a chill afternoon. 

Manzanita grove

Case De Luna

Uggh. It is HOT!!!!! 

True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing. 

- Baltasar Gracian