My sleeping-in-the-snorers-shelter gambit paid off, as no one else joined us. It did get surprisingly cold though, to the point where I had to get up to put more clothes on so my feet didn't need to be amputated by sunup. The chill took a little while to shake off, and I didn't crawl out of my liner until 8:30am. Mr. Fantastic was still stuffed into his mummy bag, so I enjoyed a breakfast of leftovers and got ready for the day. Butter passed us as Mr. F was getting up, and kept on trucking, keeping up her killer pace.
Once I got going I decided to try and keep a quick pace toward the hiker feed at the campgrounds 10 miles out. I succeeded in my goal, and then some. Since there was only one water source along the way, and it was off the trail, I booked it straight through with no breaks and arrived at the campgrounds in 3 hours. That has now shattered my previous goal of a 3mph average, and left me feeling quite elated. Those 10 miles were also my favorite miles of hiking I've done on the trail so far. They're not my favorite for being the most beautiful, or the most technical, but for bringing out a sense of joy to just hike. Feeling confident and strong out here is very important. Today filled that quota perfectly.
Once I arrived I wandered the campgrounds for 30 minutes looking for the feed. It's a massive place with a swimming pool big enough for an army. When I eventually found the campsites where the feed was to be, I found myself alone with a note that read "Make yourself at home". There was some Kool-Aid and snack bars, but it was otherwise a ghost campsite. The downside of arriving early is that if plans fall through, you have nothing to do. So I snacked, read a little, and then decided to head Mr. Fantastic off at the pass so we could eat in town and get our resupply done.
I crossed paths with Butter on the way back to the highway, and she followed me back to join us in town. When I finally found Mr. F he was relaxing at the hiker feed sign (and trail magic that I had enjoyed earlier) with Eva and Short Term. We happily joined them, getting ready to walk .3 to a pizza place. Mr. Fantastic had apparently had a very bad day, so we're back to our usual roles of inverse moods. He's experiencing a stabbing pain on the ball of his foot, which made for a rough hike. We have a mantra to help keep us on the trail: if I have 5 bad days in a row I'll quit. It works well, because that'll probably never happen. Mr. F counted today as day 1. He also decided he had to stop hiking for the day, so that meant that we could enjoy the hiker feed dinner and breakfast, a hot shower, and the swimming pool.
This was all discussed as we ambled along the highway on our way to pizza. We all ordered too much food, while Mr. Fantastic and Eva mimed dance moves and lip synced to whatever random songs played on the radio. It was a fun lunch, and we spent far too much time there. Butter left before us in her eternal search for a phone charger, and eventually Eva and Short Term started heading over to the market another .4 down the road. We were all leaving our packs behind for this quick trip, but as Mr. F and I hit the parking lot to start our walk, we were stopped by a man in a truck. He pulled up and asked if we were hikers, then went on to explain that he was Cook Doctor, the hiker feed chef, and he was on his way to the market. He gave us a lift, and we threw Eva and Short Term's packs in his truck with us, arriving at the market moments before they did. We all quickly stocked up, and hopped back in the truck to ride in style up to the campsite.
We quickly pitched tents, and then ran down to the pool to make the day that much more complete. It's quite lovely to go from a smelly salty hiker, to a damp clean one, over the course of playing games and swimming around. I also happily discovered that Mr. F doesn't know how to tread water properly, when he asked me how long I could do it for and he guessed 2 minutes. Priceless.
We made it back up to the campsites just as everyone was starting to eat. Butter was back, along with Red Fury and High Life, Knock on Wood, U-Pack, and plenty more. Hot dogs, hamburgers, corn, chili, and apple sauce covered everyone's plates while conversations jumped all around the long table. It was an amazing dinner that was then followed by a boatload of ice cream. I'm still nursing a food baby, but I'm also looking forward to breakfast.
It was an amazing day for me, jumping from one high to another. A day of nonstop peaks never happens out here, as it's the contrast that makes everything so wonderful. With that in mind I think today will easily be one of my favorite days on the trail. Who knows what tomorrow could hold?
