June 27
We wake up early to find that Nancy has made us all a huge breakfast burrito spread for breakfast. She is the best surprise Trail Angel ever! Then we get to watch her daughter feed her Red Tailed Hawk--freakin cool.
Nancy drives (most of) our group to the trail head--Wardrobe decides to go back to the start, while the rest of us feel okay about skipping the 2 miles.
Today I am slow. Slower than a tortoise. I don't want to walk. My foot is full on infected and the idea of going 19 miles today to Belden is disheartening. I am lagging far behind Kacie today; a grimace on my face.
Four miles in and Kacie tells me I'm being a depressing hiking partner. I feel defensive and pathetic, and get upset at her remark. We have words on the side of a mountain, and end up walking alone for the next couple of miles. The worst part is I know she's right. I AM depressing. I wonder again why I'm even doing this trail. Why am I doing this to my body? I'm not even enjoying this portion, and I have someone doing it with me. This sucks.
We apologize at the top of the crest. I promise to just suck it up and get to Belden, and enjoy the walk, even if we have to go slow. Kacie promises to slow down and walk with me, and suddenly things start to get better.
Until we reach the top of the last crest before descending to Belden. In the distance we see a mountain of ridiculous switchbacks, leading OUT of Belden, and our hearts fall. We know we have to descend about 5,000 ft in 6 miles, and leaving Belden is going to be even worse.
For now we start to head down--48 switchbacks and 4,892ft later we want to die. We literally started to go crazy as we basically had to run down the mountain. We start fantasizing about pressing my SOS button simply because we can't imagine walking down any more. Our knees feel swollen, our bellies are empty, but at least we're laughing. Until the last mile. The last mile is serious. We want this to be over.
FINALLY we reach the bottom! The trail drops us off at a set of train tracks, and we have to walk another half mile to the Belden Town "Resort"--which is essentially one large building, completely empty, with two people at the bar. We call the trail angel and she says she'll pick us up at 8:30pm, so that we can buy dinner at the bar. A local guy buys us drinks, and we tell him about the trail, and then our friend Wardrobe shows up! He buys her a drink, too, and we all stuff out faces with burgers and fries.
Brenda (the Belden trail angel) picks us up at 8:30 sharp, and takes us back the Little Haven--a hiker hut attached to their house that has a couple bedrooms with cots, a kitchen and a bathroom. It's pretty dirty (because hikers are freaking dirty!), so we pitch our tent outside, take showers, and sleep hard.
It was a looong day. But we made it.
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