Day 34: Miles of Shade

July 8
15 miles

My intention to be out of camp by 7am, finish the rest of this climb early in the morning, and avoid the worst of the heat. But I have forgotten how much time it takes to care for your feet when you have more blisters than you can count. I don't start on my way until 7:40. BUT. It is overcast today! I can't believe my luck. All my wishing and hoping, and the Universe listened.

I have 15 miles to go before I reach Castella, and I think I can make it there by 3pm, if the clouds hold out. I call and tell the trail angel, and we plan to meet under an overpass at 3. So now I have a deadline. I cruise through most of the day. I have to remind myself to drink water because it is so easy being in the shade, even on the uphills.

I see the biggest (bear?) scat I've ever seen in my life, and decide this must be an elephant of a bear. The scat just happens to be about 10 feet from a small campsite, perfect for cowboy camping. Ugh, glad I didn't stay here last night.

I come out of the trees and am met with a beautiful view of Mt. Shasta off in the distance. I saw it a couple days ago, and it is surprising how much closer it is today!

I stop to eat lunch about 5 miles from my ending point, and am met with a surprise 1500 mile marker.

                                        This marks 500 miles from my starting point. Wow.

Nearing the end of the day, and I can't believe how easy it has been. In fact, I'm about a half hour a head of schedule. It reminds me once again that you can't take anything for granted on this trail--you have to be grateful everyday for what you have, whether it's water or shade or other hikers. Because it could all change from day to day.

I see a note on a stump as I reach the bottom of the trail. It's not addressed to me, but I read it anyway. Obviously.

I admit that I looked for the treats--not very diligently--but I did look for them. But I have bigger things on my mind, and I could never steal treats from another hiker! I don't need any bad karma coming my way.

The trail dumps me off on a road in the middle of nowhere, which happens more often than not, so I just head toward the sound of traffic, and eventually find the freeway, and overpass.

I sit down under the overpass, like a proper bum--people giving me sorrowful smiles as they pass. If they only knew! My trail angel picks me up and we go directly to the super market. After days of dreaming about different beverages I'm overcome with the amount of choices, and choose an orange juice, only to realize after I buy it that it's not what I wanted at all. I drink it in three chugs anyway, drink the ginger ale that JoAnn (the trail angel) brought for me, and drink a water after that. So many liquids I don't know what to do with myself! Thank god I'm done with this section. Out of this heat for a little while. Supplied with whatever beverages I want. As much water as I can handle. SIGH.