I guess the zero day that we took at Cajon Pass combined with MudD's new shoes have completely solved MudD's foot problems. His blisters have started to callus and his heals miraculously don't hurt anymore. So we had a great day! It started off normal enough, just walking around, and ended in a really amazing, unexpected way.
We took off from the Best Western knowing that the next water source was 22 long uphill miles away so our goal was to make it there. At around 4 pm we rolled into that campground and were pleasantly surprised to see our old hiking buddies, Hermes and Lotus, who we had not seen for almost a week now! What a great surprise... the first of many we did not realize were about to happen. We sat and talked to Hermes and Lotus for a bit and the four of us came up with a plan: Even though we had already hiked 22 miles we decided we should continue and walk the remaining 5 miles into town where hopefully a trail angel would let us stay at their house. Before we left we contacted a trail angel named Jeff and who said absolutely the four of us could stay at his house. So with renewed enthusiasm we left for Wrightwood! Boy those last 5 miles killed us. Sure MudD's feet didn't ache in the problem places but after 20 miles all feet ache a bit. But on we went. Right before we reached the highway that we would have to try to get a 5 miles hitch at Hermes and Lotus caught up to us and let us know that they had invited Fun Size, Frosty the Saltman, and Ashley to come along with us. So then our group of 4 became a group of 7. And there we were, all 7 of us trying to hitch a ride on very deserted highway. We had been standing there for maybe 5 minutes when a black pick up truck drove up and parked in the parking lot across the street from us and next to a large, white van. We yelled across the street, asking for a ride. They responded that heck yeah they could give us a ride! The three guys drove their black pick up and their large white van across the street just as another hiker, Roger was walking down to the highway... and 7 became 8. MudD and I crawled into the back of the white van with Roger, Ashley, and Fun Size while the others got in the pick up and all 8 of us got a hitch at the same time (I thought that would be impossible) and got dropped off at a great cafe to get dinner. Just as we were walking into the cafe, we saw another long lost hiker buddy, Yuske from Japan. The reunion was glorious and we invited him to dinner with us... and 8 became 9. We all ate to our hearts' content and as we were leaving the restaurant we realized that 9 might overwhelm this trail angel that had invited us to his house so we nervously awaited his arrival and hoped that maybe a few of us could get a ride to his house and the rest of us could hitch or walk. When Jeff pulled up, we told him that we had picked up a few more people and he responded with the more the merrier!! Jeff too had a black pick up truck and somehow all 9 of us crammed ourselves into that truck with all 9 of our packs. Two of us rode up front with Jeff and the rest of us took the packs and held on for the 3 mile ride to Jeff's house. Jeff's house is awesome... and so is Jeff. He has a great loft that all of us can sleep in and he invited us all take showers and do our laundry which was very necessary because we had a very scary brush with a poison ivy-like plant called Poodle Dog Bush.
Quick side story. We had been informed that for a mile and a half there was "nearly unavoidable Poodle Dog Bush" but there was a detour we could take and avoid it all!... so of course we didn't take the detour. And it was not nearly unavoidable... it was absolutely unavoidable. Very scary. Its a crazy looking plant that smells like marijuana but could kill you if you tried to smoke it and has been known to kick people off the trail because they get such bad reactions. So showers and laundry were absolutely necessary.
But back to Jeff's house. So here we are, all 9 of us, hanging out with Jeff, his daughter, and his two dogs. We are showered and clean clothes are on the way. Jeff has even offered to let us borrow his car tomorrow to run errands. I swear the kindness of the people that we met on the trail is very humbling. We would not be nearly as healthy, happy, and carefree without all the people helping us out. There is just no way to thank or repay all the people who have already helped us out and we aren't even 1/5 of the way done with the trail. Anyway, we better get off the computer and start spending time with the party!
Ha! This is all 9 of us in the back of the truck! That's Yuske in yellow, MudD in the foreground and me, Franny aka Dingo burried beneath some packs in the back.
aurora and i wNt to know - are you going commando?
ReplyDeleteNo! But MudD is! My skirt has built in spandex in them. Very very comfortable
ReplyDelete