Day 104

3 Miles

The ground hadn’t dried out overnight, and the few pieces of clothes that were wet didn’t dry either. However, the morning sun worked great. We didn’t get rolling until about 9, so most of the hikers we had seen yesterday and the day before passed by. Syn and Poppins stopped for a second to chat about the fire rumors and we’re fairly set on processing after the highway crossing ahead. We were still unsure, wanting to play it cautiously. The overall mentality for some hikers is to maintain a “continuous footpath” from border to border. They don’t like skipping miles and want the “purest” hike. We’ve taken a more flexible approach and just want to have an adventure and hike as much as reasonable without being reckless or lazy. No need to march towards a fire when we can skip ahead around the whole mess. The missed miles can be done some time in the future when conditions are better. We got up to the trailhead at the highway crossing and found a guy named Rick who was doing some trail magic. He had oranges, jerky, beer, pop, and bag chairs. Night ranger, Oh Man, Syn, and Poppins were there with us and we all chatted for awhile. Syn and Poppins eventually took off and headed up toward the normal highway crossing where hikers hitch into Etna. Had we gone ahead, we would have hitched from there tomorrow morning. The longer we hung out, the more times we saw a helicopter fly by the ridge nearby, clearly being used for fire suppression. Rick was there for more than just trail magic, he had done a long section hike this year with his wife (Feral) but had gotten off trail and she kept going. They were supposed to meet at that trailhead and then enjoy a few days together for their anniversary. She was supposed to arrive around 11 or 12, but it was now 2 and she hadn’t shown. Rick was getting a little worried and wasn’t able to contact her because there was no cell service and his Garmin was out of battery. He started to ask if we would watch his stuff while he went up trail a bit to look for her, but I offered to go instead. I told him I’d turn around in 20 minutes if I didn’t see her. So, off I went, passing a handful of hikers on the way letting them know trail magic was ahead. Every single one of them got excited as soon as I said it. I reached the same water source we had just used earlier and found Shorts and Pepper jack there. They said they hadn’t seen her and we’re on trail at 7, so she was either very far behind, or had passed everyone at some point last night (highly unlikely). The three of us agreed that there must be confusion around which highway crossing they were supposed to meet. She was probably at Highway 3, which we passed through yesterday, and Highway 93, which is where Rick was. I turned around, hiked back up, and as soon as I got there Rick was saying the same thing, that he got the wrong trailhead. He agreed to take us into Etna, since we had decided by that point to avoid the potential fire. We piled into his truck and drove to the Highway 3 crossing, but she had already left. He would have to wait to hear about his mistake tomorrow. He drove us into Etna and dropped us at the Etna Brewing Company. The place was already half-full with hikers. We got a few beers and some excellent BBQ for a late lunch. The Count showed up later and got some food and beer with us. We all left and headed to Ray’s Market for beer and snacks to take to the city park. The park has an area for hikers to camp that’s only $5. We paid, set up, and then found a picnic table. Tailgater and some other hiker joined us later on, but they were a bit of a mess. The younger hikers tend to be the ones with all the drama. Well past hiker midnight, Marie and I turned in. The sprinklers kicked on shortly after, surprising a few unlucky hikers nearby. Around 1:30 I woke up and felt the early signs of knowing I had drank too much. I scrambled to get shoes on, a headlamp, and out of the tent. I started hurriedly making my way to the bathrooms, but didn’t make it. Up came my stomach in the grass. Knowing it wasn’t over I practically ran to the bathrooms and continued the process there. I cleaned up, went back to the tent, and found I hadn’t woken Marie, whew.