Day 26: Mile 357.8 to mile 366.6

8.16.21 -

8.8 miles, +1,800 -1,000 ft

Segments: 22

I woke up around 6:30 this morning and just kind of laid around in bed until 7ish when it was finally time to finish chores like organizing my food for resupply and putting it in my bag. I semi-took over the dining table to do so, chatting with some of the other hikers that were there. It was kind of weird - I was the only girl at the hostel. So many men! Squid (who is gay) was also like, wow so much man energy lol. We got our packs slowly together and then walked next door to the little cafe to eat some breakfast, which took a pretty long time. It was a popular spot but decently good! 

We had to go back to the hostel to vacate the place by 10 am. We just sat in the yard area finishing our packs & I called my grandma & grandpa to chat for a bit before we really left and went back to the ice cream shop for “lunch”. I got a root beer float which was so yummy. 

Luckily, the ice cream shop was right next to the park, where the volunteer shuttle would pick us up and take us back to the trail. At noon we all showed up and piled into the two cars. It is honestly so nice that these people just volunteer to take us hikers up on a rotating basis. Our lady had her two small dogs in the car too and they were so cute! I can’t remember the breed, but they were Italian water dogs, kind of like Portuguese Water Dogs, but mini sized. 

They dropped us off at the parking lot, I used the pit toilet again, and then me, Squid, Stretch, and Berry took off down the trail. The 4 of us hiked together all afternoon, with the goal of getting to the last water source before the climb and high point. We had a bit of rain that came and went, and I fell AGAIN and into a mud puddle (ugh, but thankfully, my freshly laundered clothes did not get muddy). It was so fun finally hiking with people instead of being alone. 

Around 5 pm, we reached the camping along with so many other people who were there. Happy with our progress and seeing a big storm cloud headed our way, we set up camp. It rained a bit and the storm seemed to pass. I sat in the tent eating my “lunch”, and then came out to get water and make dinner. As we made dinner with a view of the meadow, we saw a person riding a horse with a dog, and we heard the bleating of sheep in the distance. And suddenly, a humongous herd of sheep appeared. We watched them eat and walk by, actually getting pretty close to us. It was the best dinner entertainment ever. After eating and the sheep continued on, we felt more drizzles and decided it was time for the tents, even though it was only 7. We quickly discussed plans before retiring for the night.

Today was decently tiring anyways, even though we didn’t hike too much. We deserve some rest! And the forecast coming up is looking stormy, and this next stretch of trail is mostly above treeline. We’ve made a plan to stick mostly together, and probably not hike many miles tomorrow in order to get to a camp that is relatively ok and protected in this super exposed section. In this kind of weather, you have to hike early and get those miles in before the afternoon storms start, which today was around 2 pm. I can definitely say I’m happy to be around really nice people and everyone wanting to stick together and hike around each other is nice. Our little tramily is great!