It was hard to get out of bed this morning. I had slept so well in the bed. But there was a cafe downstairs with what I had been told was great breakfast, so that got me up and then a shuttle ride got us back to the trail. 

I ran into Cookies, our hitch from yesterday, as he was hiking the trail and we stopped to chat a bit. Out of his van, when I could hear what he was saying, he was lovely. He explained that on the west coast, PCT hikers never have to pay for shuttles. They are constantly met by trail angels to help them, giving them rides and places to stay. But on the east coast, it’s become more corporate with hostels charging for stays and shuttles charging for rides. His goal, he said, was to connect all the east coast trail angels with hikers and set up a system much more like what’s out west. Very cool! 

I spent much of the rest of the day walking alone. Sometimes when I leave town, instead of feeling energized and well fed, I feel sluggish. Today was one of those days. I felt like I was moving like molasses. But, as I kept reminding myself, my knee wasnt hurting. And that’s all that mattered. 

As my brain slowly warmed up to the idea of walking again, I looked around at the scenery. It was gorgeous. I found myself in a meadow surrounded on all sides by forests of trees of all shades of green and yellow. Even on such a cloudy day, the light seemed to reflect off each tree differently, leaving a rainbow of yellows and greens behind. But I couldn’t look at the trees for too long. Too much time spent looking up was recipe for ending up ankle deep in a cow patty. 

I was feeling better than this morning and had accepted the idea that it was just going to be a slow day when I ran into rocket as I crested a hill. He was sitting with his feet in a river, soaking his tender shin.

“We are flying, man,” was the first thing he said to me. I looked at him and told him there was no way. “Nope. We’re well above 2.5 mph. Pretty close to 3 actually. We’re getting close to being fast again!” That lifted my spirits yet again. 

My spirits were lifted once more when I sat down at the next river for a peanut butter and Nutella bagel. Rocket joined and we spent lunch chatting about a wide ranging variety of topics including but not limited to politics, meditation and the greatest tv show of all time – survivor. While he’s more of a fan of the older seasons and I prefer the later ones. We could both agree – Jeff Probst is a true American hero. 

I was the first to our campsite, followed closely by rocket and then Viking, second breakfast and adventurine all rolled in together. It let me choose the best hammocking spot. I looked for trees that were well spaced with semi flat ground below. As the others joined, the number of tents/ hammocks grew to 5 all tucked together cozily.  

I built a campfire and we sat around it eating an early dinner. Adventurine told me about growing up in Mississippi and her career as an artist – she is mostly a watercolor painter and has some really colorful and fun work online that she was showing me. I proudly showed her my recent work and she at least pretended to think it was pretty cool! 

Adventurine called it an early night but the rest of us knew the night was just getting started. I pulled out the deck of cards and immediately we got the rummy game going again. The jokes immediately started flowing (primarily about Deuce’s height and age) and there’s no way adventurine was able to sleep through all our laughter. 

We paused the game to continue tomorrow as it got too cold. I’m getting ready to climb into my hammock in all my clothes ready to brave another chilly night. 

Key stats: 

Miles: 10

Elevation gained: 2100 ft

Mile marker: 531

Obvious best season of survivor: 37