We woke up today knowing that it was going to be a short day. Baby talk had a friend who had offered to pick us up and take us to her house for showers and dinner. And So we were in no rush to leave camp. It was only going to be a 12 mile day and Lauren couldn’t get us til after work wrapped at 6. 

But that was a huge mistake not getting out early. By the time we left a little after 9:30, the sun had already heated up the world around us. It was HOT. I was barely out of camp before the sweat started dripping down my face. 

I fell way behind the other two as the heat drained me of my already lacking energy. Once again, I found myself pushing hard just to go at a slow pace. 

But I knew there was one thing to look forward to. The trail went through a town 8 miles in to the day. That meant I was getting town lunch. So when I finally saw the town, I knew I was getting my first reprieve.

But my first reprieve actually came just before lunch. Right before I got to town a car skidded to a stop right in front of me. “Thru hiking?” The driver asked. And when I nodded, he reached into the cup holder and pulled out a white claw. “She’s cold,” he said. “Want it?” A blackberry white claw has never tasted so good. 

20 minutes later I sat down at the table already occupied by baby talk and rocket and, after washing my hands to clear my noro-cooties, ordered the largest, coldest sprite the waitress had. 

We sat around the table barely talking. I thought I was the only one who was getting beat by the heat, but as I looked around, the other two seemed to be feeling it to. “It’s too hot,” said baby talk. Rocket just nodded. 

After lunch, we got ice cream and deposited ourselves down in a shady bit of grass by the river. Again, there was no rush, so we closed our eyes nd tried to nap through some of the heat. Unfortunately the grass was inundated with ants so everytime I started to doze off, a little bug crawled places I didn’t want little bugs to crawl and I was pulled from sleep. 

The last 4 miles blurred by. By the time I got to the road, rocket had already lined up a hitch for us. “They offered to take us to Walmart!” He said as we piled into their car. The lovely couple immediately opened the windows as the three sweaty hikers climbed into the back seat. 

After we bough our goodies at Walmart, baby talks friend Lauren picked us up and drove us to REI where I got a new pair of shoes. When I told the woman there what shoes I had been wearing and that my knees have been bothering me all trial, she said “well duh! You’re in brooks! Try these.” She gave me a pair of Topo shoes to try on. They have much less of a drop and apparently are much easier on your knees. They look goofy, so they better make my knees feel better!

After a quick diner trip left me full of corned beef hash, eggs, toast, bacon and pancakes (thankfully my appetite is back) Lauren took us back to her parents house. We tried to socialize but we were all too tired. Even babytalk, who knew the parents well and wanted to catch up with them, struggled to keep the conversation flowing. 

I felt bad. I was so happy to be back in trail with friends, back from noro but even with all that excitement, I was just too tired. 

The family showed us to the guest room. There was a king sized futon and a few blankets and pillows. I’m not sure we even discussed it, we just all climbed into the bed together. We lay down three abreast, made a joke or two and then fell into a deep deep slumber. 

Key stats:

Miles: 12

Elevation gained: 1800 ft

Mile marker: 1127

Rockets order at the diner: seafood platter (gross)