July 2015 - Whimsy & Wanderlust

Snakebite vs The Hottest Day

July 25, 2015

13.june 23.23miles
570.9 – 594.23

We are firmly in one of the scariest sections of the desert for me. The next 50 miles the water is very scarce so we have to time our hiking for early morning and late evening only, and carry a LOT of water each time. We didn’t quite make it up as far as we’d hoped last night so I’m up early and on the trail by 5am. Still not super early but I needed sleeeep 🙂

Tara appeared in the night, having night hiked in with Sam (who continued on to find Cookie who hiked further than us).
It’s a windy, leg burning climb to wake me up. The extra water weight is killing my shoulders- I don’t think my pack is rated for this much weight! I pass a bunch of hikers hidden under trees either cowboy camping or in their tents. I’m not sure who they are (new people!)- it’s cool we now know our friends by our tents and our footprints.
By 630am it’s clearly evident it’s going to be a burner. I cover up EVERYTHING- full burqua plus a coat SPF 100000 suncream. I look like some kind of ghostly, desert-dwelling bank robber. All of the sexy sexy clothes to attract the hiker boys.

I’m now out on an exposed gravely ridge, heading downhill, with the sun biting. I’m headed for the spring and a siesta! All of a sudden my pole collapses and I stack it towards the mountain (not off the side thankfully!!) And get myself a nice gravely cut down my leg. Bugger.

I’m passed by speedy long legged Kyle, super focused and determined Jae, and crazy Mexican-ballad-singing-at-the-top-of-his-voice-whilst-running-downhill Rodrigo. It’s not long until we are at the spring, and there is water here!!! Hooray!!! Except that means I’ve carried 6kg for no bloody reason. Grrr.

There is another group here at the spring that zoomed past us when we were faffing about in the mud yesterdsy. They night hiked all the way in and are now headed out a few miles. Crazy- it’s too hot already for more hiking!

We all pull out our sleeping mats, get some water and eat some food before passing out into a glorious nap. At some point Chloe ans Ceili arrive, then Cheech and Chong, Sam and Cookie and Tara! All of the people 🙂

Some trail angels arrive and hand out little bottles of water! Phenomenal. I’ve decided that my sun umbrella is not worth its weight and am posting it away, but get everyone to sign it while we are hanging about. Sam takes a liking to it and falls asleep with it, so I leave it in his safe keeping until the next town.

I get antsy and end up leaving at 315pm just after the twins (Chloe & Ceili. Not actually twins -they wear matching Wesleyan Running Shirts) despite Rodrigos yells that it is too early and I will be sorry.
Turns out it’s too early and I am very sorry. So hot!!! All the trees disappear and I enter a burn zone where there was a recent fire and NO shade anywhere. Nada. I can feel the heat through my shoes and reflecting off the ground all around me. I think this might actually be some kind of giant desert version of a Hansel & Gretel thru-hiker oven. I pass by a little camp of tents and tarps set up by the speedy group that left this morning. Their attempts do nothing to block the sun and I wonder if I should check if they have actually roasted. Or at least roll them over and baste them for the giants.

It’s not until about 530pm that it feels like it might be an ok time to hike. Oh well. I catch up to the girls and have a mini boulder-shaded rest with them before hiking on. There’s a beautiful big open field, but I want to get a couple more miles under my belt and feel like a solo night so I keep going.
Stupid idea. My bad-camping-spot karma kicks in and I can’t find anywhere to camp. The light is disappearing so I grab the next ok spot I find, which is up a hill on the side of the trail. It’s actually not a bad spot, nicely protected but on a bit of an angle. It’s a gorgeous cowboy camp kinda night so I say goodnight to the stars and sleep.

Snakebite vs The Water Carry

July 24, 2015

Day 31 Tehachapi to top of giant hill.

The door to the hotel room opens and lets in an unwelcome blast of light. Morning already? Getting up already?
The lure of the all you can eat continental brekkie is enough to get all the little hiker trashes out of bed one by one, myself included. I munch on delicious banana and peanut butter on toast and terrible watered down oj while marveling at Lance Bass being a newscaster on the tv in the corner.

After brekkie Yorkie and I make the mile and a half walk down to the supermarket to sort out our resupply. It takes me soooo long -everything is in different aisles than I’m used to, I don’t know the brands, and I spend too long reading labels I don’t understand. Eventually I emerge with way too much food and we manage to hitch a ride back down the road.
I indulge in hummus, veggies and green juice while spreading my food all over the bed, trying to make some sense out of it.
Once my bag is packed I march over to the post office with Cheech and Chong to post my pants back to REI (stitching all came undone so I’m using their awesome return policy!) my solar charger to my sister for safekeeping. It is nowhere near anything else in town and involves a dodgy railroad crossing where there isn’t one.
An older gentleman strikes up a conversation about the trail, and I manage to yogi myself a ride to the library where I become a member and use their computer to attack some blogging.

Starbucks is the meeting place for everyone. It’s raining and we keep getting emergency flash flood warnings pop up on our phones. Too much dilly dallying from everyone and I’m antsy to get on the trail so I dig out my phone with the photo of the trail angels phone numbers. The first one I call offers two cars and will be over right away. It continues to blow my mind how amazing the community around this trail is.

Jae, Kyle, Rodrigo and I pile in, and collect Chloe and Ceili on the way. Ratatouille comes along for the ride to see if he can find his phone at the trailhead (he lost it on his way in).

As we all pile out Justin is there with some others and comes bounding over to warn there is no water at the first water spot. Crap!!! This means a big heavy carry, and we have a big giant hill. We fill up to whatever our capacity is (mine is 6L!!! Others are taking 11!!!) and drink as much as possible from the cache that is maintained at the bottom. Kyle passes around a watermelon (he carried a watermelon…) and we brace ourselves.
Our trail angel is excited to point out that this is the point that Cheryl Strayed started her hike (and Reece Witherspoon).

And we start. Slowly.

The afternoon storm has left a trail made of thick mud in its wake. We try and bypass as much as possible, duck under a barbed wire fence and back to avoid more, and eventually give in and trudge through. This ilicits a stream of expletives from Rodrigo that goes on forever and is hilarious (Jae videos it. Hours of entertainment).

Slowly we make our way up the hill as the sun is setting. The colours and light are stunning. We can see lights of the wind farm blinking red in the valley of the desert below. The storm is a distant memory and we have only our huffing and puffing, and the click of our hiking poles sounds as our soundtrack.

As I get to the top I find Chloe and Ceili in front of an awesome little cave made by bent over trees. Perfect dinner amd camping spot. We munch on food, chat and set up our sleeping mats cowboy style (except Jae and Kyle who hide in their tents from a possible storm repeat). Beautiful stars above. Sore shoulders but a great day.

Snakebite vs Day 30

July 21, 2015

Tylerhorse canyon 541.5 to Tehachapi 558.5

We survived the night! The storm never came but the wind was crazy all nightm It wasn’t the best sleep in the world with three of us in there, but better than my tent would have been making crazy noise all night.
I climb out of the canyon with the view of the wind farm below. It’s all very exposed along the trail today and I can see the sun coming along, ready to start cooking us. Tehachapi is the goal today for resupply and showers. Not too far but a hustle to get there before the hottest part of the day.

There’s a big burn area to walk through, which is always depressing, but I round a corner and see trail magic!!! APPLES! Beautiful fresh apples, water, chairs to sit on. There’s a picture of what the area looked like before the fire and it was gorgeous. I sign the register, put on more suncream, hide my head under my bandana nd march on with Kyle and Tara just ahead.
It’s hot already and I plug in my podcasts to distract me as I go fast down the descent. No breaks for me! The magic power of cold drinks awaits!
I zoom down the mountain, running where I can. I sign the register at the bottom (“Embrace the suffering!”) where a local ‘trail angel’ has listed all the things they will do for you and the exorbitant prices…pretty sure that’s a ‘trail business’, no angel-ing about it.
As I enter the carpark there’s a great list of local trail angels and their phone numbers! High fives Tehachapi! I walk into the carpark and am about to head to the road to hitch when I see a cop car slow down on the rd and pull in. I’m not sure if hitching is allowed here ( there are some strange rules about hwys) so I stay put. He pulls right up to me and offers me a ride! Woohoo! My good hitching karma is still in full force 🙂
We chat for the duration of the drive, he recommends some restaurants and hotels. Such a lovley guy. I thank him profusely as he lets me out at the place I’ve sent some packages.
I have new pants from REI (I ordered some new ones as my current ones stitching is coming undone, and they are a bit big making them rub against my hips under the hip belt and huuuurt!), an external battery, new camera battery charger (yay photos!), and insoles (new cushiony goodness!). It’s Christmas!!

I start the walk down the rd to the Best Western where Kyle, Yorkie and Alex are checking into a room, and a lady pulls ovee and offers me a ride! It’s literally only two blocks, but she insists as she doesn’t like the look of the guy behind me. So nice of her 🙂

We all pile into our room and do all the clean things. This hotel wins the prize for best shower so far. Glorious! I do laundry, which eats up a lot of the time, and half watch a terrible movie on tv.

The others eventually rock up and we hit the hot tub and pool area. I meet a couple of great Canadian kids (yep, I’m that old I’m referring to people as kids) Chong, who are 18 and 19 and we all adopt as little brothers.

After hanging around the hot tub for too long dinner is a fizzle because all the restaurants close at 8! We manage to get into a diner, but we are all so tired after being in the heat there is very little conversation.

We squeeze Jae and Cheech into our room as well, so there are 6 hikertrashes crowding in. I hope no one snores!!! Earplugs in, I escape off the bed and choose the floor instead as a more roomy option.
Goodnight!

Snakebite vs Day 29

July 20, 2015

Hiker town 517.6 to Tylerhorse canyon 541.5 23.9 miles

We are up in the dark and get all our gear sorted with our headlamps on. My pack is so amazingly light I feel like I can fly 🙂
Once all the heavy stuff is deposited with the van, Ceili Chloe Rodrigo and I set off towards the aquaduct with Yorkie and Alex about 10min ahead.
The light is gorgeous this morning as we walk past the open part – it’s a giant channel of water, that is covered over with concrete quickly and we are walking on it and beside it.
It’s just a long straight road of gravel and concrete. We pass the time telling life stories, discussing ultimate dinner party guests, and generally asking 1000 questions of each other. It’s not often you can walk side by side and easily chat on the trail, so it’s awesome to have 4 of us in a row. We leave messages in the dirt for the others, have speed walking races…and then it gets HOT. The only shade is from Joshua trees which are not the most hospitable trees around.
We take a couple of short breaks where Kyle and Tara catch up, but there is no real respite from the heat so we just keep going. More jokes, stories, cartwheels, random fun things.
The creek we are headed for is inside a wind farm and the giant fans crowd the horizon.
We finally arrive. There’s no creek but a bridge to hide under from the sun, and barrels of water for us.
Our stuff isn’t there. Eeps. We finally find a signal and find out Jae is in the car with it all having a break this morning. The gear was all put into a horse truck that is supporting some PCT horse riders. They are lost. They are in the wind farm somewhere but it takes them a looong time to find the bridge.
It’s still so hot. With our gear back, some food in our bellies, and the wind providing loud white noise, one by one we fall asleep under the bridge.
Best trail nap ever.
I wake about an hour later to find us all sprawled out on the group in different stages of sleep or waking.
We pack up and out slowly. The wind is insane. I keep getting pushed over and can’t step forward. The destination for tonight isn’t too far away but it is hard hard work! I have to adjust my pack because the ends of the straps keep slapping me in the face. Sometime along the way clouds start accumulating and looking pretty mean.
So now we have insane wind and menacing clouds. We go as far as we can to Tylerhorse canyon to fill up on water. Now the rain is spluttering in so our grand plans of 100 mile (well…that was probably a bit ambitious) day with our easy slackpack start are ruined.

We set up camp in the insane wind. My tent does no want to cooperate, then Jae with his giant giant tent offers space for us with dodgy non-wind loving tents (my tent is actually fine in high wind with 2 extra guylines…which I don’t have). So Tara, Jae and I pile into his party tent for a squishy but non-fwapping of tent fly night.

Snakebite vs Day 28

July 20, 2015

500.5 to 517.6 (Hikertown)

It turns out that the dirt road that was so perfect in our tipsy exhausted state was actually on a slope. My night was spent sliding down my groundsheet towards my feet and I kept having to crawl back up again!
It was still so awesome sleeping under the stars and I think my tent will be getting as little use as possible (weather permitting).

Everyone is up pretty early and off. It’s a drizzly day which starts with a small climb up and not many water sources. I have enough water to get me to the horse trail camp spring at mile 508, just in time for second breakfast (second breakfast is an important meal and should exist everywhere. Not to be confused with mornos/elevenses which come afterwards). The rain is soft and actually nice to hike in. I put my pack cover on but don’t worry about the jacket and enjoy the cool cloud that surrounds me.
The horse camp has a table – gasp! One by one Tara, Jae, Kyle, Sam, Ceili and Chloe all turn up and crowd around the table at the campsite for brekkie, and then depart in the same fashion.
It’s a nice descent through some pretty flowers and trees. There’s no great rush but I enjoy trying out my new ‘run down the hills’ technique. My podcasts are plugged in and it’s a lovely hike.

Eventually I make it out to the road crossing, and find the strange little world of ‘Hiker Town’ on the other side.
It is simply bizarre. It is a collection of little buildings that house beds, set up to resemble a little town of sorts. There is a flower shop, a prison, a doctors office, a town hall….it’s equal parts fascinating and creepy.

Chicken Fat and Lobo are there, as is speedy Kyle and the Canadian Honeymooners Snack Attack and Bambi.
I cook some yummy tabouleh for lunch that Little Foot and Raven gave me back in Wrightwood, and then they turn up at hikertown! Yay great to see them.

There are big clouds rolling in, but it is hot. I try and nap with little success -too hot and too many flies. We all congregate around the porch of the ‘town hall’ and try to hide from the fat drops of rain that are starting to fall.

Our next terrain is along the LA Aqueduct.and we mull over our options while lounging and clearly not wanting to movie. It’s going to be long and hot with 18 miles of no water and fully exposed.
The original plan is to start the hike tonight, but rumour abounds that it is horribly windy and dangerous to camp on as cars zoom along the road at night. Many hikers do the whole thing at night because of the exposure. So we have our excuse to stay put and be lazy and a few of us plan on a crazy early start in the morning instead. Then the fabulous ‘trail provides’ and we are offered a slack pack to Cottonwood creek! This means taking as little as we want with us and the rest will be dropped off in 18miles for us to collect. I still have to take my pack to house my water and snacks, but empty everything else into a garbage bag. YAYAYAY! This is amazing and means we can start little later and will be walking like Olympic speed walkers! ZOOM ZOOM!

I find myself a place to sleep in the garage, along with Ceili, Chloe, Rodrigo and some new friends Attila, Yorkie and Alex. We attempt a movie on Rodrigos mini iPad but alas it does not want to work.

So off to sleep I go, excited by all the speediness that will come in the morning.

Snakebite vs 500 Miles

July 8, 2015

Casa de Luna – 500.5 miles.

So I’ve decided to embrace my trail name Snakebite. I wasn’t convinced at first as it didn’t happen on trail, but the trail folk seem to like to story of the crazy Aussie who gets bitten by a snake and goes to eat icecream instead of the hospital. Other names that I’ve attracted are Pouch, Onamahranarinkydink, Burqua… I think there may be others but Snakebite has officially stuck 🙂
It became official when we had to sign a big canvas at Casa de Luna. Every hiker signs, and each new group of hikers has their photo taken in front of it. Someone has our photo so I will hunt it down for you 🙂

I wake…when I wake. It’s still early but not my normal craziness. I’m keen to leave early to avoid the sun. There are pancakes which my vegan belly won’t eat, but I find some friendly bagels and create an amazingly healthy bagels in maple syrup hiker brekkie. All of the healthy things.

But then.

People are still sleeping. There is a closure along the PCT so we have to figure out the logistics of getting to the next section. We’re offered a ride in a few hours.

And I’m offered a beer. At 830am.
When in Rome.

So my early morning start becomes an afternoon start. We walk to the shop for more cold things. There is more music and chatting and corn rowing.
Finally we pile into cars after shot-gunning beers (apparently a pre-trail tradition) and head to… a bar. Holy crap. When do we hike??? This is the place where we can hitch to the start of the next section (so no it’s not all about the beer). We eat late lunches and wait out the sun a little. I’ve had enough and am antsy to get going so I stick my thumb out and a few of us get a ride up the road.
Once there, the rest want to wait for the whole gang (Cookie, Chloe, Ceili, Tara, Sam, Kyle, Rodrigo, Jae, Ratatouille…the gang is big!) to start hiking. It’s hot on the side of the road, and I am impatient so I start the hike. I’m also very slow uphill so I expect they will catch me.

The detour is about 2 miles before the PCT officially starts. It’s all up, but foresty and pretty. I make it up and keep going along the PCT proper. I can’t stop. I’m pumped. This is a big day.

IT’S 500 MILE DAY!!!

I hike fast, eating too many midgies on the way. I’m a woman possessed and cant wait to get there.
And then I do.
500 miles. The furthest I’ve ever walked. The hardest I’ve ever hiked. The most challenging but amazing long experience I’ve had.
I’m stupidly proud of myself.

And then I wait. And wait. Where are they all??
I set up my sleep pad next to the rocks, eat some things, take some selfies. It starts getting dark.

Then I hear them. The sound carries from quite far away and I get THE SONG ready on my phone for when they get there. I see their headlamps.

Hooray!!! It’s Jae and Kyle there first. Fist pumps, cheers, singing. We’ve done it.
Then we get ready for the next and the next to arrive. We sing Proclaimers a million times. We make an arch with our hands for the next ones who come in. We set up our headlamps on flash mode so it becomes a strobe light party around the 500 mile mark.

Someone has packed in drinks which get passed around. We dance for a long time right there on the trail. Then somehow it turns into a talent show. Fueled by liquid courage, one by one we all get up in front of the group and sing a song. Some funny, some clever, one original, some serious. All amazing.
Who are these people that get excited by the crazy things, jump at the opportunities, take the risks?? Where have they been hiding? The PCT is a perfect magnet.

Finally we are sleepy. There is a dirt road about 1/2 mile away. We march out, get to the road and all line up next to each other on our pads in our bags and cowboy camp under the stars.
The stars are moving a little circle-like above my head…what was in that bottle? It’s beautiful. My absolute favourite day so far.

Snakebite vs Day 26

July 8, 2015

463.5 – 478.6 15.1 miles (+ 2 extra long extra ones)

Although every hiker lives and hikes by the HYOH tenet (Hike Your own Hike), there are a few places along the PCT at which one really should stop. One of these is Casa de Luna. It is the home of the Andersons, where you are greeted with beers and hawaiian shirts, you eat giant taco salad at night, you camp in a manzanita forest, you bond and make friends and you inevitably stay longer than you ever intended.

Today is Casa de luna day! I’m up and out before the rest of the gang. I was given strict instructions to wake a few as they are seeing the wisdom of my hike early, rest in the heat of the day, hike late daily routine. Seeing the wisdom and actually getting out of bed are two very different things and I can tell they won’t be getting up anytime soon!!
It’s already hot before the sun peeks it’s head over the mountain. I have “here comes the sun….it’s alright” in my head as I see it coming. I can handle a little heat, right? – it’s in my Perth blood 😉 I have to walk waving my poles in front of me as there are a tonne of spiderwebs criss-crossing the path between the bushes. You are welcome late getter-upperers!

Oohf it’s hot. And up. And dusty and red. It’s lovely hiking. Just a little less heat please. I dream again of cold things. Cold drinks. Cold anythings. I listen to TED talks to distract me. At the top of one of the climbs is a great little shaded cave created by curved over trees. The Andersons used to maintain a cache here for hikers for years, but some local snot-face made a complaint so they had to clear it out just a couple of weeks ago. Boo.

I rest as long as I can stand the bugs. I want to get to Casa de luna by lunch so I can chill out for the rest of the day. I’m not sure if I will stay the night – I might night hike out depending on the vibe and the crew hanging there.

Now I’m getting heat -grumpy as it nears midday. The trail is being deliberately long. It’s somehow extending itself just to annoy me. Finally finally finally I can see a road in the distance. I start running down the parts of the hill that are runnable, sign a register that is along the path and eventually make it to the road.

HOWEVER.

There is a road walk. There is a little hand-drawn map at the trail head showing how to get to Casa de Luna, but I don’t know how far down the road it is. I start walking. And stopping under every tree. And swearing. And basically being a grumpy little turd. And swearing some more. 2 very hot very long miles later I see the store on the corner of the road I need to walk down.

Cold things!!! All the cold things!!!

I choose a coconut water and an icey pole, then explode my giant pack everywhere trying to find money. It’s never in a convenient place because you don’t need money on trail, right? I apologise to the growing line behind me and the cashier. Their words say it’s ok, but their faces want to kick me.
Finally paid and packed up again I get back on the road towards the house. And drop my icey pole.
I consider picking it up and washing it off, but I ran out of water on the descent so I say a tearful goodbye to it and keep going.

Finally. Finally. Finally. I am there!
There are people, but no one I know. I wander about confused – what am I supposed to do? One girl tells me to find a campsite out the back in the forest. “I’m not sure if I’m staying”, I try to explain. She laughs and says “we’ll see”.
I just want water on me and in me. The shower is being used. Then it is impossible to figure out. Why is it all so hard? Finally I’m in there – it’s a strange shower and hard to get clean. I do my best with the strange little bits of soap and shampoo in there. It’s kind of open so my underwear stays on and I do a bad job rinsing my clothes to dry on the line.

Finally kinda cooler, kinda cleaner, I head back out the front and choose a hawaiian shirt- the Casa de Luna uniform. I feel a bit more settled. I’m offered a beer and a hammock to lie in. Magnificent. Now I can function.

There are new friends to be made! I meet Tara and Ceili! They are part of the Rat Water Gang that are friends with the crew I’ve been hanging with. I meet a whole big bunch of other people. Fun times and good people! Yay! Everyone is pretty subdued as it’s so hot. There’s music to listen to, rocks to paint, corn rows to braid into our hair. Tim turns up for a little bit but heads out as he has a package in the next town to pick up. The day fades away and finally Kyle and Rodrigo turn up. Rodrigo is in a grumpy-ass mood as he was hiking in the sun. I think the sun burns out the fun sometimes.

Sam and Cookie arrive. Then Chloe the third of the Rat Water Gang arrives having taken a few days off for a family event over east. Chicken fat arrives late.
There’s taco salad. It is goooood. There is more beer and cold drinks and icey poles. There is music, guitars, ukelele, singing, whistle, Irish dancing, laughing.

There are fun fun times. I feel peaceful and happy. I’m right where I belong. This trail attracts some good folk, I tell you.

Beck vs Day 25

July 7, 2015

444.3 – 463.5 19.2 miles

For the first time (apparently) ever Rodrigo is the first up and out of the campground. There is a soccer game on that he is hoping to watch in Agua Dulce so he is racing the 10 miles there to catch it this morning. It is a hot day and I’m in no rush (except to beat the heat) so I head out a bit later just after Cookie and am passed quickly by Kyle and Sam racing up the hill.

At the end of a tunnel some amazing person has left some gatorade! I’m rottenly sweaty already and after all the beer and sun yesterday I think my body is actually happy for this addition of yummy orange sugar electrolyte drink! It makes me smile that in my new trail life I have no hesitation picking up random food and drink that a stranger has left on the ground, and take it for granted that it was actually intended for me (and other hikers)!
The trail passes through Vasquez Rocks which is a cool place used a lot for Star Trek filming. The rocks are pretty awesome and it attracts a lot of day hikers, and group on horseback who stop me and ask me questions for a while about the trail. Someone calls out my name and I find Tim hiding from the sun and nursing sore feet under a tree. We stumble into Agua Dulce together and I find the others finishing brekkie – so many stops to chat today I missed my coffee opportunity. Not to worry, they are headed across the road to the Mexican restaurant where the soccer will be playing so I eat a burrito for brekkie instead.

We waste a few hours hanging out in the restuaurant, buying our resupply in the shop next door, eating random food, comparing how much food we have bought for this section, and generally just hiding from the sun. Chicken Fat and Lobo are hanging out there waiting for a hockey game to start in the afternoon, and I see Joel and Jill who I haven’t seen since day 1! They are speedy hikers, having hiked the AT last year and have just jumped on trail after taking off a couple of days.

Finally when the sun is a tiny bit lower and we’ve filled up our water bottles we start the road walk and then climb out of Agua Dulce. It is late and our destination is at least the next water source in 10 miles. It’s a hot march; Cookie and I walk together for a bit and sign the trail register randomly in the trail in the middle of nowhere. We spy the guys marching in a line off in the distance. They are on a mission amd going fast – it doesn’t take long before they speed past!

The sun is setting and we are losing light. The trail is confusing at the top and we all catch up together when we somehow take a wrong turn. Finally on the right path with the last skerricks of light we run down the hill fast! I’m entertaining (annoying) the others by singing showtunes at the top of my voice while running. Tim is a musician who has played various instruments at many shows, so he joins in too! Yay showtunes!

We finally make it to the water, but there isn’t really any where to camp 🙁 We end up in a field downhill , with tents set up on top of long long grass and all squished together. Dinner of hummus and carrots that I bought at the shop is devoured in tent hiding from bugs and chatting to everyone through the flywire. A solid 19 miles done despite the long long break in the middle of the day!
The hills are alive with the sound of hikers 🙂