Day 47 Thursday

5.10.2018

I don’t know how much I explained about KM. This little community of 200 isn’t something you’d pass through normally. The closest town is Ridgecrest which is 46 miles away. The only thing here that I’ve seen is the General Store, the gear store, some sort of phone company building, a few cabins and homes, and Grumpy Bears Retreat.

Taking today off was amazing. The only thing about sitting down (and it happens on the trail too) is that the time passes so fast. We all piled into the cafe at 8am. Kendra (one of the owners) makes “hiker breakfast” for $10. Two eggs, 2 strips of bacon, potatoes and pancake the size of a medium pizza–which the pancakes they say are all you can eat. I’m sure there’s a record for how many a starved hiker has thrown down. I’ll find out the number tomorrow. After breakfast I said goodbye to Fossil. He was ready to get back out to the trail. I’m so excited to hear how his next few days go.

With our bellies full Laura, Andrew and I walked over to Triple Crown Outfitters. To my sadness, they didn’t have an ice ax in my size. I did purchase some warmer gloves tho so my hands will be happy when we move north. I’ll head back over there today to grab a few resupply foods before I head out. I also bought a new filter (again). I want to try out the Sawyer–I should have bought it a long time ago. It will make filtering in the Sierras that much faster. Since I won’t have to carry much more than a liter at any given time, the Sawyer will be less to deal with than my Platypus system. As far as the ice ax is concerned I ordered one from Amazon and will have it shipped to Lone Pine. It should be there Monday. Now I’ll just have to figure out an exit strategy as it’s 22 miles from the trail. I’ve got a few contacts for Trail angels so I’ll start with that when I get to Trail Pass, which is 30 miles up the PCT. It should be perfect timing with the 2 days that I am taking off here.

After gear shopping, Laura and Andrew finished their packing. They shipped food to Lone Pine and will take a zero there in a few days to celebrate Andrew birthday.

As lunchtime drew closer, there seemed to be an exchange of the hiker group. More left than the number that came in. I was happy to see Luc again. He’s staying at least until Sunday and May exit at Lone Pine too so I make have some trail time with him. I also met a girl named Heidi. She seems nice but I think she’s headed out today. By the end of the afternoon, it was just down to a few of us. It was pretty quiet and I was able to catch up on the blogging and some other random things online–that is all the other life chores I don’t have to worry about much anymore. Having most of my bills on autopay has made life really easy out here but I still need to check and make sure it’s all going where it’s supposed to. And I’m ever so thankful for Lori who’s staying at my house and takes care of the mail for me.

Eventually the boys made it back to Grumpy. Joey, Tyler, and Justin so we laughed about their ride into town (but just to the freeway) and then an Uber ride from the freeway into town. And that’s why I didn’t go into Ridgecrest. It sounded a bit far and complicated. Anywho, we shared a pizza and some beers. Then the whole group of us–at least 10–all day on the back porch of Grumpys and enjoyed conversation around the fire pit. Always a great way to end an evening. P.S. Heidi and Heather: I told Justin I’ll need to add a separate note each day that I go without a Justin sighting from here. They will be going into the Sierras tomorrow and their next stops are much further than mine.

I should also give a shout to the crew here at Grumpys. They are here a solid 12 hours running this joint. The kitchen is open 11 of those 12. Kendra and her crew (who I believe are about 3 others) keep all these hikers fed and happy. Evidently this is still a slow start to the season for them as they’ve had more than 30 hikers here at a time in years past. They don’t charge you to camp here, but it’s $3 for laundry and $3 for showers. And WiFi is $10. Not a bad gig. I did take an extra shower today just because I could.

And for off trail news…. I’m missing a friend-family function this weekend. Another milestone, although not mine, but one I wanted to be present for and I’m of course sad I will not be attending. To my friends Jacoby and Eva, I know I will see you soon enough. I hope this weekend is lovely in every facet of the imagination. I cannot wait to see the photos of your joyous day. I’m so happy you have found each other and I look forward to the MEMORIESAHEAD that you two will share.