Wednesday 84 & Thursday 85

Miles 1270-1286

Karen Miles Completed: 1087

By now, some of you know where this story is going.  And some of you may have guessed.  But I’ll save that for later.

As I write this, its Thursday, June 28, 2016.  Yesterdays hike started like they all did.  Wake, pack up, eat a little, claim some water, hike some more.  Now I’m not being negative, but it was my version of Groundhog Day.  And it had been that way for quite some time.  I had roughly 16 miles to Belden which is where I planned to stay at the BeldenTown Resort for the night.  The first 10 miles of the day were pretty tame. Rolling terrain, nothing too terrible. It was the last 6 miles before Belden that would be torture. Remember I talked about the steep uphill from Tuesday, well, I basically went right back down that in a different location, with another 1000 ft to descend. So 4000 feet down, 6 miles, throw in some wind, some overgrown manzanita bushes, some heat and you got yourself a brutal walk down to Belden. My knees aches the entire way down. Always cautious of where I step, one wrong step always hurt a little more than the last. There was one point where I let my ankle roll just a little (stepping in a rock that moved) and I felt an awkward twinge in my knee where it corrected back. Now I didn’t injure myself, but it’s a sure sign of the weakness and strain I have put on my body over these past few weeks.

I only saw a few southbound hikers yesterday too. One being this guy, his name is Dirt. I think the last time I say him was around mile 602. He’s been hiking with Safetysuit and her husband Muddyfoots. Dirt and I talked for about 20 minutes. His story about how they hitchhiked from Lone Pine to Oregon was classic. He also worked at Grumpy Bears Retreat (Kennedy Meadows) for 13 days while he waited for some of his hiking buddies to get there. He gave me the rundown on a few other hikers and where they’d gone. I think the most interesting stories I heard was that Chatter’s pack was supposedly torn up by coyotes one night–super bummer! And also that ButterFlyKisses got sick–we don’t know with what–but it was so bad he stashed his bag on the trail and bailed into town somewhere. Not something I would ever recommend. Dirt did say that BFK was feeling better but hadn’t gone back to find his bag yet. Oye. The experiences some have had out here!!! Dirt said they have to average 19 miles a day to finish by the end of September. He’s taken a lot of zeros and in the end he’s worried financially how he will end up but he’s still planning to finish. Such a neat guy to talk to. And great to hear about some folks I hadn’t seen in a while.

So back to hiking I went.  Never really seeing another person until I reached BeldenTown.

I didn’t eat much today as I was really saving my appetite for my next — you guessed it — cheeseburger.  So after I checked in, I showered and went back to the bar/checkin/store/resturatant.  Thats right, all in the same room.  Anyway, I ordered a cheeseburger and a salad and ended up having a long conversations with Clayton, the blonde guy in the photo below.  As it turns out, he’s been traveling on bike.  It started as a short-term adventure last summer, then eventually morphed into his way of life.  At 27, he seemed to be having a pretty stellar time.  He plans family and friend visits, then hops on his bike for a few days to get there.  He often plays his guitar and/or works where he can to make a little money to keep the gig going.  With the EDM festival coming into Belden this weekend, he talks with the manager of the resort, and he’ll be helping out the bar staff in exchange he’ll get to attend the rave and camp for free.  His stories were super cool.  We had good laughs for the rest of the evening as some of the “locals” of Belden came in.This guy was good entertainment as well.  I could have sat and listened to him play all night.

I went to my room shortly after 8pm.  I turned on the TV–weird for me–and to my pleasure the ONE channel I could get to work was showing reruns of “Threes Company.”  It immediately brought laughter as Justin, Laura and I would often sign the logbooks with that.  Ahh… the good times of the desert.

This morning I woke and finished packing my backpack one last time.  Since I had hand washed a few items, I wasn’t super dirty for my ride into town with Betsi.  Betsi drove up from Reno with her dog Marge.  Such a pretty drive down Highway 70.  We stopped in Quincy and had some breakfast.  We did a quick little loop through Blairsden and Graeagle where she used to visit with friends for the 4th of July.  SUPER CUTE.  She said she hadn’t done the drive in a long time and it brought back a ton of good memories for her.  We caught up on lots of life talk on the way to the Reno Airport where she dropped me off. Thanks again Betsi! It was just a few hours later and I was in Vegas, grabbing an Uber home and meeting friends for dinner in Boulder City.  Its like I never left.  Although a lot of time has passed and now its time for some quality friend time in Stanley, Idaho on Sunday.

It feels good to be home.  It feels good to be in my bed.  And it certainly feels good to be in an air conditioned room.  For now, its getting late, one more blog down…. but yet, to be continued.