Day 2 – Hat Creek Rim

Last night I woke up at 11:30 pm. I had slept for 2 1/2 continuous hours. A new record! I felt better, too. I drank a few gulps of water and fell back to sleep. When I awakened later, there were some wispy clouds in the sky. I hoped it didn’t rain. I slept again. I awakened later to see that the clouds had barely moved. I put my glasses on. The clouds were actually The Milky Way! My heart swelled with joy. I had waited over 40 years to see this. I couldn’t stop staring at it. I drank more water. My body had reached a kind of equilibrium. I was so content. I had gone to sleep almost delirious, but I had awakened into a dream come true.

A new day

This morning I make two resolutions. First, I want to meet the family I ignored yesterday because I was sick. Second, I am not going to overdo it today. Yesterday was scary and am still running a hydration deficit. I slowly force myself to eat the mashed potatoes I hydrated last night. They are terrible. Nothing sounds good. I finish a liter of water without throwing up. A small victory.

The family is led by a fellow named Jessie. He is hiking with his four kids. They say that they are going back to Old Station because they don’t think they can make it to the next water station. Last night, I had mistakenly told them that the next water was 15 miles away. Sheesh, I couldn’t even read my trail app correctly! I apologize because the next water stop is only 8 miles away. They are happy to hear this and and decided go forward. Yay! I may have some company on the trail! I show them my trail app (Guthook for the PCT), and they download it. Now they won’t have to rely on goofballs like me.

Questions

I linger in camp til 8:18, trying to horse down those awful potatoes and drink more water. I also need to hike down the to Lost Creek again and fill up with water. Jessie offers to send one of his kids for my water. They bounce up and down the access trail like goats. I politely refuse. I have to be able to manage these hardships on my own. If I can’t manage to get my own water on day two, I should prolly go home. Mercifully, the access trail to the creek is gorgeous this morning.

After that, I walk for an hour and then rest for 20 minutes. The rest is sublime and I see a hummingbird. Good Lord! I hear it before I see it. It sounds like one of those toy airplanes with a prop powered by a rubber band. P-ft-ft-ft-ft-ft-ft-ft-ft.

Randomly, my doctor calls me. What could that be about? I do not answer, to see if the old saying is true: “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” I text Patti to look into it.

I pass an abandoned communication tower. There is a man back in Old Station who told me that the tower is owned by Bill Gates and it is ruining the cell reception for everyone in the area. Plausible? I withhold judgment.

Trail companions

I eventually catch up to Jessie and his family. They have called their mom and she is on her way here to pick them up. I hang out with them as the daughter reads from a Louie L’Amor novel. I think I will hate it (pulp fiction, right?), but I actually enjoy it a lot! When the mom arrives they all load up in her van, but before they depart, they ask if they can pray for me. I am touched. I pray for them too.

A trail angel has set up in the dirt road nearby. He has adopted a name for his setup: TrailAngelCafe. He has a variety of medical supplies, and not much else.

I suggest that what people in this section want are cold drinks. He offers me some cold water from his camper. I take a few bandaids from him and he brings out a chair for me. His instincts are good. Hat Creek Rim is notoriously difficult because of the high desert environment and the scarcity of natural water sources. He is generating a playlist from the thru-hikers he meets. He asks for my favorite song. The only thing that comes to mind is Dead Man’s Party by Oingo Boing. It seems appropriate.

The two reliable water spots I used today are created and maintained by another incredible trail angel named Jim. The first spot was Lost Creek, that basically saved my life last night. The “rattlesnake” trail down to the creek was built and is maintained by Jim. Jim also fills an enormous water tank (called Cache 22) each year at his own expense. That is where I am now. The two water sources are eight unforgiving miles apart, but without them, this stretch of trail would be much harder to hike. Thanks, trail angels. You may never truly know just how important your help is.

Hardcore

While searching for cell reception to upload my blog, I find four hang glider dudes preparing to jump off a perfectly good canyon rim. One of them looks like Colonel Mustard. When I mention that I am a thru-hiker, Colonel Mustard says, “You don’t look that hardened.” Um, OK. We spend a few more minutes calling each other crazy.

It’s 3pm and I feel so much better that I decide to walk a few miles further to a remote and dry campsite three miles up the trail. As I leave, I meet a nice couple from Washington state who came to California “to get warm.” They had just hiked in a single day what took me two miserable days to accomplish. I am mortified. They do not look that “hardened” either, but obviously they are. Or maybe I am just a giant marshmallow. I believe that in time I will do better. Today has been a step in the right direction.

• June 3
• Starting mile: 1384
• Ending mile: 1395
• Daily miles: 11
• Total miles: 23
• Notable animals: impossible hummingbird, precious human family