A Month Down: 500 Miles and Free Donuts
I've been hesitant to continue writing because I've been stuck in my own head a lot. The day after Suzy's house, I had a panic attack over a measley photo. I was in such a great spot, having the time of my life with my friends, and a photo ruined my whole mood. So much has happened since then and I feel stronger now than I did then, but it feels embarrassing to say, a single photo set me off.
After our night in Agua Dulce, we got lunch lunch in town one more time, then hiked out. The day was hot but a little breezy so it wasn't terrible. We had to road walk through town and got many looks from the locals. Some of them couldn't even fathom the thought of walking across the country, when they asked if we needed a ride anywhere. The day consisted of many crying breaks and one of the most beautiful sunsets. After a call to my cousin to talk through my feelings, I started feeling much better. The next day, my spirits were higher and I was definitely feeling okay. Rapunzel and I stayed together most of the day and just had fun, sharing music or taking photos of plants. We kept leapfrogging with a girl named Rachel and her dad. She had just started the trail in Agua Dulce and is trying to see how far she can get before she has to start work. At the end of the day, we got to a ranger station, refilled our water and set up camp on the side of the road.
The next morning, Flamingo got up pretty early and started hiking up a big climb we had that day. Jakob had caught up with us too and when we woke up, he was still in his tent. Rapunzel and I decided to take it slow and watch a couple episodes of Poldark before we got up. We had Oreos and peanut butter for breakfast while watching our show and eventually decided to start hiking. This day dragged on for what seemed like forever! We walked through desert wildflowers, a massive burn section covered in poodle dog bush, and cliff side overlooking the Mohave. We could see all the across the desert, where we would be crossing the LA aquaduct in two days. By the time we got to camp, a storm was rolling in. The wind gusts were so strong, they snapped the tentpoles of someone named Footsie. Luckily, a man named Coach offered her a spot in his tent for the night. Once we got into our tent, the wind started howling and we could hear the rain start pelting the side of the tent. I had a hard time sleeping that night. In the morning, the wind had stopped, but it started snowing. We started hiking and quickly hit the 500 mile marker and did a little dance to the song I'm Gonna Be by The Proclaimers. Later, near the end of the day, I turned a corner and saw a blue Prius with donuts sitting on top. A man jumped out and asked, "Hey! Want a donut or beer?" Before this trail, if a man in a car in the middle of nowhere offered me a donut, I'd fucking RUN. In this case though, I sat down and took two donuts and a beer and we started talking about how he had previously hiked the Appalachian Trail and the PCT. Rapunzel showed up a couple minutes later and next thing we knew, we were all sitting in a circle giving BC (the trail angel) relationship advice and telling him he should go to Puerto Rico and woo this girl with sweet salsa moves. Which then led to me trying to show him a basic salsa step with a little turn. After the sun went down, we then got into this strange man's car and he gave us a ride to Hiker Town where we were supposed to meet our friends. In Hiker Town, we had a whole house of people! Flamingo, Waterfall, Cali, Junior Ranger, Rapunzel, and me! We watched a behind the scenes documentary on Playboy shows... Because that's what was in the drawer under the TV. We all took turns showering and got ready to do the aquaduct in the morning.
