To PCT mile 652.1 (stats here).
The wind was howling also this night, and the surrounding trees made it seem fiercer than it was. A cat cannot get rid of its spots or whatnot so I only got up 5am, waiting the wind to die out. I woke up already 3am and would have been ready to go. Then again, starting in complete darkness is not that appealing.
I thought that I could maybe meet with Mikko so I decided to hike the 13 miles to the road to Ridgecrest quickly. I did not have cellular reception so there was no way to ensure if he would still be there. I also hoped that I could catch up with Micah.
I had 10 miles behind me 8:20am. Along the way I saw a guy with his dog and a Star Wars shirt. I complimented his shirt with a smile. He was happy to receive the compliment. I arrived near the road something like 9:15am. There I spotted a car and people on an adjacent campground. Of course you go and check such commotions.
It happened that Ranger Ron that previously was welcoming hikers to a ranger station near Agua Dulce was there performing trail magic. There was Windy, MacGyver, and couple of other unknown hikers. Pizza arrived a bit later. Ron said that he was heading to Ridgecrest when finished with the trail magic. He promised to give me a ride if I could wait that long. I concluded that getting a beer, sandwich, some snacks and talking to nice people with the added benefit of getting an easy lift outweights the slim chance of seeing Mikko when crossing the road, so I stayed for 1.5 hours. But after that, Ron had still supplies left for hikers so we agreed that I will go and hitch and if I am still there after Ron is finished, he will pick me up.
I ended up having a ride after 30 minutes or so. There were lots of cars, and two stopped but they were not going to the right place. A third one finally was. As it happens, this was the guy with the dog and a Star Wars shirt. Pavel was the name, an electronical engineer from Russia. It turns out that Ridgecrest has an army base where almost all of the people work, one way or the other.
The ride was long, something like 30 minutes. We talked mostly about Star Wars, studies, work and living in America and big cities versus small towns. Pavel showed me around Ridgecrest and dropped me in front of Budget In motel. It was my intention to first check if there are trail angels in the town, but the lady from the motel attacked me immediately and somehow, without further thinking, I ended up booking a room on the spot. I am too suspectible. When I got to the room, I got my wits and intentions back, and cursed myself a bit. I am on a budget here and just spent quite a bit on a hotel.
As I might be spending here two full days, I contacted few trail angels anyway. I got a reply form Erica. She was happy to have me. Other hikers were just using her car to do some groceries and could pick me up. I was able to cancel my reservation for a 10 dollar fine, and was picked up short after.
I was happy to notice that the taiwanese fast hiker that Mikko departed a while back was among the hikers. His trailname is now Metronome. The other hikers were Lucky and Sue, nice people all. Erica has a house, or to be more exact, yard full of animals. Metronome was about to prepare a taiwanese dinner for all, and Lucky to bake a pie. Erica suggests that guest could prepare a traditional dinner of their nationality, which is a great idea. Too bad that I am terrible at cooking and do not know any recipes.
Erica was kind to borrow her jeep to me so I could go to the nearby Walmart for groceries. It was my first time driving here, and with the big roads and little traffic was no problem. The rest of the day went doing laundry, writing the blog and socializing. I had great fun. Erica's husband is of former military and great at doing miniature models. His paintings of the models are really good. The evening ended with a dinner, which was really tasty. Metronome spent lot of time and the result was great. As is proper, we talked about religion in the dinner table, but with good humour.
The wind was howling also this night, and the surrounding trees made it seem fiercer than it was. A cat cannot get rid of its spots or whatnot so I only got up 5am, waiting the wind to die out. I woke up already 3am and would have been ready to go. Then again, starting in complete darkness is not that appealing.
 |
| The views are soon changing, and it feels that it is about a time. |
I thought that I could maybe meet with Mikko so I decided to hike the 13 miles to the road to Ridgecrest quickly. I did not have cellular reception so there was no way to ensure if he would still be there. I also hoped that I could catch up with Micah.
I had 10 miles behind me 8:20am. Along the way I saw a guy with his dog and a Star Wars shirt. I complimented his shirt with a smile. He was happy to receive the compliment. I arrived near the road something like 9:15am. There I spotted a car and people on an adjacent campground. Of course you go and check such commotions.
 |
| Ranger Ron and superb trail magic. |
It happened that Ranger Ron that previously was welcoming hikers to a ranger station near Agua Dulce was there performing trail magic. There was Windy, MacGyver, and couple of other unknown hikers. Pizza arrived a bit later. Ron said that he was heading to Ridgecrest when finished with the trail magic. He promised to give me a ride if I could wait that long. I concluded that getting a beer, sandwich, some snacks and talking to nice people with the added benefit of getting an easy lift outweights the slim chance of seeing Mikko when crossing the road, so I stayed for 1.5 hours. But after that, Ron had still supplies left for hikers so we agreed that I will go and hitch and if I am still there after Ron is finished, he will pick me up.
I ended up having a ride after 30 minutes or so. There were lots of cars, and two stopped but they were not going to the right place. A third one finally was. As it happens, this was the guy with the dog and a Star Wars shirt. Pavel was the name, an electronical engineer from Russia. It turns out that Ridgecrest has an army base where almost all of the people work, one way or the other.
The ride was long, something like 30 minutes. We talked mostly about Star Wars, studies, work and living in America and big cities versus small towns. Pavel showed me around Ridgecrest and dropped me in front of Budget In motel. It was my intention to first check if there are trail angels in the town, but the lady from the motel attacked me immediately and somehow, without further thinking, I ended up booking a room on the spot. I am too suspectible. When I got to the room, I got my wits and intentions back, and cursed myself a bit. I am on a budget here and just spent quite a bit on a hotel.
As I might be spending here two full days, I contacted few trail angels anyway. I got a reply form Erica. She was happy to have me. Other hikers were just using her car to do some groceries and could pick me up. I was able to cancel my reservation for a 10 dollar fine, and was picked up short after.
I was happy to notice that the taiwanese fast hiker that Mikko departed a while back was among the hikers. His trailname is now Metronome. The other hikers were Lucky and Sue, nice people all. Erica has a house, or to be more exact, yard full of animals. Metronome was about to prepare a taiwanese dinner for all, and Lucky to bake a pie. Erica suggests that guest could prepare a traditional dinner of their nationality, which is a great idea. Too bad that I am terrible at cooking and do not know any recipes.
Erica was kind to borrow her jeep to me so I could go to the nearby Walmart for groceries. It was my first time driving here, and with the big roads and little traffic was no problem. The rest of the day went doing laundry, writing the blog and socializing. I had great fun. Erica's husband is of former military and great at doing miniature models. His paintings of the models are really good. The evening ended with a dinner, which was really tasty. Metronome spent lot of time and the result was great. As is proper, we talked about religion in the dinner table, but with good humour.
 |
| A nice dinner with wonderful people. |
Comments
Post a Comment