PCT 2023 - Day 41

The one with the fantastic trail angel, a hot bath and an idea….

📍 Location: Officially off trail. Now what?
💰 Money: $200 for a hotel for two nights and $24 on a meal at Denny’s.

THE STORY SO FAR:-

5am - I hear a little voice outside of my tent “Jukebox, I’m off now” says Bloom. I open the tent door and wish her well. “Message me when you get to the water cache Bloom. Stay safe out there. I’ll wait for you in Ridgecrest” I say. “Will do, and please message me when Dana picks you up”. We say goodbye and then I snuggle back into my quilt. If Dana was leaving Ridgecrest at 8am then I would expect her to be here until 9am. I can take my time this morning and close my eyes for another hour or so if blissful sleep.

6.30 am - I’m wide awake so start packing up slowly. A few people are now coming through for water. By 7am I see a familiar face walking down the trail. It’s Hans! Aka Old Man! He was the guy who kindly left his walking pole in the middle of the trail for me a few weeks back. I give him a huge hug and then notice that he has two poles again. “Please don’t tell me that you purchased another pole?” I said. “Nope, this is the pole that I left for you. You dropped it in the hiker box in Wrightwood so I picked it up again”. He smiled. “It was my pleasure to help you out”. He stayed with me for a while and we chatted whilst I packed up and he filtered water.

8am - At just gone 8am a big Silver Surburban turned up and a lady called Dana climbed down from the drivers seat. Omg! She’s early and I still had some stuff to pack. I hobbled over and she opened her arms inviting me in for a hug. She held me so tightly as if she was my grandmother who had found a long lost granddaughter. She said “I’m so glad I found you. Are you ok?”. At this point I was just overwhelmed with all the kindness that people have shown me and I burst into tears. She then gave me another hug. Hans helped me by lifting my heavy rucksack into the back of her vehicle and then wished me luck for the journey. Hans always turns up just when I need him.

8.15 am - Dana’s car is huge and super comfortable. She’s such a kind hearted lady and she talks about her family. She worries about her daughter (nearly 50) who is currently hiking in Washington area. “She’s a nurse” she explains with pride in her voice. “I lost my husband a few years ago and I thought that being a trail angel would help me meet interesting people”. I asked her how long she has been giving rides to PCT hikers and her response surprised me. “You are my first one” she said. “I saw your post on the Facebook Group and thought I need to help that lady. She can’t be dangerous if she is injured!”. I smiled and was super grateful that she took the plunge and collected me. She wanted to hear tales of the PCT and she shared stories of her own travels with her husband.

8.40am - “Do you want to swing by Walkers Pass and grab a photo?” She asks. “Only if you have time” I offer. I think she is a bit lonely and is enjoying this little adventure today. We pull into Walker Pass Campground and I instantly spot another hiker that I know. “Sorry” is here with a guy called Lucky and a German lady called Leona. Dana offers them a ride to Ridgecrest and they happily accept. We now have a full car and I can see the pleasure that this is giving Dana. She’s asking lots of questions and is super interested about how we are able to walk this far. Suddenly her car phone rings out loud and she answers it. “Hi mum, I’m just checking that you are ok and not lost in the desert somewhere”. She smiles and explains that she has not just picked up the injured hiker but also another three all from different places in the world. We all say hi to her son. Reading between the lines, I think this was a big step for her.

9.20 am- Dana drops me at my hotel (although she offered to host me at her house but she has already done so much I couldn’t accept). “Are you sure you will be ok?” She asks, looking concerned. “I’ll be fine. Nothing a good nap and a hot bath can’t fix”. I took a one of her business cards and will send her some flowers to say thanks as she refused any monetary compensation for her trouble. I say goodbye to Sorry who I’ve also known since the start of this hike.

I settle into my hotel room. The first thing I do is have a long soak in the bath and try to figure out what on earth I’m going to do now.

12 noon - I FaceTime home and it’s so good to see Matt & Rachel. We talk for nearly an hour. Matt says “why don’t you hire a car and then have a bit of a road trip back to San Diego”. I assume that would be expensive but he looks it up and it’s not that bad. After we hang up the call a new plan starts to ferment in my brain. My mind goes back to yesterday and the disappointment of not receiving any trail magic at the water source. I think back to the night of the midnight pizza and coke trail magic and then I know what I need to do. I visit Avis and book a vehicle that would be fine for me to sleep in (7 seater where the seats go down) and from tomorrow I will be a trail angel. I will look after my own Trail family to start with but once they are passed Kennedy Meadows then I will make my way back south along the PCT towards San Diego, offering trail magic as I go. I’m quite excited! This way I get to pay it forward from all the kindness that I’ve received over the last two months. A road trip it is…. Let part two of the adventure begin!

Signing out for today and again, thank you for following along. I’ve no idea what is going to happen over the next 11 days, but hey, let’s see where the journey takes us!Läs mer