PCT 2023 - Day 43

The one where I’m reunited with my Bounce Box, I spend time by a huge lake and sleep in the car for the first time.

📍 Location: Lake Isabella
💰 Money: I don’t note how much I spent as I wasn’t going to continue writing. At a guess I’d say it was around $60. The Chinese buffet, drinks, resupply top up and a windscreen thingy. But, I did make $20 for giving people a ride 😜.

THE STORY SO FAR:-

💤 7am - My day starts with yet another trip to Walmart. I need to get food for the next four days as I don’t want to be eating out every night.

📦 With my trail angel bucket refilled with goodies I head back to the hotel to get my stuff. My plan today is to drive to Lake Isabella and collect my bounce box. In my bounce box I have “town clothes” which will make a nice change. I’m looking forward to wearing a clean cotton t-shirt and cut off trousers.

🦊 When I reach Motel 6, I saw Brad who was looking a bit lost. “Hi Brad, did you want a ride to Walkers Pass?”. I asked. “Are you going that way?” He asked with a huge smile on his face. “Sure am. I just need to grab my stuff and get a quick coffee. See you in 30 mins”. My first trail angel job of the day. I drop Brad (now known as SilverFox - I’ll upload a photo so you can see who I’m talking about) off at the Walker Pass Trailhead and give him a hug goodbye. “You got this!” I said. “I’ll see you in Kennedy Meadows in a few days. He smiled and waved goodbye. I listen to the sound of his trekking poles as they hit the ground and he walks off down the hill back to the trail. As his backpack gets smaller in my rear view mirror I have a small pang of regret for not hiking on, but it soon passes. “See you in Kennedy Meadows” I say to no-one.

🚗 I select “drive” and engage my poorly right foot on the gas pedal. Lake Isabella, here I come!

It took me around an hour or so to get to the small town of Lake Isabella. It was a strange feeling seeing the sign for the turn off for “Kelso Valley Road” which is where Dana collected me just a few days ago. I pass through a small village called Onyx and then a hamlet called Weldon. These places are just like the Wild West with wooden buildings and bars on every corner. Some even have tumbleweed rolling through!

📕 I’m listening to an audiobook called “The Other Passenger” by Louise Candlish and I’ve only got 30 mins left of the book. I’ve never read a murder/mystery book before but I’m hooked!

🤩 Wow! The Lake itself is humongous and beautiful. The road weaves around its circumference and I’m loving the drive. The mountains are surrounding us and it’s good to see the scenery from a completely different perspective. I stop to take a quick video and some photos at a campground called “Paradise Cove”. I may camp here tonight, I thought to myself. (But I didn’t)

📦 10am - I arrive at the post office just before 10am and collect my bounce box. Looking down at the battered up box, I think about the journey it’s had. I pat the box and say “you are now with me for the rest of this trip. No more smelly post offices”. It’s a good job no one can hear me as I talk to my box in the same way Tom Hanks talked to Wilson the football in Castaway!

🍰 I lock the car and go exploring. It’s a relatively small town so it doesn’t take me long. I don’t see a single hiker here which feels strange. I mooch around the grocery store but buy nothing. I then hop across the road to a shop that sells everything. Outside there are pushbikes for sale and inside it reminds me of “It’s a gift” or “B&M” but not as big. I do buy some shampoo and also one of those cheap silver windscreen sun reflector things for the van. The lady at the checkout says hi and asks me if I would like to try a dehydrated rice crispy cake that she made earlier today. “Why not, thank you” and I took a small piece as she handed me the little packet. It was super sweet and I couldn’t have eaten much of it. She thought it was great that a hiker loved her rice crispy cakes. “It’s super light” she said with a smile. “I think we have an entrepreneur in the making” I said.

🛻 I buy a hot tea from Subway and then turn the car around (I need a name for the car/van) and slowly make my way back to Walker Pass.

🍉 2pm - I reach Walker Pass and park up by the bench where some hikers are already congregating. I join in taking photos (my book is nearly full) and giving out trail magic drinks and the last of the fruit from yesterday. It feels great to see their faces when I offer them a coke or Dr Pepper.

🚙 4pm - Some hikers are keen to get back to Ridgecrest for resupply, so Pickles and David from the Netherlands hop in. They are camping at Walker Pass as they don’t want to pay for a hotel again so I tell them I’ll pick them up from Walmart a bit later when I’ve had something to eat from town.

🇨🇳 I sent a message to Bloom “have you eaten yet?” A message comes back instantly and she says “no, are you in town?”. “Yep, give me five and I’ll pick you up.” I drive to Motel 6, just down the road, and Bloom is waiting for me. “What do you fancy to eat?” I asked. “I don’t mind” she replied. “Ok, well I’m not keen on pizza or burgers, so did you fancy a Chinese?. They have an all you can eat buffet just around the corner. “Sounds like a plan” says Bloom. The buffet was spot on and I had three helpings! I then realised that I should probably start thinking about what I eat again now that I’m not hiking!

👋 I hug Bloom goodbye and tell her that I’ll see her in the morning then head back to Walker Pass via Walmart where Pickles and David are waiting for me, munching on a Subway. I’m loving this trail angel stuff!

🌧️ Back at Walker Pass I find a spot that I thought was flat (it wasn’t) and set up my airbed etc in the boot. As I did this the heavens opened and it started to pour down with rain. I snuggled up in my quilt which was sliding down the mat as I’m parked at a weird angle. There is zero mobile phone service here so I just listened to the rain as it bounced off the car. As I drift off to sleep whilst looking out at the stars and the super bright moon, I think “I’m glad I’m not in a tent right now!”.

Night night.

As always, thanks for listening to my rambles. It’s a bit different now but I’ll keep writing as the stories unfold.

Signing out.

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