Miles Hiked: ZERO
Today is hands down one of the best Zero days I’ve ever had. I woke up in my little backyard bunk house to Tim yelling that breakfast was ready. It was 6am and all the hikers were already at the breakfast table. There were eggs, bacon, and potatoes as well as fruit and yogurt for breakfast. I was assigned to drive everyone around town and drop them off on trail today since I was taking a zero and the Varner’s don’t like driving that much. I was so happy to take everyone where they needed and have car access to get where I needed to go. First I dropped off Morgan and another hiker named Fun Fact back on the urban trail where they got off. Martin and I went to REI next where I got a new pair of shoes for 50% off thank goodness as well as a sleeping bag liner, water treatment tabs, mineral sunscreen, insoles, and a new filter. I was so happy the same shoes I was wearing before were in the returned section in my size for so cheap. I’ve watched the price of trail runners nearly double ever since I’ve started thru hiking and with the way I put miles on my shoes so quickly my shoe budget can be quite expensive but I always try to get them as discounted as possible. My old pair of shoes were absolutely destroyed by the desert terrain and totally slick on the bottom. I was so happy for new shoes and I went ahead and got insoles as well. Usually I like to alternate between new shoes and new insoles but today I was just getting new everything since even my insoles were falling apart in a bad way. I felt good about getting the sleeping bag liner since it has been ridiculously cold out and my sleeping bag seems to not be performing as well as I had remembered. The water treatment tabs and new filter should make my life much easier going forward. My old filter flow rate has been reduced down to about 1 liter every 10-20 minutes which as you can imagine is a ridiculous amount of time for someone trying to make big miles to stop and filter water. I have to admit there were a few times I took a gamble and didn’t filter my water at all since I didn’t want to wait so long for it to filter. Luckily I must have picked good places to do this because I haven’t gotten sick or had any digestive issues. Despite the shows being on sale it was still a very expensive REI trip. The best part was I got a brand new wallet for free from a Subaru promotional tent outside. My old wallet is falling apart so bad it was a perfect replacement. After REI I dropped Martin off on trail and went to finish my resupply at Sprouts market. I got some tasty treats for the next section. Flagstaff is the best resupply option I’ve had since the trail started.
Back at Melody and Tims house I spent the afternoon laying down and catching up on writting my blog. I’ve fallen so far behind on this trail with my writting. I think most of it is because it is so cold when I set up camp every night all I can do is curl up in a ball and shiver while I try to fall asleep. In the late afternoon I went to get Thai food at Pato Thai where Late Start joined me and we walked around town checking out the shops. Afterwards I picked up four different hikers from the Taco Bell and trail including Martin who hitched back to town after making it 15 miles out, the two Czech ladies I had coffee with previously, and an older gentlemen named Stephen or Storm Mocker. He was so sweet he gifted me a snickers bar when we went to the store to grab some groceries for the house and got Melody some flowers. All of us wanted to take care of the Varner’s but they really didn’t want anything in return for all of the help they provide hikers. Their generosity was truly incredible. For dinner Tim made a brussel sprout and cauliflower asian roast as well as salmon with lemon. It was so delicious and another fun night hanging out with everyone. Today was all the rest I needed.
Happy Trails!
-Early Bird
Des Hikes Thru 