Day 3

Miles to date: 42

April 11, I slept on a cot in a tent in Frodo’s backyard in San Diego with 4 other women.  Between the house and the backyard, Frodo’s helpers gathered and transported 11 of us to the trailhead the next morning.  Instant friends, we all leap frog for the next few days. I love the variety of people and camaraderie of us with a common dream. Exactly what I hoped I would find at the beginning of the trail.

Day 1 was tough, carrying a ton of water to dry camp. My first hike of the year, still winter in AK when I flew south.  I’m climate shocked in the heat and sun and drought.  No water on the trail but the shrubs and scrub are green and flowering purple, fuschia, forever-me-knot blue.  Utterly lovely. 15 miles later I camped between (hopefully) poison oak patches with 8 or 9 others nearby.  Laying in my tent waiting for it to get dark enough to sleep, amongst the quiet murmur of hikers, a woman’s low voice groans and gushes, “Ohmygod, , ohmygod, thank you!”  Hmm, I’m thinking…yeah, you know what I’m thinking, and then I remembered the water cache, about 10 gallon jugs 50′ away that I hadn’t needed to tap.

The second night I camped completely alone, something I feared wouldn’t be possible considering the hordes of thru-hikers this yaar. A little solitude tucked away Out of the breeze with the birds. I hiked the next day blazing the down-flat-downs to the trees in Mount Laguna. Feeling about 75% of my normal pace, feeling good.