Day 22

PCT Miles: 0

Total Miles: 369.3 (590.9km)

It’s zero day!

Yesterday in the evening the owner of this place that I’m staying for two nights offered me and the other guests (two other couples) to do laundry for us! This sounds like music to a thru-hiker (specially because there’s no public laundry in Wrightwood).

This morning I had pizza for breakfast (I ended up eating the same pizza for dinner yesterday, breakfast, lunch and dinner today) and headed to the town center (which is literally a street with 4-5 shops and a few bars and restaurants). I resupplied both at the supermarket and at the equipment shop and I also grabbed my new pair of shoes that I had ordered back in Big Bear. Same shoes, same color, half a size up. I’m calling them Two Goats.

Hiking-wise I feel super good. All my blisters are gone and I don’t feel any pain. I believe I’ve been eating the best I can, drinking properly and being careful regarding the sun. Because of that I’ll try to have a bit more mileage without resupplying for the coming days/weeks. Tomorrow I leave with food for eight days! I’m hoping water won’t be much of a problem so I can carry less water and balance the weight out.

After a lot of thoughts and considerations, tomorrow I’ll do an alternate road trail instead of climbing up to Mount Baden-Powell. I chose that because I’m fully loaded (with snacks and supplies 🎶) and I would need to carry a lot of water. It’s around 9400 feet and it’s all steep and icy, up and down. I’m fine with road walk!

Another reason I chose to road walk is that I want to finally hike listening to music. So far, I haven’t hiked a single minute listening to music, mostly so I could be aware of rattlesnakes. This morning, going back and forth to the town center, I could listen to music and it felt super good (thanks for Lemonade, Tessa!). I want to do the same tomorrow.

A side effect of this decision is that I will carry my new shoes but I’ll walk on my old shoes: they’re currently very not-grippy but this is not a problem for road walk. As soon as I go back to the trail I’ll swap them (and eventually discard my old pair of shoes). I also decided that I’m not mailing forward any equipment (like the micro spikes — they won’t be necessary until mile ~700). I’ll just carry everything.

The place I’m staying is kind of a day spa with sauna and massages upon request. I had a very well deserved one hour full body massage this afternoon and it was excellent! I’ve also soaked my feet in epsom salt 🧂 and it’s amazing how my feet don’t look like they’ve been hiking non-stop for three weeks! ✨🦶✨

Feeling well-rested and motivated for the coming days!