Day 46

PCT Miles: 0

Total Miles: 832.2 (1331.5km)

Today was by far my best zero day since I started the PCT. And big part of it was due the THC (The Hostel California)!

As it has happened before, I didn’t sleep very well. Maybe the bed was too comfortable, maybe I missed my stinky sleeping bag. In any case, I was up at 5 and had a cheap breakfast at Vagabond Inn. I used the morning to slowly pack my stuff, upload some of the posts here to Polarsteps, check next steps on trail, etc. I could feel my right knee hurting and I noticed that I was walking like an old man. At noon I decided to have a 90 minutes massage. It was spectacular and I few like a new human being now! Time to check-in at The Hostel California, where I’ll be spending two nights!

What a crazy place! On the outside the hostel looks cute and colorful. On the inside it’s also cute and colorful and It looks like a hippie community. There must be place for 30+ people here. There are big shared rooms (with instruments, books, movies, skateboards, loan clothes, hiker boxes), big dining area, big kitchen and a big big garden. There are marijuana plants 🪴 everywhere and there’s free weed for guests. Yes, that’s right: it’s a hostel with open bar of weed!

As you can imagine, the vibe here is as chill as it can get. There are a lot of shops, bars, restaurants and services (laundry, post, etc) nearby. I honestly feel like I’m back in São Carlos (the university town that I studied) in a shared student house. I love it!

My biggest mission for today was to fix my hiking pole. I didn’t want to buy a new pair, because it was just one that was broke and also I like my poles (they have shock absorption and I didn’t see a similar model on the shops yet). I went to all the three shops in town, one of them selling used gear. So far, no luck. Seems like I’ll have to spend ~120 dollars to buy a pair of poles worst then mine. Not ideal.

While I was thinking about the best solution, I went to the laundromat and I met Fizz there! Fizz tells me that on the last river crossing he made a mistake and he had to sacrifice one of his poles to the river gods. He was thrilled because he had just found a good deal at the used gear shop and bought a new set for 30 bucks! I guess he was faster than me 😩.

But “hey!”, he says, “maybe we can fix your pole with my old pole, since I don’t need it anymore”. I’m not very hopeful it will work out. We wait for our clothes to be finished and walk back to THC (he is also staying there). When we arrive we met Tangent and he was super happy because he also had broken one of his poles and found a replacement at the hiker box! Why do I always forget the hiker boxes? 🤬! I present you Polenstein!

Fizz gives me his pole and with a little bit of effort I swamp the middle shaft that was broken on mine and… it works!!! I can’t believe it! My hiking poles are fully functional again and it costed me zero money! Fizz refuses to accept any payment for it: “dude, I’m happy myself that I found a good deal and I was going to leave this pole on the hiker box anyways. I’m happy it all worked out!” and he lights a joint. He looks happy and I’m thrilled to have two hiking poles again!

I went out one more time to eat (I somehow forgot to have lunch) and had a gigantic veggie burrito (man, food in America always comes in generous servings). It was already end of the afternoon and I just chilled here and drank my delicious non-alcoholic hazy IPA beer (from Athletic Brewing, one of the best non-alcoholic beers I’ve ever had) until it was hiker’s midnight (9pm) and therefore time to sleep 😴.

Tomorrow I’ll have another zero!