Day 38- May 27th

Last night's cowboy camping was amazing! I woke up feeling super refreshed, and best of all, I didn't roll of the table! Since I woke up at first light and I didn't have a tent to pack up, I was out in the trail by 6:50am!

In the early morning I spotted a big dear who heard me from afar and tromped away down the mountainside off of the trail. When I crossed the trail where I saw the deer run down, I was shocked to see a bunch of poodle dog bush. I guess they don't get affected like humans? 

Sometimes I wish I had hooves like a deer. So I wouldn't have to worry about all these darn blisters I have in my feet! I got two new ones on the bottom of my right foot. Blisters on the bottom of my feet are a new occurrence for me. A new, sucky occurrence..

The trail felt lonely today. One reason is obviously that I'm Claire-less. And although I did enjoy the nice early start, I was reminded how much I love her company..

The other reason why the trail felt lonely is because no one in their right mind (except for us PCT hikers), would ever hike this portion of the trail with all the poodle-oak bush! (A term I coined for the unfortunate combination of poodle dog bush and poison oak at the same time.)

This was by far the worst on the trail I've seen. I had to be super attentive at all times and I'm almost sure my pant leg got it a few times. We'll see in 1 week! Haha

I hit the North Fork Ranger station at 7:45. This meant I had been cruising at over 2.5 mph! They had water there and I filled up my liter. I then bought some snickers from the ranger as I was down to my last protein bar and had 8 hot miles to the KOA. 

At about 10 miles, I had a second deer encounter! I was resting in a sandy ravine, not making a sound, and a deer came over to feed. He was about 6 feet from me and definitely startled me! I stayed quiet to observe him. 

Soon he looked over at me and slowly stepped toward me. I know deers aren't aggressive but he weighed a ton and I didn't want to confuse him or have him run into me, so I made a loud noise and he bolted away up trail a bit. 

After I snapped the above picture, he walked away up the trail. There was a switchback directly above the ravine I was sitting in, and moments later, it got spooked by another hiker coming down. I thought he was going to crash into me blindly so I stood up and made some more noise. He stood at the same spot on the trail, confused as ever. When the other hiker came around the last corner, he finally bolted away for a final time they way he came. It was a very neat experience.

I knew that the Acton KOA had a swimming pool, so I decided to start running on the downhill sections to get there faster. This was a horrible idea... At the bottom of a long downhill section, I was still kind of running, and when I started up the next hill, my brand new, 1 day old blister popped!

It hurt soooooo bad! If a big, matured, full blister pops on trail, sometimes it feels good after a little sting. But when it's a new freshie that you smash in your shoe, ouch!!

I stopped in the hot sun with no shade to rinse it with some water and get it wrapped. But I realized Claire still had the Neosporin and scissors for the gauze!! It was a hack job but I basically taped it up and trudged on at a slow crawl.

Coming down the last 2 miles I recognized a vehicle way down below in the parking lot near the KOA. It was Coppertone!! The trail angel we had met the day after Deep Creek!

It was round two of root ever floats and vanilla cookies! I also grabbed some fresh carrots, a banana, and an apple. And of course a donut to top it off. You see, I had eaten the protein bar and 2 snickers shortly after the ranger station, and I was out of food for the last 5 miles to the Acton KOA. Coppertone saved the day, again!!

After thanking him and throwing him a little donation, I walked the quarter mile to the KOA. Amazingly, even with the blister pop, the short breaks, and more Coppertone magic, I still arrived by 12:30! Since I walked 14 miles today, that's about 2.5 miles an hour with breaks! 

I was one of the first hikers there, the place is super neat! The Acton KOA, has a pool, a hot tub, a store, showers, horseshoes and other games, as well as a lounge and a few other amenities. I checked in and paid my $15, only the third time paying for camping mind you. :)

I showered up and cleaned my blisters, then jumped in the pool! It felt so good in the heat of the day! When I got out, "Listen" and "Squirrel", who had given us a ride out of Big Bear, had bought hot dogs, beers, chips and salsa for everyone.  

I gave them a few dollars, and then consumed 3 hot dogs, almost a whole bag of chips, and 3 beers throughout the day. Then later, "Metro" bought me a drumstick! What did I do today to deserve all the good stuff? 

It was a great day, everyone was hanging out and having a good time. Some people have already been here for one or even two days! I thought the place might be mediocre as described in the guide book, but the staff is super nice and gave us hikers 7 sites and a huge grass field to lay out on!

Since I didn't have all the necessary blister care products, BJ and Metro offered to let me use their things. They gave me a clean sewing needle and I attempted to "thread" my blisters. This is when you poke a hole through the blister with a thread threaded through, and let it dry out overnight. The thread helps to drain all the fluid out until it dries, (normally by the morning), and then you take the thread out, wrap it, and you're good to go!

Before:

AFTA!!:

My sister Sarah would be proud :)

I popped the monster I had between my toes, as well as three others. They're looking pretty good, and hopefully they're looking good tomorrow! Well, it's 9:40, past hikers midnight (9:00), time for bed! 

I'm cowboy camping on a picnic table once again, I think it's becoming my new favorite thing to do when tables are available. Guaranteed no snakes and an earlier wake up!! 

-Thanks for reading!