Towards an End: Day 77, Sleepwalker

Part 3, Northern California, Day 77

Sleepwalker

Miles: 26.66

Total Miles: 1190.61

About last night... I was stealth camped off the trail in the woods in a remote forest. It was in a dead silent canyon. The night was sultry and I put my rain fly on, which made my tent like a sauna. It was supposed to rain tonight, and I didn't want to chance it. I had trouble falling asleep because of the heat, but eventually passed out.

I jolted up from my sleep at the sound of a man's voice outside. I thought it was morning, and I checked my clock. It was midnight. Some guy was talking loudly right outside. I went outside but couldn't see anything in the dark. The man's voice was filling the canyon. There was no phone reception. I didn't really feel like following the voice up canyon in the dark. The last thing I need is to find some dude standing in the moonlight touching himself and talking to God on a two-way radio. It sounded like he was talking to himself, and it lasted for awhile.

I heard him set up a tarp or something, which he must've done on the trail, since there was no camp spots in the steep canyon. He had a horrible cough and was hacking all night. The whole thing was pretty creepy. I eventually fell back asleep and woke up an hour later to rain.

I maybe only slept 2 hours last night. I woke up and there was nobody in sight, so the guy must've took off when the rain started. I hiked out at 6:45am.

It was a lovely morning, and though I was tired, I drank a shitload of coffee.

I stopped at this spring to camel up for the next 8 mile water-less stretch. Not as bad as the desert, but enough to warrant some planning.

This water was ice cold and clean.

I continued on. I was pretty slow all morning, stopping frequently to mess with my gear and whatnot.

I checked out this view, then turned the corner and saw a woman sitting beside the trail, so I said hello.

Her name was Caroline, and she worked for a newspaper in Pittsburgh. She asked to interview me about the trail, so we sat down and she recorded an interview. It turns out that she grew up in Carmel Valley! What a crazy small world. It was a fun interview and after 30 minutes or so, I continued hiking.

This massive jet all of a sudden flew right over my head very slowly, lumbering through the sky:

I'd find out later that it was flying training exercises for smoke jumper firefighters.

I found this sign to be quite informative:

The wildflowers are spectacular in Northern California, and I love the smells the best.

I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. The day was so hot, which helped make me sleepy. I'm also getting bored. When you walk for 14 hours a day, every day, you run out of things to think about. I listen to music, which helps, but it can get monotonous out here.

I saw this volcano looking peak on the distance:

I stopped and ate lunch with a couple from Wisconsin. The guy's name is Big Cheese, and he's taking time off his thru hike to hike with his girlfriend. I could have camped right there but I wanted to get as close to Sierra City as I could. I walked on in the sweltering afternoon.

I eventually crossed some roads.

I was so hot and tired that I felt delirious.

I'd been descending all day and it killed my feet. I know... New day, different pain complaint. Each step made me wince in pain. I stopped several times to message my bare feet. I was moving very slowly. The last 2 miles to Milton Creek where I planned to camp was shit. I was in pain. I need to figure out why my body sucks.