On Day 1 Happy JO and I scaled 4500 ft through Castle Crags wilderness; epic views, azure skies, claustrophobic heat, and bugs attacking like dive bombers bound for my earlobe. We careened toward the ridge line, a white strip of dusty trail, surrounded by tall pines and manzanita bush, and the heat index soared. My face turned a non-flattering shade of rosy pink, and it occurred to me, as sweat dripped under my sunglasses and over my cheeks that I might not be in shape for this adventure. Ummm, what was I thinking coming out here again?
We met our first thru-hikers coming from Mexico around lunch time--Mark, or "Slam-clicker" as Happy JO dubbed him, takes no more than a few minutes once he's in town to find a hotel, slam his door shut and lock out the hiker trash. A young blonde-plaited woman named Tails has her dog, Skeeter, with her and has hiker-named him "Heads." "Half-step" from SF who is trying to catch her daughter on the trail, and Yard Sale from Mexico rounded out the bunch.
So back to my self-doubt. I thought the fatigue in my hamstrings and quads was bad until I felt the skin on my inner thighs burning. Chaf city. It had rubbed raw during my olympic climb and even my underarms were beginning to feel the flames.
On our retreat to a duff-filled camp we gazed at the snow glistening on Mt. Shasta, as I smeared a contact lense case full of bag balm between my legs and into my pits. Ahhh....a sense of relief.
Day 2 we meandered along contours and topped out at 7200ft, while I grinned about my first-aid job--strips of gauze and climbing tape secured in my most sensitive areas. During our lunch of beef jerky and cheese wedges at Porcupine Lake, Happy JO showed me how fly larvae camouflage themselves by building mobile cocoons of pine needle and twigs. Fun trailside ecology lesson.
After a night spent barricading the tarp tent from ants, we encountered No Pain, the first black thru-hiker I've met. With a smooth, relaxed style and a buttery voice like Isaac Hayes, he's retired special forces, now a veteran of the PCT and has completed the Appalachian Trail seven times. When we talked east coast living, I mentioned our 6-yr tour of duty in Baltimore. "Dang," he said, "I've lived in DC my whole life, and I don't think I could survive Balto." "Well," I replied, "I could never survive the AT, so we're even." We found a mutual level of respect; I could have listened to his stories all day, but No Pain has no plan -- so we may never see him again.
Tonight's campsite is nestled under pine trees with a bubbling spring and colorful bloom nearby. Our packs are getting light and fast as we approach our first town stop--Etna in 34.5 miles. Already we're counting every last calorie in our stuff sack, and I'm dreaming of pizza, a burger and Ben & Jerry's.
This section's song is "Sweet Sensation" by Chase & Status. "...The music that we play we'll ease your mind." With my headphones bobbing down the trail, the chaf subsides, the mosquito cloud dissipates, and my mind eases onto the trail as though it never left.
-Sticky
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