Travel, Wine & Shoes

April 20, 2019
Today ~ 19.3 Kilometres
Cumulative ~ 189.6 Kilometres

Highlight

Playing in the stream barefoot!

My Day

Yesterday, I chatted with a lady at the gas station on my way back to my cabin. She was waiting for her boyfriend and was riding a Fat Boy. I really liked the look of her bike! It’s fantastic getting other women’s opinions on which models are best for first time riders and their experiences. I figure it’ll be next year this time before I can look at riding and getting my own bike. I’ll need to redo the weekend learning course again 🙄 but yay me I already have my license to ride! 😜

I didn’t sleep well and was up bright and early getting one last shower. I was in there for a very long time letting the hot water run over me. It causes me some anxiety especially when I start to wonder what the smell is and realize it is me.

I wore my shorts today because it’s so hot and I’m tired of my leggings. I realized that if a Bigfoot sees me he’s going to want to take me away to the secret Bigfoot cave because I look like an acceptable mate. Poor thing will be confused.

My leg hair, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
My leg hair is blowin’ in the wind

My new pack is awesome! It’s amazing what carrying 3 fewer pounds feels like on your back and shoulders. I’m liking it! It fits perfect and carries well.

I said good bye to Warner Springs, my little cabin and the nice folks here and hit the trail heading to Idyllwild.

There were a lot of day hikers in the morning which was nice to see! I chatted with a group of ladies for a bit and they gave me chocolate ❤️

There were a few stream crossings this morning, nothing major, just a few rocks or branches to hop on and cross over. I took my boots off and stood in the cold water for quite some time. It felt so good on my abused feet.

I stopped for lunch at the top of one of the ridges and realized my legs were getting burnt and I needed to put my leggings on. There’s something very liberating about being butt naked outside while you change clothes 😁

The spiffy $25 insoles that I got yesterday were heaven for a while. I think they are thicker than the originals and by mid afternoon my feet were a blistery bloody mess. The boots didn’t fit the same way with my feet higher up. The bottoms are just fine though. Go figure.

I’ve had these boots since 2013 and I’ve never had an issue with them before. I guess they’re just worn out.

About a dozen times today I turned around and looked back and wondered how much time would it take me to get back to the highway so I could hitch to Palm Springs and fly home.

I continued limping along planning on stopping early and setting up camp. I saw a little dirt road that would connect me to a paved road. I checked my map and the paved road would bring me back to the highway. I got off the trail.

It took a couple hours to get down to the highway. I hadn’t realized how high I hiked, but at least it was all downhill. I only saw one car on that paved road driving in the opposite direction. I stopped twice and doctored my feet. Once I hit the highway I quickly got a ride … back to Warner Springs and I am now in the same cabin as I was in the last 2 nights.

What to do? My heart is not in this right now and I’ve known that for several days. I’m going to hitch to either San Diego or Palm Springs tomorrow and get a flight home hopefully on Monday.

I’m still conflicted. If in a few weeks I want to come back, I will. For now, I’m going home 💕

My boots won’t be coming home with me.

Scenes

 

PCT