PCT 2015 Day 5: First Zero

• Start: 77.3
• End: 77.3
• Miles: 0
• Camp: Overnight in Julian

I decided to take a zero day (hiking zero miles) in Julian. The weather is due to be better tomorrow and it will be good to take a break. When I was giving my details to reserve the room for a second night, I realised I don’t actually have many identifying details to give. The conversation went something like this.

her: “car registration?” 
me: “I don’t have one”
her: “address?”
me: “ummm, I don’t have one of those either”
her: “cell number?”
me: “yes! yes! I do have one of those! Errr. It’s a UK one, is that ok?”
her: “just don’t leave anything here when you leave…”

I took an extended breakfast, meeting Jill and Sheryl Robertson here from Santa Monica to take an art course over the weekend. We traded stories about hiking and creativity, Los Angeles and mountain towns, and big breakfasts with pie and cinnamon buns. 

Fran and Sababa arrived after Diogenes and Megra left, and we added Spider, taking a zero for his ankle, so we can split the room 4 ways. It can be good to zero with people. We made up a load of laundry between us that the lodge took care of for us, and over lunch we all took advantage of free pie and ice cream for thru-hikers at Mom’s pie shop. Napping and watching terrible cop movies in the afternoon set us up pretty well for the main evening snooze.

Sababa donated a load of Trail Logistics food to the hiker box which we got to pick over first so I’ve upgraded some of my dehydrated vegetable, rice and oaty mush bags (lovely though they are) to chicken cashew curry and chicken with peanut sauce. And something called chocolate farina, which I’m currently not clear is an upgrade given I don’t know what it is yet. But it tastes like chocolate, so I’ll try it. I’ll have to start boiling water for food but perhaps that will make me slow down and take longer breaks. 

We’re all packed up and hike out tomorrow after doing a job on the Julian Lodge breakfast. Diogenes is at Scissors Crossing tonight so maybe we’ll catch him when we get a ride out there to rejoin the trail. I’m going to take it slower than planned to make sure I don’t break my knee in a big way so it might be the last time I see these guys in a while. Or ever, I suppose. Strange the way trail life works.