May 14

372-403

After hiking up to Baden-Powell, we decide to take the abandoned highway detour. Amber makes a good point in that it would be foolish to take a risk in conditions we do not have proper gear for, and risk a trip we have invested so much time and money into.

There is another hiker at the junction, Tony, a wilderness firefighter from Michigan, who makes the same choice. It is a unique opportunity to walk along a closed highway, and reminds us of the end of the world scenes we watched on our planet of the apes marathon in town. The only people on the highway are thru hikers and the occasional cyclist.

Tony has recently been working out West and has taken an interest in identifying trees, and shares info about the ecology of western conifers. He points out a Coulter Pine, a tree only found in small areas in California. The Coulter pine grows massively oversized pinecones that weigh up to 10 pounds- even on very slight trees. Often this causes a limb to break. The Coulter pine with their self destructive cones feel like a perfect metaphor for human consciousness.

The miles fly by, and we make tremendous time.

We leave the highway and pass the 400 mile mark of the trail. Only 2200 miles to go.

In the early evening we say goodbye to Tony who decides to camp earlier than we prefer. We hope to see him further along the trail, as we enjoyed walking with him very much.

Amber reads in our guidebook that a Christian Youth Camp a few miles ahead allows hikers to camp on their premises and sometimes have leftovers to feed to hungry hikers. I am very skeptical about this idea, feeling too tired to be social at the end of a hiking day. Amber wins, as usual and we race there just as the sun is setting.

No leftovers, but we are put up in a little bunk room with another couple from San Diego who had a similar idea. We take turns showering, charge our phones up and retreat to bunk beds at hiker midnight(9pm)

Our mileage total for the day is a tad over 30.