PCT Day 8

Miles 109-110

Now that we're 8 days in, a few of us decided to make today out first full zero day. The plan was to relax at Warner Springs Community Center, let our bodies heal, shower, and eat. Nightgown was in the most need of the break; For the past few days her foot pain has been getting progressively worse.

Before the community center opened at 8, we all sat and watched a baby bird try to get up into a tree that it had fallen out of. Troll narrated the ordeal in an Australian accent, but the little bird was getting tired and wasn't making any progress. For a moment we all got distracted by Medicine Man (a 19 year old wilderness EMT that has a big personality and an even bigger first aid kit) and the next thing we knew, the little bird had hopped over to Troll and was trying to crawl up his leg.

We couldn't resist interveining at this point and Troll, with the help of Lingo, helped the bird back into it's tree.

Once the community center opened, it was time for breakfast. This place is adorable; they provide food, computers, supplies, showers and laundry to hikers as well as a food bank and free clothing for the local community. 

The sweet older women doted on all the smelly hikers, bringing us food and drinks, driving us to the post office, and encouraging us to take advantage of their facilities.

8am breakfast

11am lunch (not pictured: second Pepsi, muffin, cookie, and ice cream bar)

The rest of the day was spent showering, chatting, and laying under a big Live Oak in front of the community center. What a perfect day!

In the late afternoon, I met a group of folks that Happy Feet had named the Merry Band of Pranksters. They're a bunch of hippies from the east coast that have previously hiked the AT. They were very friendly guys, but a bit rowdy for us so Nightgown and I decided to get a mile or two out of town before setting up camp and watching the lunar eclipse.

Nightgown's foot started hurting her pretty quickly, so we set up camp about a mile outside of town. We wanted to watch the eclipse so, instead if setting up our tents, we used the tents as ground sheets and cowboy camped. It was a perfect night to watch they sky, enjoy the breeze, and see the eclipse from start to finish.

Another oh-so-perfect day on the PCT. I seriously can't get over how excited I am to be here.