PCT SOBO DAY 116 – Taco Tuesday

Day 116

Start: Green Valley, off mile marker 2177.6

End: Agua Dulce, mile 2201.4

Miles driven: 23.8 miles

I started the day with a meal fit for a princess: fried eggs and bacon on avocado toast. Cool Ranch invited me and Papa Joe to demonstrate his expert chef skills. This was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had on the road.

Cool Ranch and Papa Joe talked about what their plans were for the day. I wanted to keep hanging out with them, but I’d already taken so many zero days recently. They realized that my determination to get back on track was tenuous. They started telling stories of hikers who only expected to stay two nights and ended up staying two weeks!

In the end, I decided to be strong and get back on track even though the vortex was calling me. I said goodbye to Cool Ranch and Papa Joe dropped me back on the road.

Since I had just escaped a vortex, I wasn’t too excited about the idea of ​​hiking today. But I put one foot in front of the other and made some progress. I took a lot of breaks in the morning, but eventually found my stride and covered some miles.

It was hot today! There wasn’t much water around and one of the water tanks I had been anticipating was empty. Damned. It was only 2 miles to reach a spring, but by mid-afternoon they were all uphill. When I finally got to take a sip of that cold, sweet water gushing out of the ground, I was in heaven! Nothing tastes better than water when you really need it.

Rehydrated, I got up and tackled my last big climb of the day. The sun had diminished its intensity a little, cooling things down. At the top, the mountains stretched across the land, the dry, golden grass glistening in the sun. Up there, above the city, peace reigned.

However, once I got off, I soon found myself right in the middle of rush hour. The trail in this section crossed a small road and ran along a path for a while. Cars roared past me, kicking up dust and smoke. This was nothing like being on top of the mountain.

As the sun set, the city became quieter. Just after dark, I arrived at my place for the night: Maria Bonita Mexican Restaurant. Not only did they have good food, but they let hikers sleep outside their restaurant. Even better, it turned out it was Taco Tuesday when I arrived!

After eating more tacos than I could handle, I headed to my campsite for the night. The employees were very helpful and accommodating, making sure I had water and anything else I needed. I set up on the patio and tried to act as smug as possible, but I still got a few strange looks from the last of the customers leaving the restaurant.

After closing, the lights went out and I fell asleep.

And that’s a day in the life of a PCT SOBO hiker!

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