Chap. 22 – Purges and beer

Another morning! Most of our group woke up around 4:50am to start hiking at 5:30. The Australians were the exception: they slept in for an extra hour!

The morning was a little hard for me, more mentally than physically. I have been feeling very tired and have not been able to sleep well at night in my tent. I’m starting to think it might be the sleeping mat, that maybe inflatable mats aren’t my thing. I used a Nemo Switchback for most of the AT and loved it, so I might go back to one of those! My pillow also hasn’t been able to stay inflated for more than 15-30 minutes since day 1…so discomfort could also be part of the problem.

Today it got hot and fast. We spent most of the day descending into the desert, where the temperature reached 94F. I’d say it felt pretty close to that, and Boostie and I ended up taking a lot of short water breaks. Fortunately, the terrain seemed manageable and mostly flat. However, the few climbs of the day seemed horrible to me. We passed by some hot springs, in which we obviously did not submerge. A hot, sweaty day didn’t seem like the best time to get into hot water!

Today we reached 300 miles!

We reached the road around 4pm and Gandalf was waiting there with fresh fruit. Our hero! Boostie didn’t have any, since he doesn’t like fruits or vegetables very much. Don’t worry, I practically ate his share. After several handfuls of blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and strawberries, we piled into the car to head to the Joshua Inn for the night.

Our first mission at Joshua Inn? Beer. Boostie had a natural light to start and I had a lavender lemonade from 3rd Strike Beer Co.. It hit the spot. Seriously, I’ve never had a beer that tastes so delicious and refreshing! I also had a Shasta grape soda, because who can resist a delicious fruit soda? In the end I also bought a couple of orange sodas.

Hikers and locals playing pool together

Almost everyone went to their tents before Boostie and me. We enjoyed talking to the locals! One couple pointed out that Boostie looked like the husband when he was in his early twenties. Sure enough, he took a photo and they were doubles! I wish I had asked for the photo, because it was crazy how similar they looked. Another local came up and said, «Dude, is that your son?» and the guy we were chatting with said, «No, I only have two daughters!» and the other kept insisting that they had to be related.

I got a splinter for this photo…but it was cool to see a Joshua tree!

Finally, after watching several games of pool and drinking more soda than I should have, we headed to our tents. Our routine is that he walks me to my store, gives me a hug, and then heads to his own store. I definitely miss sharing a tent sometimes, as we have shared it many times on cold nights. It’s too hot out here for that, so I can’t snuggle up at night. Journal!

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