Chap. 4 – Desert and Dessert

Tomorrow

Another day, another 5:30am start. It was very cold last night and I honestly didn’t sleep very well. We originally thought we had 7 miles to Mt. Laguna, but ended up being closer than 10 miles to camp. Most of us took more time getting ready this morning because of how cold it was. I was finally able to brew my first trail coffee, blended with Breakfast Essentials and Chocolate Salt LMNT.

I groomed my feet a bit more before heading out adding more Leukotape to any of my hot spots. So far I have 2 blisters and 3 hot spots. One of the blisters formed yesterday without me realizing it until I took off my shoes and socks at the end of the day. It’s the gnarliest of all my blisters, so I put a band-aid on that one.

Late

The blisters started appearing around mile 5 and then my ankles hurt from the compensation. Not only that, but the trail seemed to be walking through a long-ago dried up river bed. All the loose stones under my feet didn’t really help matters. At one point, I turned to Boostie and said, «Honestly, I feel really tired of these rocks.» I put on my headphones to help me make the last two miles to Mount Laguna.

I turned a corner as soon as Noah Kahan’s End of August appeared, and the trail suddenly turned into beautiful, flat pine forests. I heard the song and started crying. I cried, not because my feet hurt, not because the rocks bothered me, but because of the beauty. The pine trees here are beautiful and our walk through them was filled with phenomenal views. It didn’t even seem real. At that moment, I finally realized that I was really doing this. How crazy is this?!

Desert in the distance!

The large group of us had lunch at the restaurant and did a little resupply. We just need enough to get to Julian. When we connected back to the trail from Mount Laguna, a trail angel gave us Vitamin Waters. We basically threw them in the trash and after throwing them in the recycling bin we saw the most amazing sight. The desert, in the distance. It feels more like a Minecraft kingdom than real life, to be honest!

Evening

Most of us went to Mt. Laguna camp together and took pictures in front of the desert view. Finally we arrived at the camp. Upon arrival we were informed that an angel from the trail had bought us a place and had prepared pizza and hamburgers for us. Amazing! Sure enough, they not only offered us pizzas and burgers, but also fresh vegetables and banana bread cookies. Banana bread cookies are something I’ve never tried before, so obviously I gave them a try. As expected, they were delicious.

Now someone lulls us to sleep with a wood recorder. I hope that helps me sleep better tonight!

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