Heading home

Yet again I sit in an airport waiting for my flight after having left the trail earlier than planned. I feel better about it than last time, though.

Leaving Warner Springs, I hiked about 10 miles. It was a different sort of hiking than I had done previously on the trail, as the first 5 miles were through some fields and the crisscrossed a stream. That felt a little more like hiking at home.

The next day, I woke up early and pounded out the 8 miles to the next water source: a water tank at Mike Herrera's place. The next water after that that wasn't a water cache was about 25 miles away, so I filled both my bottles and my bladder for a total of 7 liters. That was heavy.

Mike's place is another haven for hikers. An odd place, but a welcome one. It is a little down the road from the tank, but worth the extra distance. There is a porch that is enclosed in netting to keep the bugs off, multiple meals a day are cooked for the hikers, camping is allowed on property, and there are cold drinks. All he asks are some donations to keep the Magic coming.

I saw Roy there, so we chatted and chilled for a bit. I also got some food, which was great, since I hadn't had a real breakfast  (just some snacks, water was a concern). I chatted with some other hikers, too, and just before I was about to leave, Brandon showed up, so we exchanged hellos and off I went.

The next few miles were tough. All that water weight was making me drag. It was a cooler day with some wind and wispy clouds, though, so I figured it was a good day to try and make some miles.

Hiking solo all day had given me some time to think. I wasn't enjoying the trail. I wasn't sleeping well on the trail. Desert hiking is not like hiking in Washington.

I had already been thinking about WHY I was doing this, but I was having a hard time focusing. Texting my mom and getting some thought-provoking questions from her helped me work through the reasons. I realized most of them weren't very good ones, and others had already been accomplished.

That was a revelation. It also helped explain why I was having as hard a time with the trail as I was. I was forcing myself to do it, rather than really wanting to.

After that, it was like a weight had been lifted. I had a bunch of energy, and I ended up knocking out 20 miles by the end of the day. I felt like I could have done more, but I didn't want to overdo it.

I came to a place at the bottom of a small canyon with a few tent sites on sand. I prefer sleeping near other people, and that seemed like somewhere more people might post up for the night. I was right, as a trio of section-hikers from Portland I had passed a couple times that day showed, and then Tiny did, too. (Apparently there are 2 Tinys on the trail. I am talking about the actual tiny one, not the 7-foot tall one)

It was nice to see her one more time before I left. She is one of the ones who convinced me to get a hotel room in Warner Springs. If she hadn't, I probably would have left the trail from there, and on a bad note, not a positive one.

The next day, I got up around 5:30 (about normal for trying to start at first light and hike during the cool part of the day), broke camp, said goodbye to Tiny (she gets going a lot later, apparently), and headed on. I had 12 miles to cover to get to the Paradise Valley Cafe, and it closed at 3. It was another cooler day, and so made for much better hiking than some of the earlier ones.

Eventually I came upon Mary's place. She has a plot of land that abuts the trail, and that corner she uses to help out hikers and horseback riders. There is a place to refill water, a little free library, a couple picnic tables, an outhouse, and a shower. She also lets hikers camp on that plot. Every year she has a theme for the area, and this year she was celebrating the 150th anniversary of John Muir arriving in California. It was cute.

Brandon caught up with me there, and after we both took a break, we headed out together. Since I had had the necessary introspection the previous day, it was nice to have someone to hike and talk with. Mostly we talked about TV shows, but, hey, it helped pass the time. Along the way, we passed the 150 mile mark.

Paradise Valley Cafe was a one mile walk along a fairly busy freeway off the trail. Worth it. They had good food and drinks, and were very welcoming of hikers. I wasn't actually able to finish my burger, because I got one with two patties not realizing that each patty was a half pound. Oof. The cafe also had the number of a Trail Angel who gave rides from there to Idyllwild. Brandon decided to try and hike the fire closure alternate trail to there, but Renee (another hiker who happened to be there) and I opted for the ride.

Idyllwild is a cute little mountain town that loves hikers. Kind of like Julian, but higher elevation. Bigger, too. I got my hotel room, got a shower (felt so good), and went looking for food. I had seen Simba and Lauren walking around as we pulled in to town, so I knew they were there, somewhere.

The place that called my name, and I figured would call theirs, too, was the Idyllwild Brewpub. When I got there, there was blues playing over the speakers, and a bunch of hikers outside at a trestle table, including Kevin (another Seattle-ite), Jon and Jacob, who I had kept running into. They informed me Simba and Lauren were showing up in a bit, so I sat and had a beer. It was a really smooth Scotch Ale. A great end to the day. I also got their grilled cheese, which was interesting in that it was done on a hamburger bun and had veggies on it. Really good, though.

Simba and Lauren eventually showed, as well as a few other hikers I hadn't met, yet, and I informed people of my decision to leave the trail. They were all sad to see me go, but understood. We all toasted the Trail and had a bunch of laughs. It was a great send off.

I slept well that night. In the morning, I got breakfast, off-loaded some things into the hiker box (they don't like you to take fuel on the plane), and called a Trail Angel to get a ride to Hemet (the bigger town a bit away where I could have more transportation options). There, I got an Uber (first time doing so), and got a ride to the Ontario Airport, ending my journey.

Reasons I was doing the trail:
Doing it so others could live vicariously through me. Not good.
Doing it because I bought all the gear and done all the planning for last year's attempt. Not good.
Doing it to be able to say I had done it. Nope, not good, either.
Doing it to prove to myself I was in shape enough to do it. Better, but I had already accomplished that.
Doing it to experience the sense of community I found last year once again. Good, but not good enough to validate the entire trail.
To accomplish it to the point where I was done, not AJ Lucky. Very valid, and successful.
Doing it to help me make some changes, to see how I would come out the other end. A good reason, and a big part of wanting to do it last year, but flawed.

Going into the trail last year, I had been working retail for pretty much all of my life. I had only just completed my marketable degrees. I had only lived with my parents or in housing shared with others. I was not really happy with my life.

Over the 11 months between attempts, I added a couple industry certifications to my resume. I got a job that paid SOOOO much better than any I had had before, and that I actually enjoyed. I was able to afford an apartment all to myself. I was making changes to my life.

I wasn't able to truly enjoy them, though. Everything was kind of on hold due to my idea of attempting the trail again. I got free furniture, not necessarily furniture I wanted. I didn't put up any pictures or anything. I didn't really make the apartment mine. Also, all the money that wasn't going into bills was being saved for the trail, so I wasn't really enjoying that, either.

AJ had also gotten a job in her field over this time. A full-time teaching job, using her full degree. There aren't too many Ag Ed programs in the Seattle area, so, unfortunately, she got it in the Tri-Cities. This means she is going through some of the same changes, but I was not able to really experience those changes with her, as my job and apartment were still on the west side of the mountains. We saw each other most weekends, but that's not quite the same.

I am excited to see what my changes mean for me. What her changes mean for her. What the changes mean for us together. Can't really explore that on the trail.

There is a saying on the trail: "The Trail provides." It provided me with what I needed, even if I didn't realize what I needed when I started. I will miss everyone I met on the trail. I feel like they are all family, even though we hardly knew each other. There is definitely a bond that formed what with us all sharing similar hardships and triumphs. I gave a bunch of them my contact info, so I hope to see many of them again when they make it there. Provide some Trail Magic for them and hear about their journey.