gadget: professional hiker

an underdog story

an exercise in dreaming big

the dangers of napping

working subtitle

I woke up bright and early to hit the long climb out of Sierra City. The day before i got a burrito called the ‘really big breedo’ from the general store that must’ve weighed about 2.5 pounds. I managed about half for breakfast. On the way out i stopped at the coffee shop where i already was a regular after my day in town and said goodbye to the barista and the baker. Unfortunately the coffee shop was a cousin of starbucks and not of european style so the latte i got was foamy and boiling. The coffee was good though.

Part way up the climb out of town i hit the 1200 mile mark. Three other hikers were there already and posed a riddle to me.

Ketchup said he saw this dog the night before come by his tent, and here he was not enjoying the rocky trail and hot sun. He had a collar with whales on it but no tags. His hair was pressed down and kind of balding under the collar, he had worn it for a while. My maternal instincts from my doggie daycare jobs kicked in and i decided to sobo back to town and see if i could find his owner.

Part way down the climb i passed by a girl who had a car and was going to return to town, so i did a hand off and hopefully she either found his owner or a shelter at least. Unfortunately the sun climbed ever higher and the climb that i wanted to do in the cool early morning became treacherous and sweaty.

I rounded out that day with 15 miles of progress but 22 of hiking. The next day i woke up late but did another 22 that i spent most of listening to Hello from the Magic Tavern which is still very legit. Which brings us to my big day yesterday.

I was still 35 miles from Quincy, my next resupply. Eager to get there and not spend 60 cents for a package of ramen i woke up at 445, drank some caffeine, and set out before the sun. I hiked with Penguin for a while which was nice, i don’t usually hike with people because of my wildly unstable hiking pace. Less than five hours later i pulled my first 10 by 10.

I really slowed down after that, coasting down into a valley with a river. Took me a nice river bath and washed my socks. After that was a long climb up and out of the valley, about seven miles and 4000 feet. My snack supply was running low so i made a hearty bag of ramen i pulled from the hiker box. Sitting in the shade next to the river on a warm summer afternoon ended up disastrous as the loving embrace of a nap fell over me. I awoke at about 4 and hustled to the base of the climb.

I threw on some music and kept a solid 3 mph pace while i raced the fading sunlight. There was still a good hour until sunset when i took a seat by a campfire on top of the ridge and made the mistake of checking my map. 2.2 miles away from a 30 mile day. My feet were burning but i couldn’t stop when i was that close to greatness, even if it meant night hiking.

Right around the next corner i came upon a clever trap to prevent me from hiking: a box full of books. I walked away about 10 minutes shorter of sunlight and now carrying 3 books. With the fuel of the 00s Rock Anthems playlist on spotify i continued until just after dusk and collapsed in the first open space i could find.

This morning i felt great which was a nice surprise. My hitch down to Quincy was a local who was listening to The Adventure Zone which was delightful. We talked about those beautiful boys and D&D 5e and the other hiker with me was so confused.

Now i’m at a pizza buffet, i’ve had about 2 pies and i’m watching the semifinal England/Croatia World Cup game with some very rowdy Brits.

i enjoy some footy and all but like we have the technology to stop clocks and start them again why is stoppage time a thing

ah jeez now there’s overtime come on lads i wanted to do at least 15 miles today

---

that dog walk from sierra city lol. the next few days all the hikers were singing praisies, ‘did bonus sobo miles just for a dog.’ the dog did make it back home, but i bet i mention that in the next post.

yep, digital screenshots of a smartphone, that proves it. that 30 day was very rough, the chill day i had at quincy following was a boon.

stoppage time is silly i still feel that way

-the gottadomiles-