If It's the Wrong Decison, I'll Make It

(Friday April 25, 2008)
I got in on Thursday and managed to make two screw ups in two days. At this rate it will be 140 for the trip.

I got into San Diego and I have no food, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing but when you haven't thought out what exactly you're going to eat each day, then your situation's not so hot.

So instead of thinking about what I want for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the five days its going to take me to get to Warner Springs, I just decided, "Oh this looks good. Mmm, I'd like to eat that. Can't wait to eat these!"

And that's how I ended up carrying $250 worth of food three quarters of a mile back to the house I was staying at.

Originally I was just going to take a cart, bring the food to the house, then cart the food I was mailing to myself (that was part of the $250 too) to the post office and then return the cart to the store. Sounds logical, no? And it was which was why I didn't do it.

So there I am walking two blocks with what felt like 75 pounds of food in ten plastic bags. Then my arms started getting tired so it became a block. Then the bags started ripping. Then I heard a car full of girls drive by and laugh.

Eventually I would just kneel on the ground like I was genuflecting to the hiking gods and then spring up and walk as fast as I could to whatever landmark I picked out. By the end my face looked like I was getting an enema of fire. Good times.

That turned out to be a great plan because I showed up with my packages at the post office 15 minutes before they closed, with only one of my two packages in a box and no tape. In what turned out to be a post office miracle, someone had left a roll of tape there earlier and I was able to use that to seal up my bounce box. I was the last customer served and they had to unlock the doors to let me leave.

In hiking foolishness, I of course got lost during my first day on the trail, which wouldn't have been a big deal if I decided to wait for someone to help me out.
Instead, when faced with the choice of three trail directions, I decided to go with my gut and picked two wrong choices before finally waiting for someone who pointed out an arrow made of sticks that someone had left to guide unsure hikers on the right path.

Pissed that I wasted an hour or more of time that could have been spent heading to Lake Morena, I hightailed it down the trail, not making my usual stops for water and snacks. By the time I got to the campground, I was covered in salt, the sun was setting, dinner was finished being served and I couldn't get my tent set up correctly.

After taking an absolutely freezing shower and eating cold chicken out of a foil packet, I climbed into my tent, which sagged onto my face because it I set it up wrong.

Before I passed out, I cursed the Pacific Crest Trail and vowed to quit the next day.

But thankfully a night of uncomfortable sleep and waking up with condensation all over my sleeping bag was enough to calm me down and give it another shot.

So I'm sitting in a grove of trees making PB&J and doing some writing. My feet hurt and my shoulder is sore, but I must admit as hard as long distance hiking is (it's pretty fucking hard) the trail is a nice place to be.