Trail Idiot

(Saturday April 26, 2008)
When I was sitting in the grove of trees yesterday writing and relaxing, I overheard this conversation:

Idiot: So do you have cell phone service here?
No Service: No.
Idiot: What do you use? Verizon?
No Service: No. Sprint.
Idiot: I thought it didn't matter what provider you had as long as you had roaming.

I shook my head then and I'm shaking it now thinking about it.

No, Idiot, that is not the definition of roaming. Despite the fact that you are "roaming" along the PCT, you do not have cell phone service at all times.

In other news, I hike a lot faster than I thought. I started at Burnt Rancheria (mile 41) today and the next water stops were at 47, 48 and 52. So I figure it will take me 4 hours or so with breaks to get to mile 47. I started at 6:45am so I figured I'd be there around 11:00.

So 11:30 rolls around and I'm not seeing the campground at mile 47. Then all of a sudden I walk into the Pioneer Mail Picnic Area at mile 52.

I passed the campground two hours before and even stopped there to take a picture without knowing it. Good times.

I was actually worried that I wouldn't be able to get water at Pioneer Mail because two people who were leaving as I got there told me there were dead rats in or near the water.

An older hiker named Lucky went up there and came back down to tell me that those people were full of shit. And they were. The water came out of a spigot crysal clear.

Nature calls and then it's back to the trail.