double zero

also known as "two days off."


i'm currently 250 miles into the hike, taking two zero days in/around big bear city. nitro, a chronic thru-hiker but not on the trail this summer, and her parents are hosting tomato, myself, and two other hikers named bird nut and true. they've been extremely generous and welcoming, and it's shaping up to be a very relaxing weekend of food, hot tub, swimming pool, food, cold drinks, and food. and with a slack-pack (carrying little or no weight/gear in your pack between two pre-set points) planned with mystic on monday i'm feeling pretty lazy (and lucky) at the moment.

tomato and i had a rare sighting of a desert tortoise. it was just a little fella, and moving fast. well, for a turtle anyway.

a couple days ago i had a run-in with dehydration, heat exhaustion, and/or some kind of bug. climbing up mission creek canyon it all caught up with me and i really began struggling when it reached 96 in the shade with little to no breeze so i finally collapsed under a tree (no easy feat since this is the desert and this area was burned just a few years ago in the millard fire). hikers passing by made sure i had water and was doing ok (thanks nick and steel-eye), and finally mystic caught up to me and carried my food bag for me the remaining three miles to camp. it was a rough night as i tried to get some food and water in me, but eventually threw it all back up. fortunately that seemed to help with the nausea, so i managed to drink and eat a little before morning. mystic stuck with me all the next morning, again carrying some of my weight, and we managed the 15 miles to the first road access into big bear. i was feeling a lot better by the time we got there and was drinking and eating fairly normally. today i'm feeling 100% and am looking forward to hiking again - after taking another day off, of course.

there was some discussion last night about the philadelphia eagles drinking pickle juice as a way to combat dehydration, and today as a joke nitro offered some to me. turns out i really like the stuff. wonder if i can take some in my platypus...
*addendum to the pickle juice discovery: i learned after drinking about 20 ounces of the stuff, the recommended serving is 2. it gave me some sort of a salt-induced head rush. drink with caution.


i hear the hot tub calling. life on the trail can be rough sometimes.