The whole group of us got up and hiked out late again as usual. I’ve been finding it hard to get my 730 am hike out if I’m Ina large or a group at all. At the very least we are all committed to the miles. Crawford, hungover and needing food, and I stayed zbacka bit to get some candy and sugar for our stomachs. The others were ahead of us. Walking down the road the two of us laughed and talked all the way to the expressway. Here Crawford and Tank would wait for there friends and I would push to catch the others. Whimsy and Sassy were with Zen and Deja Vu way up ahead, there small bodies looking like ants in the distance. I pushed hard down the freeway, passing cars so I walked, every once in a while looking at them and laughing as I zoomed past the gridlock.

Hiking the uphill I pushed hard with my music going, setting a great pace for the morning. It wasn’t long before I caught the girls, Zen and Deja Vu must have hiked on.  Seeing the age people day in and day out I chose to hike with them for a while. The two sisters come together every year to hike a section of the trail together. It is their girl time, the time they get to just be themselves, in all their oddities. The fresh conversation is a nice change of pace from the normal deepness I have found myself in the past few days. We talked of life, love, and boys for the morning.

Reaching the gap we took a break and dropped our packs, here I learned how tough they were. Whimsy had been suffering through a wound on her hips. The pack had rubbed her raw and Sassy was having a similar issue on her shouders, not as bad though. Without immediate help this issue would get worse and develop into a large area affected by the sweat and dirt. Cleaning them up and bandaging it best as I could we sat and rested for a bit. Just then everyone showed up and we were one large group again. The big group pushing to the next view we all took our time chatting and enjoying the new faces rather than the ones we had seen for hundreds so miles.

Passing the last shelter for 16 miles we left the girls, there tired hurting bodies needed more rest than they could afford. In truth they probably should get off trail and get them looked at, out here all we can do is patch you up to get you where you are going. There is no longterm care out here, just wilderness survival, make do till you have the stuff you need. She needed regular showers and antibiotics to heal her sores. It was no surprise that when we Mae camp at the spring they were no where to be found. Our sweet camp site next to a fresh spring was a certain reward for the rocky terrain and heat of our day.