The afternoon at Ziggy’s was low key, but nice. I mostly lounged around sipping water. There had been a Pizza run earlier for lunch and several boxes of cold pizza were still available.
I had two slices and couldn’t eat any more. I am convinced I’m not eating enough and I should have more energy than this. The fabled “Hiker Hunger” hasn’t hit me yet, and I find I’m often forcing myself to eat.
Ziggy and Bear (her husband) don’t supply dinner, so one enterprising guy was going to call a Taxi to get In-and-Out (A California Burger chain). He asked if anyone else wanted in.
He got 20 orders.
It was the best $10 cheeseburger I’ve ever had. 😍
After the sun went down it slowly cooled off. By 9pm it was 80deg, which felt almost cool after the heat of the day. (It reached 102). Everyone laid their pads out and slept under the stars. The moon was almost full and almost too bright to sleep under, but I managed.
Around 3am the first set of hikers left to start the uphill trail. I realized this was a great time to start and be higher in elevation before the heat sets in. I started to get up and sat back down. The energy just wasn’t there and I wasn’t going to make the trail that morning.
I went back to sleep.
The place is clearing out as people leave. My plan is to rest, eat, hydrate and start early the following morning. This puts me behind my “Schedule”, but that’s why I started early.
Three ladies who made it here actually scored a ride to Big Bear, the next town. They all suffered in the heat and that cuts out 65 miles of trail, the first 30 miles of which you gain 5,000+ ft of elevation. They had one seat open and offered it to me.
I was sorely tempted, but this morning told them no. I need to hike the trail, even the ugly parts. (I suspect I will regret this later 😏 )
Cheryl Strayed in the book Wild skipped most of the desert when she started her journey. I’ve come to understand her genius. So far my trip has driven home that I will never love the desert. At least I now know why.
Here are a couple of Picts of the yard, followed by someone who is building their re-supply boxes.
So Many Mountains, So little Time 
Really enjoying your blog. As I work in my office in Michigan and dream of day when I can do a hike like that.
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Yes, the desert will make or break you and if you don’t have the energy any more it can begin to play on your psychic. I had the same problems and food intake was the culprit. The food that I planned was now unbearable to even get into my mouth and I had 20 plus more food packages on the way up the trail. I gave most of it away or mailed stuff back home. What to do? I ate a lot of junk food just to get the calories to hike on. I was burning 6000 calories a day and eating 2500 approximately. I would totally gorge myself with food when I got into towns. Now you see why that, In and Out burger tasted so good. You should have eaten a couple and taken two with you for a mourning breakfast. Its the fat, oil and sugar that will pull you thru. I started out at 185 lbs and finished at 135 lbs. Waist size 36 down to 28. People hike their own hike and if things begin to get a little desperate and you feel like you got to take a short cut do so. When I hiked the PCT there were trail purist who would not associate with hikers who skipped into towns and they would actually black list them and say nasty things about them on their trail journals. Some people have to hike every inch of the trail and that’s fine too.
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Yeah, I’ve met the Anal ones who can’t take a shortcut if it cuts 1/2 mile of trail. And I don’t give a rat’s behind what they think of me. 😄 Food will continue to be a problem area for me for a while, I think. I am aware of it and am trying to eat more. Thanks for following!
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