DAY 17
5-10-2013
29 Palms, CA w/ Courtney & Alan
-Slept in; woke up at Courtney and Alan's house in 29 Palms, CA; stretched; began loading my pack so I could go on a hike to test out my back muscles... but then I started looking at maps, created an itinerary for the next few days, and got my food figured out. Courtney's husband Alan drove me to the post office. I mailed my bounce bucket up to myself in Wrightwood, CA and I mailed some unneeded items back to my parents' home. I've been packing everything up.
-Yesterday I set up my tent in Courtney and Alan's back yard to air it out in order to prevent mildew from growing inside it. I weighed my tent down with rocks. At night, I went outside to check on my tent and it was gone! All the rocks were in place, but no tent! I thought Courtney and Alan were playing a prank on me. Alan helped me track my tent down... it had been swept up by the wind and it was blown a ways away. Lol.
-I AM ITCHING TO GET BACK ON THE TRAIL!!!!!!!!!! I kind of feel like I'm cheating since I'm jumping ahead one section. I have to remind myself that I will finish Section B after I get to Canada. I am sad that I have missed out on Section B because its at the beginning of the hike where everyone is figuring out their pace, hiking styles, capabilities, etc. I have spent so much time in hotel rooms and towns that I don't feel like I've really hiked at all. I'm feeling a bit robbed of my experience... I was hiking really fast at first to keep up with the others; I was going into town a lot because that's what everyone else wanted; I was pushing myself to get from water source to water source in one day (instead of carrying enough water to camp in between caches if necessary) because that's what everyone else wanted. I think my back went out because I was pushing myself to meet everyone else's standards. So far in my hike, I've been hiking on other people's terms which is the exact opposite of what I set out to do. My hiking buddies were doing everything for me as well... building fires, studying the topographic maps, coming up with itineraries, etc. While it was nice to be taken care of by more experienced hikers, this hindered my abilities to figure it out for myself and to make my own mistakes so I could learn from them. Maybe my back going out and me getting separated from my old group was a good thing. FINALLY I get to hike my own way! I'm thrilled for this new experience, yet still sad that I didn't figure this out earlier in my trip. Oh well... I learned my lesson. Now I know to hike my own hike and to not let anyone else interfere.
-My pack now weighs 24.5 pounds. I'm trying to figure out why the weight increased by so much! My town dress is a bit heavy. I've asked my mom to mail me another sun dress that will weigh much less. I am now carrying a bowl, cup, spork, knife, dish scrubber, soap, and salt & pepper shaker. If I use these items I'll keep carrying them; if I don't use something I'll toss it. I have my new section maps which weigh quite a bit at the beginning of each section. I have a new bottle of sunscreen; it's weight will quickly be reduced. I have a new bottle of Voltaren Gel which I use for my arthritis; this weight will go down with time. I re-stocked my medicine so I will have a 30 day supply on me at all times; this weight will also be reduced. I am carrying a purse-sized bottle of lotion that I could get rid of, but I want my lotion! Lol. I still find it hard to believe that these 7 items have added 4.5 pounds to my pack weight. Maybe the scale I used today isn't accurate?? Hmmm... oh well. I've got everything I need and this is what matters.
-Courtney and I are going to the store to grab a few items. I need bleach and an empty Visine bottle to store the bleach in. My friend Beave taught me that one drop of bleach per one liter of water makes for perfect drinking water. I tried his water from and it tasted just fine. I am going to adopt this method of water purification. Thanks for the tip Beave!
***If anyone is mailing items to me, please see below for mailing addresses and dates. Also, please text me where you are sending any letters or packages and it's ETA so I may know which post office to stop by. Thank you!
My ETA is May 17, 2013:
Alicia M. Briggs
C/o Mountain Hardware
My ETA is May 23, 2013:
Alicia M. Briggs
C/o The Saufleys
My ETA is May 28, 2013:
Alicia M. Briggs
c/o Hikertown
26803 W. Ave C-15
Lancaster, CA 93536
No comments:
Post a Comment