Jammin' with Jameson

11.7 miles. The Germans woke up a completely exhausted Jameson at 6 am, but I knew I needed to get up and see start moving. My feet still did not feel very good in the morning so the first 30 minutes was a very slow one step at a time maneuver. I started getting into a groove as I warmed up but it quickly became warm as the sun was barely above the horizon. It was maybe a little past 7 and I wished I had woken up early. We took a stretch break at 8 and found wonderful canopy shade at Marys Tank at 9, but it was already burning out. I was not excited for many more hours and miles of the heat but knew I had to push through. I listened to a podcast with Nick Kroll to pass the time under the scorching sun. as it got to 11:30, I was sweating my balls off and could see the final stretch of two miles. Also I saw a hole slither into a tiny hole in the middle of the trail.which was the first time I saw a snake actually go into it’s home. Luckily I called swell to try to order ahead a burger and she had a friend, pitch perfect, come to hang out with her who came to pick me up. The walk was only a mile down the road but I’m already disgusted by the idea of walking any more miles than I need to. I finally got to the Oasis known as Paradise Valley Cafe (PVC) around 12:30 and sat with Jupiter and Kevin for lunch. Jupiter turned out to be a famous hiker YouTuber that most other people knew and had watched while Kevin was also a crazy fast (30+ mod) hiker that wore Luna sandals…. What. I got a garden burger which actually held up to my high expectations. I was let down by how little I ate because I was expecting to scarf down two meals; instead I was crazy full after one burger and munching on some leftover fries and nachos. Johnny G had a salad that was amazing to have a few bites if and reminded me that I need to eat as healthy as I can when in towns. The coolest thing I learned is that serious thru hikers invent new trails all the time by going on road trips to do research and section hiking different parts of the country until they can figure out how to join it into one continuous trail. Swell wanted to go into Idyllwood with Pitch and Tuna for a lazy afternoon and karaoke which sounded perfect to me. We added Big Bird, named for his bright yellow jacket and bird like limp, and drove to the Idyllwood campground. I gladly relaxed on my groundsheet while they resupplied. Thus commenced an awesome afternoon hiker hang where we met Birch (Pitch’s adorable half cattle dog), Shadow, Drea, and Kami and had some bourbon provided by Pitch. We made our way to karaoke at 8 and started it off with a bang by singing We Are (Trail) Family together. We all took turns singing classics and cheering each other along in one of the tiniest and strangest karaoke vibes I’ve ever partook in. My favorite part was that the host would sing one of his favorite slower country songs after every 3 or 4 went. We walked back to the campsite, did some stretching, and went to bed under a full moon.