Jammin' with Jameson

18.4 miles. Today was one of my favorite days on trail so far and showed me many things that make this experience special. We woke up at 5:30 to start hiking down to Cabazon and finish the long descent on Fuller Ridge off of San Jacinto. We got to the water source 5 miles down and then did a 2 mile roadwalk followed by 2 miles in straight sand. I was exhausted by the time we got to the sand even though I could see the coveted highway underpass oasis getting closer every step. We were not disappointed by the dump that was the underpass, surrounded by a few dirty places to sit and many cardboard sheets on the wall to sign. Little did I expect the shelter it would later provide. We got Ubers to Cabazon at 9:45 and immediately hit Starbucks while In n Out and Chipotle had yet to open. On the road there, we passed the legendary Morongo casino and I noticed a bowling alley! I told everyone I would meet them at In N Out after I got my chipotle but quickly realized that my burrito bowl was too massive to carry to go (side note: I was extremely disappointed that I couldn’t convince the Europeans to try Chipotle over Swell and Josh’s brainwashing campaign). I devoured an estimated 1600 calories of burrito bowl and was fat and happy. Lethargically, I headed over to In N Out to meet up with everyone and Pitch’s aunt and uncle (Cypress and Oak) that had come to give us some trail magic. Glowstick said he enjoyed the burgers for his hunger but Flo was not susceptible and admitted them for the subpar burger they are. Cypress and Oak brought us fresh fruit and were as kooky and endearing as Swell had foretold telling us stories about how the trail angel at Casa de Luna would flash everyone ritually during the daily group photo. We learned that the grocery store really only had snacks so we got food (what we call doing a resupply) from the tawdry selection at the gas station. Swell and I got burritos to go for dinner and we unhappily started the 15 minute walk to the gas station in the heat after Swell couldn’t convince anyone to give us a hitch. At the casino, we were told to move out of the way of a commercial getting filmed and then learned that we could take a golf cart valet the rest of the distance. We quickly snapped up the chance and road on a limo 4-row golf cart with the driver I dubbed Nightrider. At the bowling alley, we all commented on how sorry we felt for the poor suckers that would have to wear our bowling shoes next and bought shots that I promised for Swell’s birthday. We played two tired but fun games of bowling and enjoyed the cold water and air conditioning. After lazying around for a while, we finally decided to head back to the underpass. Once we got there, we saw that it had become a haven for a whole assortment of new hikers we hadn’t met that were also looking for a reprieve from the sun. Swell and Flo showed up with Cypress and Oak and came with the idea to carry a couch they saw on the road into the underpass to provide comfort for future generations of hikers. L’dor V’dor. I helped carry it in the heat which was fine until we had to get off the road and down some stone steps into the underpass. Luckily, Flo and I didn’t kill ourselves and officially added a piece of history to a lovely hiker oasis. Wingspan gave us some vodka that she had gotten for her birthday and we had a blast hanging out and meeting new people while the sun was beating down hard overhead. No one wanted to leave the protection of the almighty underpass but we decided it should have been okay by 5:30. Hint: it wasn’t. I ended up sweating the most I had to date and had sweat dripping down into my eyes every few minutes. Our backs were drenched and our ass cracks were not a pretty picture. We pushed on to get better weather. We had to do 10 miles of hiking in the afternoon to get to the campsite we were shooting for and knew we were going to do some night hiking. Right at sunset, we hit a very steep section of uphill that forced me to go into overdrive and give it everything I had. I didn’t realize it, but the end of this section were the Two Gates that Glowstick had been reading the comments for and laughing about for the past two days. I did a ceremonial reading of the comments and could not have felt they were more appropriate (a dedicated post to come). Glowstick and I stuck together and had an excellent conversation about how were feeling so far and what we’ve already learned about what we want to get out of the PCT. We found it funny that most of the best moments came from when we weren’t hiking and I truly felt like the only way we could overcome all the physical and mental challenges ahead was through the comradery and friendship that everyone exhibited. Pushing myself just past my limits but ensuring I had enough energy to enjoy the moments in between were really important to me. Thus began the night hiking. We went for another hour and a half over steep grades and much steeper descents. I was so tired and did not want to the half mile to the river past the campsite along the trail. Luckily Glowstick was already there and had the idea. I hadn’t allowed myself to eat any evening snacks to make the burrito that much sweeter of a reward, and boy did it pay off. I instantly threw down the pack, grabbed my burrito, found the comfiest place to sit, and ATE. I ate the entire burrito in less than 4 minutes and could not have enjoyed it more. I honestly think it might have been one of the best meals of my entire life. Definitely hope to have chipotle as a camping meal again. We set up camp and after seeing a mouse and doing some yoga, only to have Josh walk in a few minutes later. After we all were lying down, I oddly didn’t feel tired. Luckily josh and Swell didn’t either and we ended up staying up and talking for another 30-45 minutes which was really nice. We finally went to bed under a beautiful sky of stars.