Time for my actual birthday! I felt like it had been going on for a long time, basically since Shasta, such that I didn’t expect anything to happen today, far from town. How wrong I was!
It began with Cookie, blessed being that he is. He had carried out a pepsi for me, which I drank with breakfast. Merlin and Marble had brought cinnamon rolls, which made for a great start of the day. Merlin then suddenly asked me if I had heard from Fitz. I had not. Merlin said Fitz had a surprise planned. I turned on my Garmin and sure, there were 2 messages describing where on trail I would find a little something. The others hoped she had buried it and I would have to dig it up with my trowel, unearthing a couple of catholes in the process.
No such thing happened luckily. At the mile marker Fitz mentioned I saw a big balloon hanging in the air. ‘Happy 25th Anniversary’ it read in print, with ‘of your birth’ scribbled underneath it. Below the balloon was a bag with gummies, an IPA and an edible. This had to be one of the most original gifts I’d ever received. Fitz is the best. I attached the balloon to a stick and shoved that in my mesh, proudly displaying the balloon to all.
Yet it did not end there! At the next water break, Siren spontaneously started singing happy birthday, even though we only met 2 days ago. Some good vibes with that one. Afterwards, Lucky Charm’s parents met us at the next road crossing. They wanted to see her and were doing trail magic for the occasion. They had brought fruit, sodas and lavender cakes. Just for me they had brought a Belgian beer and strawberry cupcakes (I am and remain a strawberry man).
2 hours later I was very drunk and high as we stumbled up the climb after the road. At some point I felt there was a 50/50 chance whether my words would come out in Dutch or English. It was awful and awesome at the same time. I had a sudden realization that I’d come far and wondered at the absurdity of this whole hike.
The plan was to do a silent disco to cap off the day, but we were all so tired we just went to sleep. Best birthday on trail!
Also, best trail name so far: Puking Rally. Lamest trail name so far: Cali, named so because she is from California. It can’t get much worse than that.
