Another long day. We got a breakfast burrito and ran into Lily there. After our happy reunion, we set out, along with Cory.
At noon, we had our first trail magic, brought to us by two very friendly, hardcore republican, Biden hating older guys. Trail magic is a thing where non-hikers, called trail angels, will come out to the trail to provide support to hikers, usually in the form of food and drinks. They expect nothing in return, except the company and stories from the hikers
On the back of their truck was a sticker with Biden’s face, eloquently saying: ‘make China great again’. Yeah.
They had set out camp chairs with beers, cookies and potato salad for all. Politics aside, seeing this selfless gesture was heartwarming, plus a great opportunity to catch up with other hikers.
We also ran into Leo again, and of course, he was chilling on a rock again, solidifying his ‘On the rocks’ trail name. The trail names are another interesting concept. Here on the pct, people don’t introduce themselves as James or Matt, but as Prodigy, Sheriff or Scout (at least if they have a trail name yet, that is). Everyone gets a new name specific for the trail, based on a funny story or characteristic. As it’s the start of the journey though, most people don’t have one yet, so it’s fun to think of trail names that might suit others.
I feel like it’s the small encounters with people, along with the awe-inspiring nature that make the trail so worth doing. In the evening, we made camp with Ivo, the first person I met who carries a laptop around in his massive backpack.
Tonight, I’ll have my first go at cowboy camping.