We hitched out of the Budpharm and headed back to Wrightwood. Our driver was super excited that he got real pct hikers in his car and not people who only did a section. Coyote didn’t dare to mention that he was leaving in a week at that point. In the end, he even wanted a picture with us, as he was so proud of having met us.
In town, we had breakfast with Leah and Mermaid. Since we wanted to hang out with them a bit longer, we abandoned our plan of an early start and instead went for milkshakes. Leah had secured a software engineering job in Australia, which instantly peeked my interest. She said it wasn’t that hard to get and could perhaps give me a referral in the future, something to remember for way way further down the line.
A bit before noon, we hitched back onto the trail. Jive Turkey, Machine and Lost and Found were there and formed our companions for the day. Just before the big climb onto Mount Baden-Powell, Solemate joined the group. High Blazer sat at the bottom, bare chested, a gash bleeding bright red on his ribs. He climbed the mountain without backpack and then ran down, in order to feel like a bird, as he said. He’s a special guy.
We ascended the steep slopes of the mountain and the three of us enjoyed the view and our accomplishment at the top.
The evening light at our campsite was unreal and impossible to capture on photo.
