The kindness of strangers

Miles: 13.5 + 1.2 off trail
Start time: 7:32am
End time: 3:35pm
High / Avg / Low temp: 95.3F / 85.3F / 58.2F
Relative Humidity Avg: 16.5%
Injuries: new blisters for Matt

Today started off with a wrong turn at albequerky, costing us 30 minutes and 1.2 miles, as well as some good spirits and shade, the sun started beating on us really early today.

Overall it was a hot one, but not without respite, after 5 miles a pct hiker from last year, had setup trail magic, such for the uninitiated is a happy surprise when you desperately want something, in this case it was cold drinks, fruit, beer for the brave, shade, it was awesome, I just snuck some water and a cold powerade, Jocelyn sunk a beer and a banana, and after some talking with the other folk caught in this hiker trap we carried on. We had nine miles to do after all.

All on we went, into the heat of the day which given our water rations wasn't an easy thing, but we made it to our end point, weary and thirsty, and lo and behold a, stranger again offered us kindness and a ride to the town we were going to hitch too, saving us a wait in the sun and giving us much needed air con, so good, his trail name is ghost, and he is awesome, good company and gave us a tour of the town before dropping us at our destination.

Carmens, a restaurant that is so very generous to hikers, a free beer, free water and soda, and free space to sleep, stuck in a town fully booked is priceless.

So tonight we'll try to recover and think about what we need to do tomorrow.