Today it’s my birthday!
I’d like to take a moment to thank all my friends and family for all the kind words and birthday messages I received today! It made me feel great, and was highly appreciated. Many thanks!
After packing up my stuff I contemplated heading out straight to the trail. But then I figured there’d be no harm in going out for a birthday-breakfast before crushing miles again. So I did. Around 1000 I quickly got a hitch out of town and made it back to the trail-head. The exact moment I hit the trail again I heard people approaching from the South. I had this gut-feeling. Could it be…? And sure enough, out of the woods walked Pops & Jukebox! Yihaaaa, friends reunited again! What a great way to start the day!
After about 5 miles we got of trail again to check out this local attraction, the Burney Falls. These gigantic waterfalls spring out of the rocks and supposedly would make for quite the sight. There were a ton of people, and at the store we got some nice refreshments, ready to take a nice break from the heat. That’s where we met up with the Canadian family too. There were a ton of other hikers there, including Peach-man, Free-wheel and BooBoo, who I’ve only met briefly during the early weeks on trail. All of us gathered and relaxed in the shade.
Jukebox initiated Happy Birthday, and all the hikers sang to me which felt great!. Afterwards we hiked down the 0.3 mile to the base of the falls and leaving our packs behind. The air from the water crushing down from the wall towering above us was cool and very welcome.
Breaking for almost 2 hours at the falls was plenty of time, and we got ready and headed out. It was now the hottest part of the day, and the heat had gotten pretty bad. Most of today’s afternoon miles would be uphill too. I put my earphones in and listened to podcasts as we slowly progressed, the warmth wrapping around us like a warm blanket. All of us were having a hard time and ended up hiking through the night for at least an hour. The vegetation and bushes surrounding the trail had gotten out of control, several times we were bush-whacking our way through it, hardly able to see the trail underneath our feet. Fortunately we made it to a clearing where we found some nice open spots to pitch our tents. It was quite windy, but after the long hot day I didn’t mind. I lay down on my tyvek for a moment, looking up at the dark sky. And then I saw the most amazing shooting star, traveling an immense distance before fading out.
It was a pretty cool birthday present and I made my wish.
We had dinner and I shared some pies with Pops and Jukebox before we all collapsed in our tents. Twenty-nine years, and on trail; it has been a good day.
Been talking ’bout the way things change
And my family lives in a different state
And if you don’t know what to make of this
Then we will not relate
So if you don’t know what to make of this
Then we will not relate
Rivers and roads
Rivers and roads
Rivers ’til I reach you
Rivers and Roads – The Head and the Heart
