On another hot day in NorCal, Tinkle and I were taking a break and filtering water when a couple of guys came up to us and asked if either of us was Madelyn. Apparently my wallet had been found without me realizing it was missing. A guy called Chill Bill had asked these guys, who were really fast, to ask ahead and try to find me. I left a note on a branch overhanging the trail so he couldn’t miss it, giving my phone number so we could meet up in town. When I got high enough to get reception, messages came flooding in from my sister Katy and from Chill Bill. Bill had been able to Google me and find Katy’s number somehow, I suppose. Go figure! To get into Etna, the next resupply stop, Tinkle, Stormtrooper, and I got a hitch from an 18 year old gal. For those who are wondering, hitchhiking generally wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. In every instance except this one. This distraught young lady had been driving nine hours to visit her friend after breaking up with her boyfriend, who was a Marine with anger issues and had cheated on her twice. We all learned this quickly after getting into the car. Careening down the one lane mountain roads, she told us all about it. I don’t think she understood that ONE LANE did not mean ONE WAY, as she hugged the inside corners on each hairpin turn. I expected to meet another car head on at any moment. However, we lived to see the town and I texted a trail angel named Cate.

Cate owned a bunkhouse for hikers, who could do chores in exchange for a place to stay. She had just had a couple of spots open up, so Tinkle and I quickly grabbed a couple sodas and walked to her  house. After meeting Cate, we received our assigned chore (deep cleaning the hiker kitchen and bathroom) and dropped off our stuff. We went to Bob’s Ranch House, a restaurant famous for pie shakes. This wonderful creation is just as simple as it sounds, a piece of pie blended with ice cream. After eating, we went to Dollar General (still the best resupply place) and stocked up for the next section. I called the necessary people on the walk back to the bunkhouse to catch up. We started our chores, laundry, showering, and cleaning. We borrowed dresses from the hiker box and listened to music as we cleaned. It was strangely very fun to be doing something normal, like wiping counters and sweeping. We talked to Cate for a bit, who said it wasn’t the first time she’d heard that.

The next morning, I met up with Chill Bill and reclaimed my wallet, then ate, then procrastinated, then tried (not very hard) to leave, then gave up and ate some more, then actually left to try and hitch. Two ladies in their sixties, Patty and Karen, offered us watermelon out of the back of their van. We talked to them for a bit, then they offered to take us back to trail. They were really nice, but I’m not sure they realized what they’d offered to do as we wound our way up, and up, and up the ten miles of mountain roads. When they dropped us off, they gave us the rest of the watermelon and a loaf of bread. We took our leave and got back to walking. That night, eager to eat the heavy bread and watermelon, we shared with another hiker, Slippy, who had butter! We feasted and had lovely conversation.

It was refreshingly cold that night and in the morning. We set off in a beautiful sunrise. The smoke wasn’t too bad, and the view of the mountains reminded me of the Sierra Nevada. On this nice morning, Piglet caught us! We chatted for a few miles as I tried to keep up with her. She pulled ahead, and I enjoyed the rest of the morning through lots of grassy areas with wildflowers and lovely views. Tinkle and I met for lunch near a lake. There were a few chipmunks around, who seemed to be getting dangerously familiar with our packs. Rodents, not bears or mountain lions, were what I feared on trail. A hole chewed through my backpack or tent would feel like a sort of violation. So that was why we threw rocks to scare the chipmunks away. I threw a rock that hit a chipmunk in the head, with a tiny, but audible knocking sound. I felt so bad at the time, but it didn’t seem to even phase the chipmunk.

I had some cool interactions with hikers over these few days; one of the nights, some guys shared their whiskey with Tinkle and I. One day, I’d picked up some electrolyte tabs and powder in a Ziploc on trail and had been looking for the owner. I finally found Blue, a hiker from New Zealand who was very grateful, as she’d been feeling the loss. It was really nice to be able to pay something forward for once.