Carried by Kindness

7:11 AM

Around 10:00 p.m., two more hikers showed up. The next morning they apologized for the noise, but I was watching a movie, so it wasn’t a problem.

They packed up their gear and left again right away. I decided to take my time with breakfast first, because otherwise the mosquitoes get to me—and staying in the tent is still the safest place.

I know that today I’ll probably run into very few people—or actually no one at all—because everything is closed.

10:08 AM

After 15 km I come across a bench, and there’s even a bit of internet connection. That gives me the chance to check the locations of the wildfires. You can already tell from the reddening sky that something isn’t right, but when I look at the satellite images, I realize that I left at exactly the right moment.

10:27 AM

2:11 PM

The road is actually a bit boring, which makes it feel quite long. The air is still smoky, but it’s slowly starting to clear.

It’s dry here and there are no streams where I can collect water. I’m forced to filter water from small ponds, but it doesn’t taste very good.

2:53 PM

There’s a small hill in the trail, and finally I can look around a bit instead of seeing nothing but trees.

The smoke is catching up with me, which isn’t a good sign for the town where I was yesterday.

3:45 PM

6:26 PM

I have a trailhead in mind where I want to spend the night, so I keep going. On the descent I lose a water bottle and now have to make do with just 1.5 liters of water.

Along the way I catch up with the two guys from this morning, who warn me that there’s no more water further on. I want to keep going anyway, because I read that a water pipe has been installed.

At the parking lot there are two amazing people cooking for hikers. After 42 km I’m exhausted and get to rest on the couch for a bit. They give me soda water, a cheeseburger, a hot dog, melon, cucumber, pineapple, an apple, and for dessert two more sodas and cookies. That really hits the spot.

There are also two SOBOs there whom I’ve met before: the yoga girl from the hostel and someone else, though I keep forgetting their names. There are also two Dutch NOBOs from Friesland, hiking the most beautiful sections of the trail.

8:21 PM

I thank the Trail Angels warmly and wish everyone a good journey. I walk a bit further to collect water from the water pipe and to immediately walk off all that sugar.

It’s already starting to get dark, so I need to find a spot quickly. I don’t feel like pitching my tent with a headlamp. Luckily, I found one! 😁

Total: 46.7 km in 13 hours and 40 minutes
1,001 m ascent, 1,010 m descent