When the Trail Provides

9:19 AM

Up at 5:30 AM. I’m awake anyway, so why stay in bed? I notice the campsite filled up with other tents overnight, but I barely noticed any of it. To keep the peace, I pack everything up and walk to a parking area with a picnic table. There I calmly check what food I still have. 🤔 That’s not exactly overflowing. I’ve got a few rolls left and some popcorn. Well, you have to eat something. At least I still have a warm cup of tea.

9:29 AM

The trail is fairly flat and runs mostly straight ahead. Within a few hours I had already covered another 15 km, but my thoughts are still all about what I should eat.

10:21 AM

It gets quite chilly at night, but you sleep well there—as long as there’s no draft. What’s really nice is that the mosquitoes are gone. What a relief to sit by a lake without being eaten alive!

12:09 PM

Why worry when you know that solutions usually appear once you let go? 🙏 Trail Angels are just setting up their spot, with tables generously filled with food for lunch: pulled chicken, pulled pork in buns, potato salad, coleslaw, pickles, cucumber salad, chips, bars, apples, oranges, and even more oranges—plus plums!

I almost burst from eating. Ohhh, my day is completely made. My gratitude to you people is enormous. 🙏

1:19 PM

🤣🥳 Walk another 2 km and there’s yet another Trail Angel baking pancakes. “Only unusual people are welcome,” he shouts. Well, I’m crazy as a door, because I’m hiking the PCT 🫨. “Then come wash your hands and take a seat in one of the camping chairs.”

I’m still completely full, but I still get two big pancakes with jam. There’s also a hiker box, so I scored some mac and cheese from that. I really don’t have to worry about food anymore—I’ll be fine for a few days.

My weight is another issue. If you know that I weighed about 85 kg and now I’m 73 kg with clothes on, then something isn’t quite right. I don’t actually feel worse because of it and I’m practically bursting with energy, but according to BMI I should weigh 72 kg. Well, I’ve basically reached that already 🥳🤣. With all this food and clothing, a few kilos will come back on. But it’s not the intention to end up at 55 kg; then I’d really have to get rid of all the healthy food 🥺.

5:48 PM

There’s a campsite and there are already quite a few people, so to be safe I take a free spot, because for the next 15 km there probably won’t be another one. I could keep walking, but if those spots are full too, it stops being funny.

I pitch my tent and, since it’s still light, I can fix my pants. I’ve been walking around for a few days with torn rain pants, and it’s starting to look pretty shabby. People stare at you, and the first thing they look at is down there. Hello, here I am 🤭. Luckily I brought needle and thread—leftover from my Waldorf school background—so I can repair the rain pants without any trouble. Well done 👏, if I do say so myself.

For dinner I make the mac and cheese. Yeah… what can I say about it 🤔? Just give me a few Trail Angels again tomorrow.

Total: 35.90 km in 12:02 hours
571 m ascent
741 m descent