Day 29, May 16: Mile 395 to 418
Start: Mile 395.2
End: Mile 417.5
Miles: 22.3
Ascent: 4210 | Descent: 4645
I woke up totally exhausted and out of it and packing up was a bit of a struggle, so I left last out of camp. I crossed Angeles Crest Hwy several times while hiking alone. I caught up to Amazon briefly on the trail at the 400 mile marker- woohoo!
I made a brief stop at a spring where I met a guy named Boogie Time, who smelled intensely like patchouli. After hiking some more by myself and feeling pretty meh, I came to the next water source, a small stream with some algae. Delicious. It had some shade by it and G and Amazon were there, relaxing. I plopped down with them and also met a friendly guy from Switzerland named Spinewalker.
After chilling for a bit, I continued hiking and the ascent was hot, but I was marveling at how amazing a cool breeze feels. Absolutely heavenly!
I made it to Fountainhead Spring where my two friends were siesta-ing, plus two others I didn’t know but had seen on the trail. It was not a great siesta spot as there really wasn’t anywhere to sit, and we were all sprawled out directly on the trail. Pretty soon, tons of people started showing up and it got really crowded, so the three of us decided to leave.
After hiking not very far at all, I caught up to G and Amazon who were laying back down in a much better siesta spot under some pine trees. We should have just continued on from the beginning. Oh well.
After a short second siesta, we continued hiking on. My feet were hurting a lot, the sun was beating down and I was struggling mentally, so the last 4 miles to camp were particularly difficult.
I made it to camp on an exposed ridge line where Amazon and G already were set up and hiding in their respective shady areas- Amazon against a bush, G with his sun umbrella. I was in a terrible mental state and I wordlessly laid down next to Amazon, and had a very slow time coming back to life. I ate food, sipped water and massaged my feet slowly. I finally felt a bit better and after a while, set up my camp next to Amazon and led her through a simple yoga routine before we retired.