Day 88, July 14: Zero in Quincy
Start: Quincy - Mile 1267.9
End: Quincy - Mile 1267.9
Miles: 0
Ascent: 0 | Descent: 0
It was so nice to wake up slow in a bed. After enjoying the luxury of playing on my phone, I managed to get myself up and get to a coffee shop nearby. I met up with Squirrel Daddy there and got an iced vanilla latte and a hot and crispy sausage breakfast burrito, yum.
My objective for the day was the normal town chores, and to rest my feet and blisters as much as possible. After breakfast, I went to the local toy shop, where they give out free double (!) scoops to PCT hikers. I ended up chatting with the owner, Matthew, for quite a while. He was super friendly, and it turns out we had lived a mere block away from each other in Los Feliz at the same time, and then he moved to a mile or two away from my parents’ old home in Altadena for another year after that. Small world!
After enjoying my mint chocolate chip/plain chocolate cone, I got a ride to the other end of town to visit the laundromat. As I washed all my clothes, I was very happy to have AC while I sat in my hot and sticky rain gear. After that, I went back to the ice cream shop with Squirrel Daddy so he could get his free cone as he had not joined earlier, and he played some of their guitars for a bit. Then, he left town and I headed to the grocery store for my resupply. The walk over was very hot and sapped all my energy.
After I was done shopping, I was sitting outside, playing on my phone and avoiding the hot walk back to my motel. Another (non-hiker) girl with a broken leg looked like she was waiting for a ride, so I asked her if she was heading the direction I needed to go. She wasn’t sure, but said she could ask her driver when they got there.
The driver arrived and said no problem, I could hop it. It turns out the two girls were in an 8-week forestry program through UC Berkeley, and they had their final the next day, which included chainsawing and cutting a line in the forest, I assume for fire management or trail maintenance? Either way, it was awesome to talk to them! And I was very grateful for the ride to avoid the heat.
Soon, I walked to meet up with Marshmallow for dinner. She had made it into town and we first went to the brewery, where we were planning to eat. We ended up sitting next to Lost and Found, who we’ve seen on trail off and on, and she invited us to come meet up with her group, including Jive Turkey, Slapshot and Lucky Charm, at a pizza spot nearby. None of the food at the brewery sounded good so we joined them there. I had a ribeye, and afterwards walked to my hotel and fell asleep, again, in a glorious motel bed.