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Trail Angels (D-3)

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That's Bad Santa and he is one of the many trail angels who help out thru-hikers out of the kindness of their hearts (both in PCT & AT, and other long distance trails in US).  Today was my lucky day: after having a hearty pancake & coffee breakfast provided by Hoosier Daddy & his team (another set of trail angels - see last post), I was ready to take my first break after 2+ hrs of hiking in the already-hot sun and the break happened to be an overlook point on a highway. Just as I set down my backpack, Bad Santa drives up & calls out "Trail Magic". He offered up soda, water, chips, oranges, and even beer 😄.  The Coke that I had never tasted so refreshing! And the orange that I kept and had later at 4 pm was the same.  Everything tastes better when you are backpacking 😋

Today's hike was relatively easy, as it was mostly downhill.  The sun was still a factor though. Ended up after 22 miles at a nice campsite and met fellow hikers from New York, Germany, Finland & Chile (needed one from Africa to cover all the major continents).  I have met a lot of fellow hikers but none for more than a day - everybody's pace is different, esp at the beginning.

Thick & buttery pancake b'fast by Hoosier Daddy & his team at Mt. Laguna campground

The trail (left) crosses many stream beds, almost all of them dry by this I time of the year in the desert section

 This was weird! Suddenly came upon an elaborate memorial to somebody who didn't even seem to connected to the trail

And there were more too in this short section of the trail

Anybody wanna pose on these nice big rocks on the top of a mountain for an Insta pic? 😀

For my data-minded friends:

Comments

gopalam said…
Meeting people from different walks of life is the most fun part. One gets a new perpective of life .I am very happy that my classmate is experiencing all that and hoping to listen to all your stories soon.
April 22, 2022 at 10:16 PM
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