April 28, 2018
465.9-478.2
So cold!! I put some DoTerra Deep Blue on the bottoms and sides of both feet and on my leg where most of the pain was yesterday. I also prayed a lot.
As usual, I don’t remember much of the day, only that I fell behind and Alias hiked with me most of the day. The terrain that day had been fairly easy and I was able to enjoy my surroundings a little more as we hiked into town. I was also experiencing less pain than normal, which was definitely a good thing.
We reached the road to Green Valley by 1pm and got a hitch with a young couple and their toddler. Turns out they are huge fans of Jay’s YouTube channel and were ecstatic to run into him on the trail. They were very kind and took us right to the door of the Heart and Soul Cafe, where we met up with our trail family and tons of other hikers. Everyone was excited to be done hiking before the worst heat of the day, sitting on a shaded patio eating burgers and milkshakes. It felt like a celebration.
After lunch, we walked the few blocks over to Casa de Luna, home of the Andersons. Pretty much all they do is open up their property to hikers for the season. When you arrive, you have to give Terrie a hug, choose a Hawaiian shirt to wear while you’re camping there, and hike back to the very back yard and pick a tentsite among the manzanita trees in the “Magical Manzanita Forest”. It’s a veritable maze back there, but we all managed to find decent spots even if we were a little spread out from each other.
As you wander into the Magical Manzanita forest, you’re greeted by lots of fun painted rocks decorating the trailside and the branches of the trees. Some had inspirational quotes or lovely paintings, some had jokes or cartoon characters painted on them. It really did feel kind of magical as I wandered along the maze of paths until I found a lovely little flat spot somewhat secluded among the trees.
A hiker named MC Camel threw down his things to cowboy camp nearby and we chatted as I changed into my fancy Hawaiian shirt and sleep pants. I’d already taken off my shorts and replaced them with my comfy black leggings and was standing there in my sports bra before I realized that I’d just started changing in front of a complete stranger. And what was more striking was that I didn’t really care. He was also changing his clothes and seemed completely unperturbed by the whole thing. It was kind of fantastic, to just be completely disconnected from these civilized conventions.
Terrie and her husband, with a band of helpers, prepared a taco salad buffet for all the hikers, and I had two plates!! I’m not sure why, since I had a ton of food and I’d be getting a mystery resupply package from Mom AND my highschool bestie once I reached Hikertown. I’d probably end up mailing a lot of stuff ahead.
After dinner, the Andersons put on some fun dance music and everyone had to do a little dance to earn their 2018 PCT hiker bandana! It was tons of fun.
Even though hiking that day hadn’t been terrible, once I was settled at Casa de Luna I started feeling anxious. It felt like I was holding my breath waiting for the next debilitating bad thing to happen. Particularly, I was vigilantly waiting for signs of a returning UTI. My period was also about 9 days late but that was just annoying more than anything. I’d been praying so hard that God would cure me, that He’d kill the bad bacteria inside me and protect me from both liver disease and from this drug the hospital prescribed for me. I was terrified that if the UTI returned I’d have to take the drug, and if I experienced even a hint of the side effects listed, it would be the end of my hike or perhaps worse. But there was nothing I could do but wait and trust that whatever happened would happen for a reason, as the old saying goes. It was out of my hands.
Sarah Hikes 
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