May 24, 2018
00.0
I finally got to enjoy a relatively slow morning at Scott and Jennifer’s before we set off for Ridgecrest. Saying goodbye the second time was even harder. I felt like I’d acquired a set of trail angel parents in addition to my current trail parents (and my real parents, whom there is no replacement for, of course). This comforted and bothered me at the same time. On one hand, I was so very thankful for all these people who had been supporting me so much along the trail, but my pride wouldn’t let go of the fact that I was a 30-something adult who shouldn’t have needed the comfort of such support. Wasn’t that why I’d come out here as a supposed solo hiker? To do it all on my own? I didn’t know anymore.
What I did know, and what I told Sparky and Ghosthiker more than once during all the miles I hiked with them, was that I would not have made it past mile 200 without them. The knowledge and experience they shared with me, their unending support, their dedication to sticking together as a trail family, all these things and more literally gave me the strength and determination to keep going. I know for a fact I would have quit early on if I hadn’t decided to hike with them.
Any free time I’d had over the last several days was spent organizing all of my stuff into boxes to either mail ahead or mail home. We stopped at the post office in Ridgecrest where I unburdened myself of packages, Ghosthiker returned the car, and we stayed at the Motel 6 again. I put on my pack for the first time with all my new gear for the Sierra and was surprised by how manageably light it felt. We’d heard that the storms up north seem to be over and people are heading up into the mountains to continue their hikes, so we’re all pretty excited to get going. Although not so excited that we were going to skip spending a day in Lone Pine, which we’d totally missed on our first visit. Ghosthiker used her retired police officer’s discount and scored us a sweet deal on a room at the Dow Villa Motel for tomorrow, a place in Lone Pine that came highly recommended by Dixie of Homemade Wanderlust.
No photos today. Sorry.
Sarah Hikes 
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