Day 12, 2022 - Etna, CA another Zero Day.

June 11, 2022

Runningbird’s bent pole on the truck tailgate.

Cloudy and cooler here today. Another great night’s sleep and waking to the sounds of the morning doves and a gentle breeze coming through the open windows. Evidently yesterday was the last day of school here and there is noticeably more activity about town. I have a hand crank coffee bean grinder which makes morning coffees a delicious with a great aroma in the trailer. We have power here so pulled out the toaster (which quickly set off the smoke detector) and made toast with the leftover country French bread from the bakery. Excellent with our over-easy eggs. Beau is on the grass outside the door with the cool breeze blowing through his “wings”.

Runningbird reorganizing for the next section.

Its nice being in no particular hurry and having nowhere in particular to go today. Runningbird showed me the pole she had broken while trekking through the snow. We didn’t bring any spares but she said they were long enough with the broken section removed and they would be lighter. Hmmm. She spent some time today reorganizing her pack for the coming days with the stretch of snow she would have to traverse over the 56 miles unsupported. It would be slow going. She spoke to her friends by cell (she calls them the Uber team) and they had gone that section before her. Usually they cover 30 miles a day and it took them almost twice as long for this section. Black Cap is from San Clemente, CA; Boomerang is from Germany; Bully and Yoni are from Belgium. They gave Runningbird plenty of good information so she knows what to expect.

We went into town again to the Outfitters to get more stove fuel and while there we met up with Coyote again. He had stayed in the city park where they only charge PCT hikers $5 to stay overnight. He was planning to stay in town a while longer hoping more of the snow would melt off, or the coming rain would help, the trail for an easier crossing.

We spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding mosquitos inside the rig. We read our books (Peggy’s book was borrowed from the Etna free library), did crossword puzzles, and after dinner we watched a BBC dvd ”Planet Earth” Hallie had given us for the trailer. It’s a six-disc set and of course we watched the chapter on mountains. We enjoyed hot chocolate and ginger snaps for our late night snack. During the night it rained pretty good and it was nice to be cozy and dry inside.