7 ish miles 
Slack pack day 


Today I had to wake up super early because Abel had to drive to Agua Dulce to drop off hikers around 7am. So 6:30 wake up for me. 
 

I got dropped off and started hiking by 7:40 ish.
I made it in record time because I jogged a bit and got to the other road by 10ish. What a luxury hiking without the heavy pack haha. 


After I got a massage and then went to Walmart for resupply. 


Abel picked me up from Walmart and we went back home and I took a nap.



Then I made dinner for everyone (Mommy Dinner I called it since I was a kid)


We watched a man named Otto…. I cried my eyes out. 


And then we chatted a bit and I went up to bed to be alone for a bit.


Tomorrow I hit the trail again :) 


I can’t wait! 

10.3 miles hiked/6 hikers seen  

Today started out with me sleeping in till 8 because I slept so badly last night with my tent malfunctioning again.

Around 9 I started hiking. I came across a crap ton of poodle dog bush (look it up if you don't know what this is) and I was super worried. I had to walk very strategically to ensure I didn't brush against any of it. 

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, my clumsy self tripped and fell into it on one side while I was avoiding it on the other side of trail. 

So of course as soon as this happened I started to freak out and hyperventilate and cry. I made a post in a trail angel group and someone commented they can come get me and get me to the town to rest while I wait to see if I get any symptoms. (Fingers Crossed)

The bail out point was a forest service road approx 4.5 miles from where I was so I got to hiking and called my momma to calm me down.


When I got to where the trail meets the road I got a message from the person meeting me that the road is blocked with a gate and they can't get through.. so that meant an extra 3.2ish mile walk to get to her at the gate. My feet were already hurting from the rough terrain today so I felt a little more defeated knowing I had these extra miles ahead of me. 

I thought to myself, "nothing I can do about this tho, I need to get off trail so I have no other choice except to hike these miles" and I got to trekking. 

Near the end my hip was starting to hurt, but it was just achey and not a sharp pain. push through Alyssa.

Once I got to the truck Megan offered me some baby wipes to wipe the poodle dog bush off my leg and we started driving to Tehachapi. 

Around 3 pm we met Abel and he drove me into town (my amazing trail angel who I stayed with last year and said I could stay with them this year despite the fact they aren't hosting other hikers till their exchange students leave in June. So I am incredibly thankful to Abel and Kim)

After I ate some enchiladas Abel came back to pick me up and take me back to the house so I can shower, do laundry and relax.

I gave Kim a big hug once I arrived and then got unstinky and put on some hiker loaner clothes while I did laundry. 

Then I met their exchange students, two very sweet girls.

We ate stir-fry for dinner (yummy) and chatted a bit before we all went to sleep. 

I couldn't sleep well again. I don't know what it is about being indoors right now with sleeping but I can't seem to get to sleep nicely.

4.12 miles hiked/ Solo Camp


I woke up around 7 and then told myself to go back to sleep for a bit. Then I woke up at 8:30 and started to get ready for the day. 
I packed up my gear, confirmed I had enough food, and then ate my left over tator tots and spicy Mac and cheese bites from the night before. 
Yummy.
 
Around 10:30 I started hiking. 


I was planning on 4-7 miles today depending on how my hip does (this morning it ached a bit).


However the weather had other plans. 
It was very foggy suddenly while hiking. Started about .7 miles into the day. 
And it started to get very very cold and windy too. 
All uphill today too. Type 2 fun. I very much enjoyed my day hiking today even when it was windy. Hiking through the eerie burn zone with fog was a cool experience. 
Around 3.4 miles in I started to feel the occasional drop of rain on my face and I hate the rain haha. 


When I spotted the campsite at 4.12 miles around 1pm it started to pour on me. I started to set up my tent but the wind was so much I had to change tent spots…. And then again. 


Third times the charm right? 


I decided to get warm and dry and wait out the rain and wind for a while. However it continued for 4.5 hours and I decided by then that I should just stay out for the night and wait till tomorrow :) 


Now it’s almost 7 and still incredibly windy so I haven’t moved out of my sleeping bag except to pee haha.


It’s weird how I’m barely hungry still. I hope that changes soon because I assume that I am under eating. So sometimes I force myself to eat when I don’t want to. 


I have service tonight so I’m doing Q and A’s on my Instagram and watching a movie till I sleep :) 



Tonight the wind is so bad that it’s pulled out the tent stakes 4 times so far… it’s almost 4am. And I had multiple rocks over them… make that 5 times now. Fuck my life honestly. I’ve barely slept tonight. 
......
6 times. 5am. 

4 miles hiked 
 
2.3 miles until I felt pain in my hip today. So I think I’m slowly getting stronger? Hope so haha.
Today I think I am going to get into town and charge up and resupply :) 
I like the idea of having my hip rest on a bed that doesn’t deflate during the night….. yeaaaa I’ve realized my pad is deflating throughout the night so that sucks. 
Thinking if I can get a bathtub in a hotel maybe I can find the hole and patch it? 


I still feel good. I feel content out here. Sometimes I miss the comfort of being in my own home and of course my family waiting for me to come home after I finish. But I know I will be home when the time is right. 


I’ve only cried out of sadness once since being out here, and honestly if I didn’t have the exterior factor of being wetted out I doubt I would have cried. 


I’ve cried of happiness a few times though. I’m starting to feel like myself again. I am starting to think about how I can keep this feeling I have of myself when I get home after trail. Last time I started to lose myself again. I don’t want that to happen again.
 
.....


Okay so plot twist. 
I took two hitches to get into this little town and Google lied, there wasn’t a hotel. 
So that’s rough. Now I need to figure out what to do next. I was so excited for a bed ya know? 


......


Okay okay, so I found a family and they took me in for the night. Super amazing people. They have an ostrich farm so I got to see like 15 ostriches getting fed today. 
We chatted and then I took a nap. After the nap we talked some more just about everything, life, comedy, movies, mental health etc. We had a few drinks at the restaurant in town and took our food for take out to bring back to the house to the kids to eat :) 
Then we half watched a movie and then half watched a stand up comedy show while we were chatting away till like 10pm. 
I finally decided to retire to sleep :) 


Tomorrow back to trail :) I can’t wait! 

6 miles hiked/ First night camping with other people (like 10)

 
Made it 1.33 miles before I started to feel any pain in my hip! So that’s a huge win. Everyday I’ve felt pain almost instantly. 
I’m feeling good. I almost want to make it 10 miles today to Green Valley but I know I should not do that. I have had a couple people pass me while I was at camp and I told them to yell at me if they see me at Green Valley. So that will be another incentive not to go farther then I planned today. It’s weird I felt the pain as soon as I started going downhill, last year I only hurt on the uphills. Interesting 


After my first rest I didn’t feel any pain until another 1.5 miles. 


However then the pain didn’t stop. So I’m a little worried but I know everything will work out :) It was an easy day besides that.
The trail provides. 


Today was a good day though. I met a bunch of people who I probably won’t remember their names haha 


Tonight I’m camping with like 10 other people. I socialized for a bit and then I decided to retire to my tent and be alone. 


I hope I can catch my first sunset on trail today. I have been waiting for one to show up.
....

I got a little baby sunset as it was mainly hidden by the mountains.