Day 68

Zero day - Mammoth Lakes

Today I woke up feeling so much better. I woke up a couple times during the night, but  I was able to fall asleep right away. 
Today was a solo day of town chores and adventuring. 
First I walked to the grocery store to pick up some food for myself for the day to save money not buying restaurant meals. (I also bought my tramily a cake and balloons for their arrival tomorrow as a surprise) 
Then I got a hitch from the grocery store back to the air bnb to drop off my food. 

Following that I got another hitch to the trolley stop which would then bring me to the village part of town so I could explore there a little bit. I bought my magnet of course and a town shirt as my rain jacket was way too sweaty and hot for today’s temps (laundry was currently being washed) 

Then I hopped on a random trolley and rode it to see where it would take me. I ended up seeing a bunch of mammoth lakes (not the town but the lakes themselves) met some more thruhikers, and enjoyed a random 1 hour ride. 

I got dropped back off where I got on originally and then started my walk back to the air bnb. It was a long walk though so after I went into a few stores along the way (gear shop, toy shop, bakery) I got back on another trolley and rode that as far as I could before I had to hop off to walk the rest of the way to the air bnb. 

During that short walk I saw a woman walking towards me that looked like she could be a PCT hiker. I asked and she said yes. Then I quickly followed up by asking if she had a place to stay and if not if she wanted to split the cost of my air bnb. She agreed and then we both turned to walk to the air bnb together. 

Then I got another two hikers to join us so we could offset my cost a lot thankfully. 

I chatted with them for a couple hours swapping stories and such and then retired to my room by 8:30pm to relax and be alone again. 

It was so empowering to solo explore a town again. My town shirt I bought was a shirt I would have never worn before and I felt so confident and happy in it. 
What a great day! 

I did end up getting a blister from my crocs and the heat though… note to self… wear socks with crocs for town or just wear my hiking shoes.