Day 15 – back on track (mile 96/211)

I was packed up and ready to go well before the 9am ferry from VVR back to the trail, having eaten an absolutely massive breakfast burrito after a chilly night’s tent-sleep. Realised I brought a lot of medical-contingency stuff for any strangers who might die in front of me… but not enough cold-weather wear for myself. At VVR I complimented a stranger on his forearm tattoo (a normal sinus rhythm cardiac trace) and he turned out to be one of the earliest LA-area paramedics. He told a few old tales of steel steering wheels and drunken Malibu actors, never asked my name, said “bye, Paramedic” as I wandered off. Medics are a diverse and fierce bunch, and I love being one of them. 

It felt like a long time (well, the 72 hours it was) since I got picked up from the ferry landing. A little over a mile of uneventful trail leading back to the JMT, and it was time to climb to Bear Ridge, massive burrito and all. At the top of the long climb, I sat on a log in the sun and almost fell asleep. A few years ago I was dating a farmer-beekeeper who worked as relentless hours as I did. On our rare mutual days off, we didn’t know how to relax and often mistook the feeling of relaxation for exhaustion. 

A mad hummingbird divebombed me out of my snoozy reverie. I hiked on, saw a red-tailed hawk on the wind. The trail continued, sandy. As is now traditional, I rolled my right ankle on the switchbacks down the other side of the hill. It felt tender, but I didn’t fall. My right foot is now, uncharacteristically, blister free. 

I crossed paths with some hikers I recognised from VVR, felt buoyed by their cheery conversation snippets. Pitched my tent and camped solo by a creek. Trying to care for myself somewhat, I almost-boiled water on my little solid-fuel stove, made “Cuban rice” in a bag and a metal flask of hot Red Rose tea. The latter went inside some clean socks and then my sleeping bag to work as a kind of hot-water-bottle overnight. This is a very British solution to the chilliness, I know. 

I slept incredibly well. It can be done. With tea.