Saying Goodbye to OG Tramily Members

For the most part, I enjoy hiking alone. I love to jam out to music, take photos; literally smell the flowers and needles that surround the trail. However, resting breaks and camping for me are best shared with others. One of my favorite parts about long-distance hiking is that although I may share the same path as all of the hikers around me, everyone will have a different day. Getting to a break spot and chatting about these differences is always fun. Whether my buddy saw a bear a mile back when I saw none or if I had a great conversation with a day hiker who spoke to no one else, there is almost always a fun story to tell.

For almost 1,700 miles, I had the pleasure of hiking with my friends Belch and Organic: a couple I met from Ohio on day two. We crossed the desert together, made it through the Sierra, and had adventure after adventure at camp and in town. My tent was within 50 feet of theirs almost every night. Sometimes, people who knew us clumped all of our trail names together knowing that we are a tramily: Organic Belch Juice. Today, I had to say goodbye. The most common non-injury related reason to temporarily leave the trail is to attend a funeral or wedding. In this case, Belch and Organic are going to a wedding back in their home state and taking five zero days to do so. Even though I’m in no rush to finish the trail, I couldn’t justify taking the same time off. It’s my dearest hope that they’ll one day reach me again so we can continue our shenanigans, but until then I’m bouncing around with other familiar faces, like my friend Walrus, and enjoying meeting new people. Lately, there have been many southbounders, and it’s always nice to chat with them and exchange advice.

Tonight is my second night since the beginning of the trail camping alone. It’s not as bad as I once thought it could be. Being alone has plenty of benefits, like being productive and writing an overdue blog post, but I do prefer eating around a fire pit and laughing with other hiker trash about common topics like poop, food, and wildlife experiences.

Juice