As I think about the live feed I made yesterday and where I’m able to stay last night it reminds me of something I wrote in Idyllwild. I was at the movie theater and there was a hiker sign in book, and it asked the question ‘what have you learned so far?’ I wrote;

Never Underestimate:

1. The kindness of strangers
2. Mother Nature
3. Yourself

As I sit in this beautiful ‘compound’ for us hikers made for maximum relaxation, with free rides to and from the local towns restaurants and grocery store, the first point couldn’t be more true. And it doesn’t stop there. Hikers helping other hikers with food, water, money, encouragement; random strangers offering their houses as places to rest ( many more than just this one! ); trail magic; hitches; etc.

Mother Nature has thrown rain, snow, desert heat, poison plants, snakes, cold nights in the desert, high wind, and this is only Southern California! I still have more to see! 

All that Mother Nature threw at me, getting lost here and there, waking up early ( ugh! ) setting up a tent night after night and finding a spot to put it, putting one foot in front of another continuously uphill, eating even though you’re not hungry, and yet, as you saw, I still have a Big smile on my face!! 

Life lesson? Maybe, maybe not, but it sure is true for me right now on this trail. 

• PCT