Tabasco and I both slept in this morning until 6:30am to reward ourselves for our 31 mile day yesterday. It was cold and windy and felt more like late October than late August. We got on trail at 7:15am and stopped briefly an hour later to remove a layer of clothing. The trail gave us some more hidden PUD’s (pointless ups and downs) which were not revealed in the data book. About two hours into the hike we topped out at a large glacial cirque with a beautiful lake about 300 feet below us.
From there we began a very gentle descent, then finally a steep descent the last mile and a half to a paved road crossing at Etna summit. Yogi’s PCT handbook said that there wasn’t much traffic on the road, but that everyone gets a ride because the PCTA and the town of Etna have worked hard to promote the hikers to the townsfolk. As I sit here writing we, so far, haven’t had any hitching luck. It’s 15 miles to town; we have been at the road since 10:15am (now 12:26pm) and only 5 cars have passed by. The first car stopped but decided they couldn’t fit us and our backpacks in the back seat. None of the other cars stopped. It could be a long afternoon waiting for a ride. My cell phone isn’t getting enough of a signal to call a trail angel in town who gives free rides. More later on the outcome of our attempt to get a ride into Etna.
Well, I finally was able to get a phone call out to Big Mama/Snooks after I had tried in vain for over an hour. She kindly said she would drive up the mountain road to pick us up in about an hour (time was 12:40 when I reached her). I walked back down to the road and told Tabasco I was successful getting us a ride. A moment later a pickup truck drove by and stopped to see if we needed a ride to town. Funny how that works; we had been trying for 2 ½ hours to get a ride and had only seen 5 vehicles. Then the 6th one stops when we don’t even have our thumbs out. I told Tabasco to take the ride so we could get a head start on logistical town chores.
So I sat for an hour alone by the road and counted two more cars before Big Mama pulled up. The 3 ½ hours to wait for a ride really didn’t bother me at all as I had fantastic views of mountain wilderness and time to journal and time to read a book I’ve been carrying in my pack. I’ve also learned through self work how to really live in the present moment so I was quite content sitting and enjoying the time I had. Big Mama drove me to Etna and we had a nice conversation on the way down to the valley on that 15 mile winding, curvy back road. She kindly dropped me off and waited as I left my back pack at the Hiker Hut, a small barn like building on the property of a bed and breakfast near Etna’s main part of town.
I met Dave and Vicki, owners of the B&B, then Big Mama drove me to the library and dropped me off right at the front door. She accepted no gas money from me and I was very thankful that this trail angel made the effort to drive all that way just to help me. I got immediate access on the computer at the library, but was chagrined to learn that for the second town in a row (same county library system) I was denied access to my AOL email. I wasted no time leaving the library and stopped briefly at the town grocery for some chocolate milk (one of my top cravings when I get to town) and a candy bar.
From there I found the PO and retrieved packages and letters. Then I made a brief stop at the drug store/soda shop (just like on Andy Griffith show), then returned to the Hiker Hut a couple blocks from town. Tabasco was inside watching TV and had already gotten his shower and had been to the library. I got a nice hot shower; Tabasco handled our laundry in the basement of the B&B, and we watched live news coverage of the horrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. What a disaster! Sometimes we’re just better off in our little wilderness world, oblivious to all the bad news that permeates our homes when we watch TV.
Once laundry was completed, we rode our borrowed bicycles to town and had a great meal at the Trailhead restaurant and we picked up the movie, Constantine, to watch back at the Hiker Hut. Then we hit the grocery store for resupply items as well as a six pack of Sierra Nevada and some Etna Porter from the local brewery. We also bought our bottles of Merlot to take back to the trail so we can have a glass of wine with supper the next couple of nights on trail.
Back at the Hiker Hut, our evening was completed watching the movie and drinking beer and hanging out on the couch and easy chair. Couldn’t have been better, the little hut with 4 bunks and a bathroom, microwave, and refrigerator and cable TV/VCR was all we needed and we had it all to ourselves for $20 each, including a stacked fridge for continental breakfast tomorrow morning. It’s nice to be in quaint, tiny Etna.
Today’s weather: sunny, low 34, high 72. Today’s mileage: 9.2; cumulative mileage: 1,194.2.
