Days 142-144, Flipping Again

Bluejay liked this idea, so she arranged with Yogi for a ride back to the trail. They left at 6:30 this morning.

In the meantime, Yayy contacted a trail angel for a ride to Ridgecrest. Amy picked up Yayy, Jaws, Pathfinder, and me at 7:30.

Our first stop was a restaurant for breakfast. Then Pathfinder left to rent a car for his drive home in Oregon.

We were unable to check into our motel rooms until 2 p.m., so Yayy, Jaws, and I filled our time first doing laundry. Then we walked to the post office and a grocery store.

When we learned our rooms didn't have WiFi, I decided to pay for just one night. I figured I could find another motel with working WiFi tomorrow.

It felt a little odd to be in Ridgecrest again. This was the third time I had been there on my hike. The first time was when the Woohoo Crew arrived at Walker Pass on Day 51. We returned again on Day 54 after reaching Kennedy Meadows.

I mentioned this in a message to the Woohoo Crew, and Falls made me laugh with his reply.

"Have you gotten an apartment yet?" he asked.

I attempted to make resupply plans for the next part of my hike, but it was cumbersome without WiFi.

During that time, I received a text message from Bluejay. She said she hiked 26 miles yesterday. This was good news because it meant she could finish late this afternoon. I planned to meet her at Walker Pass at 5 p.m.

I checked out of my room at 10 a.m. and walked to another motel to check in. This one was $5 cheaper and had WiFi. With better internet, I was able to plan the resupply stops in Northern California.

The rental car was ready at 3 p.m. I then filled it with gas and drove to Walker Pass. I arrived a little early, and Bluejay arrived shortly after 5 p.m., as planned.

After she got cleaned up, we went to the same Mexican restaurant I went to with the Woohoo Crew the last time I was in Ridgecrest. This town wasn't big, so there weren't many restaurant options that weren't franchise chains.

Our drive to Medford was an all-day trip. We ended up extending that with stops at two REI stores in Sacramento.

The second one was necessary because the first one didn't have shoes in my size. As I had done before entering the Sierra, I decided to start with new shoes instead of having difficulty replacing them in the middle of the section.

I was also able to buy a sleeping pad to replace my leaky one.

We finally arrived in Medford around 11 p.m. It was a tiring trip but not the kind of tired that comes from hiking. That will happen again tomorrow when we return to the trail.

Twenty-six miles of Oregon remain to be finished. Then we'll be back in California one more time, the last time.