Mile 418.6

+ High: Andy picked me up!!!!
- Low: Leaving a group of people that I felt comfortable hiking with. I really enjoyed their company :(

Day 34

While walking for the past 2 days, I’ve been thinking of asking Andy to pick me up when the trail crosses the highway. I felt nervous about my knee pain. It was getting better, but I did want to check it out at doctor’s office. But I didn’t get any signal for quite a while.

Today the water stop is about 12 miles away at Mill Creek Fire Station. That’s where everyone was going to stop for a longer break to avoid the heat.

It was an another climb. It seems to be a pattern now. We stopped at night where water might be and it usually is at lowest point in the section. And we start the day with a climb back into mountains. It was brutally hot. Tiny stopped for a rest and I moved on with Taiwan Dale. Our pace was similar.

Over the hill I was thrilled to hear the beeping from my phone. We finally got cell signal! I made a very wise choice to call Andy right at that moment.

“Can you pick me up today?”
“Yep! On my way now.”
I was almost dancing down the hill after I called Andy.

The climb wasn’t bad. Down hill was a bit painful. It is always painful to me. We got to the fire station around 1:30pm. I reunited with Irene and couple other people. Everyone was resting in the shade and dry-showering themselves at the station. Bohica even washed his clothes. It was a running faucet, the most amazing thing you can get on trail! I washed my head and changed my clothes. I did not want to be too stinky for Andy’s sake. It was a really hot day. I was so glad that I called him earlier because, of course, there was no reception at the station.

Andy showed up at 2:30 with some treats for all the hikers. Oreo was running around and get a round of pats from hikers.

Tiny just arrived when I was ready to leave.
“Kay, are you leaving me?”
“Yeah... I’ll catch up with you later!”

You have no idea how happy I was to see him at the moment! I was jumping and running, and Andy didn’t believe me that my knee was injured. I admit that I felt worse mentally than physically. It was never a pleasant thing to walk with injury and not knowing what was happening with my body.

Oh~ Ventura! Here I come!