Day 19

I awoke at dawn. The temperature was warm! When I got out of my bag I didn't need any additional clothing. I knew it was going to be a hot day so I packed up my stuff quickly and got an early start. Because I had extra miles the day before I only had 6 miles to go. The 6 miles went easily in the cool morning air.

 When I got to Scissors Crossing I hung out under the bridge for a few minutes in the nice cool shade. Before I could pull out my map and figure out which way to the RV Park, a fellow named Ed came under the bridge and offered to give me a ride. He is a retired gentleman and he spent the day shuttling hikers around. Well, that was my first hitchhike and it sure went easily! I am eager to keep hiking but I know that I need to rest my body so I spent the day at the RV park sleeping in the shade and swimming at the pool! They are very nice people here and extremely hiker friendly. One woman gave me two fresh avocados and a couple of oranges. I bought a lime and made guacamole for dinner.

The big tourist season is over for them right now and it was very quiet here. Ed says just a week ago it was much greener but now everything is brown and dry. Strangely, as I was napping, I heard the sound of a weed eater! There is absolutely nothing to weed eat here. But upon investigation I discovered a man weed eating the dirt around the bases of trees. Go figure!

To deal with the extreme heat in the middle of the day I am going to rest most of the day tomorrow. I will leave the trailhead about 5 p.m. and do some night hiking. I should be able to make the 15 miles to the third gate water cache well before midnight.  I seem to have rejoined the trail during a lull in hikers. It is much less crowded than the first time I started. The people and businesses that I am meeting along the way agree that the number of hikers has dropped way down. This is just how I like it, so my injury must have been divine intervention!