The night continues to be dead silent – emphasis on “dead” particularly when, in the dead of night, I hear walking outside my tent. Slow walking. Step. Step. Step. None of the others are camped particularly near me, so my brain automatically interprets this as something trying to kill me. You’d think that’d make me spring up out of bed, alert and concerned, but my brain won’t let me move my arms or legs. Welp, I guess I’ve had a good run – I’m back asleep before I can think much else.
I’ve left the fly off my tent, so I wake in the morning staring at the tree-mottled sky. I’m a little spooked at first – one of the trees is leaning RIGHT OVER ME HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS BEFoh it’s just the seam in the mesh. I take some time breathing, relaxing, soaking it all in. A brief moment sans anxiety; I’m just an animal, man. An animal breathing deep under the trees and the mesh and the down of my bag.
Welp, that’s about enough of that. I’ve got a town to get to. Continue reading
Pineapple and I are up at the usual hour, but we take it slow this morning, enjoying the inside of the Peter Grubb Hut and the company of Six and Meer and the section hiker therein. We’re an hour later than usual before we convince ourselves to get a moveon, head out, do the thing. Continue reading
I struggle to stay warm all night, even with my leggings on, even with my wool Buff as a hat and my normal Buff as a scarf and my sleep shirt on. I probably need to wash my sleeping bag soon, I think, as I’m up for far too long in the middle of the night. When my alarm finally goes off at 4:45, it’s hateful to me, and I hit the snooze button and reset things until 6, when I finally rouse myself. I’m not looking forward to more mornings like this.
It’s easy to wake today since I’ve got a mission on my mind: CATCH PINEAPPLE. MUST CATCH PINEAPPLE. MUST HIKE HARD AND LONG AND FAST AND CATCH FRIEEEEEEND. I’m walking by 6:15. Continue reading
I wake pretty early, with a love-hangover from yesterday. I have the best people in my life. While I hear Bill and Kelsey rustling around, they tell me they’re just off to get coffee, so I decide to stay in bed. It’s not for long, though – Pineapple said she wasn’t trying to make it far, and I think, if I haul, I can catch her. I think. So soon enough, I’m up doing stuff – last-minute calls and texts and emails, and I’m sitting by the door by the time they come back with a friend in tow. Said friend is rad, and they’re rad, and it makes it hard to leave, but I have a lot to do today before I go. Continue reading
I wake later than usual, but neither Bill nor Kelsey seem to care, greeting me when I make my way into the living room and answering my questions about town with a smile. Pineapple texts me about breakfast, and my friends Butch and Harue text me that they’re on their way; as I walk my way to the bus stop about seven-tenths away, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have an excellent day.
It’s cold in the morning – the wind still thinks I’ll be lonely without it – so I cozy into my puffy before emerging into the world. Said wind is in cahoots with me, trying its best to mask the noise of my packing from my sitemate Lost and Found, who’s still trying to sleep. He’ll catch me soon enough, and I’ll probably see him in South Lake Tahoe anyway. Continue reading
The wind becomes gentler in the night, but never stops; I’m restless, tossing and turning and waking up even before my alarm goes off. I’m the earliest up in this group, too, sidling out of camp before the others are really moving. I cross the nearby Wolf Creek, and make my way up to the Asa Lake junction. Continue reading
I always feel like I’m the first one up. Probably because I am – everyone else is faster than me, and I feel like I need the headstart to get a-goin’, make it… somewhere. I don’t know what everyone else’s plans are for the day, but I’ve got that itch in my soul. I should’ve been gone yesterday, but this morning will have to do. Continue reading
Brown Girl on the NST 