5/28/2017: Camp Glenwood 400.6 to Dirt Road 424.9

We stayed up pretty late eating Brats the night before so we slept in until 6 a.m. which is luxurious for us. I was out of my tent pretty quickly and decided to make a quick coffee to get my bones moving. I had one Starbucks via from the trail magic right before Spencer’s Cabin. Sherpa had a few sips and we quickly packed up our stuff said goodbye to the friendly folk at Camp Glenwood, Storm Trooper, and Energizer Bunny.

The hiking wasn’t too eventful hiking wise, just the usual deserty vistas, snakes and lizards. What was striking was the amount of trail magic we encountered. It was kind of insane and we started to think maybe we are on a very luxurious trail. Within 2 hours we ran into a section hiker that said someone was giving out trail magic about a mile ahead and soon we came across a sign at a trail split put there by the Sobohobos. The split was the first of its kind that we have noticed where the horses were supposed to go to the right and hikers had the option of going either direction. The trail magic was down the horse-pedi-path, my new word, we followed hand drawn arrows to a campsite next to Sulpher Springs Trail Camp.

We could tell right away that we were going to like this crew. Not just because they did the AT in the right direction, south, but because they were just really kind and funny. They offered us pancakes, beer, and burgers and of course we accepted. We are really caring people and don’t want to offend so we ate it all and had 2 beers at 9 am. There were four people hosting the trail magic: Barrel Roll, Moosey, Handy-J, and What’s His Name. Really I don’t remember his name, but he was really nice. Barrel Roll and Moosey were both previous thru-hikers and Handy-J and What’s His Name are soon to be long distance hikers. We spent a good amount of time chatting with them and a Couple of Nuts (Walnut and Pecan).

After we had our fill of fun and conversation we packed up and offered to help carry some of the gear out since they were planning on leaving soon. They asked us to help carry a stove and a big blue tub. The car was about .6 from their site on trail. It was mildly tough but we were happy to help and it was on our way. They also asked us to take a beverage for the road. I took a Natty Ice because I am classy and Sherpa took a Dr. Pepper because she is intelligent and motivated.

After we left them we hiked another 10 miles and of course came across another trail magic stop at the Mill Creek Fire Station. Beers and amazing Baritos! Brenna informed us that this was turning into a food blog and I am starting to think that she is right. Apparently we are walking in search of free food all across America’s Pacific Crest. They were exceptionally delicious with egg, chorizo, cheese, and beans. Pretty unbelievable. All the hikers there were hovering under the thinning shade of a porta potty and it was all there was for miles. We met some new hikers, most notably we met a really funny couple named Magellan and Turtle.

They were hilarious and we immediately had a friend crush on them. They were going a little slower because of some shoe issues but we seriously talked about slowing down just so we could hang out with them. Good times were had by all. We hung out for about 3-4 hours until around 5:00 p.m., Sherpa cooked some dinner and then we hit the road. We were hiking through a section that was recently closed because of a fire and poodle dog bush. It turned out to be a really beautiful evening hike. After a steep climb we walked along a ridge through pleasantly overgrown trail and watched the sunset. Sherpa had me walk in front for a while to watch for poodle dog bush as she claims I am a little better at identifying it. A likely story. We had a great time chatting together and hiking in the cool air.

Along the way we ran into Energizer Bunny camped on the hill. We also found Malibu’s painters cap laying on the ground, so we bagged that and chased him for a few miles. When we finally caught him he was facetiming with his wife and he was really excited to have his hat back.

After about 3 miles after the poodle dog detour junction we found a flat spot on the trail at a dirt road. It was nice and cool because it had a very tiny underground stream next to us and the breeze was channeling down through the narrow valley. We threw up our tent, I made a quick ramen, and we went to bed. The moon was beautiful, the sky was clear, and soon we were asleep like little hiker babies.