Back down south…

Day 49 – The Silver Bullet had us back to the Andersons by the afternoon where we had a happy reunion with Terry & Joe and Doug. We also met some more hikers – Burning Daylight, Indi, Stinky Butt, Get Out and Mr. Chips, who we’d hiked with the very first days on the trail. It was great swapping hiker stories over Terry’s taco salad before entering the Magical Manzanita forest for sweet sleep. The next day, Day 50, we enjoyed delish pancakes, said good-bye to our new hiking friends who were getting an early start on the day, and then hung out with the Andersons while waiting for our food package to arrive.  Dan helped Doug & Jo fill up some water caches and a fellow Virginian hiker, Chase, arrived in the afternoon. Boots, as it turned out, had just left the Andersons the day before we arrived there, after having spent 17 days in Hippie Daycare. Thankfully the postman delievered our package around noon and we headed back out into the HEAT of the day. We ran into Get Out at the Red Carpet Cache and then camped in the gorgeous grassy meadow of Fish Creek. We didn’t miss the snow, but goodness was it hot!

Casa de Luna!

Day 39 - We met 2 thru-hikers – Mosa & Boon – as we left Hiker Heaven that morning. Then Anna got a migraine and it got unthinkably hot. Talking about our first days of school (middle, high, uni) distracted my pounded head a bit, but it was miserable hiking in the blazing sun with what felt like a jackhammer aimed at my left temple, so we only hiked a measly 10 miles.

 

Day 40 - The next day I was feeling a bit better but my mood REALLY improved when we spied a curious site in the bushes nearby. There was a small fake skeleton hanging by a branch, a pink flamingo standing by a cooler filled with cold drinks and a furry parrot perched in a tree. The whole oasis was in a little cave-like shady spot walled and ceiling-ed by low arching trees and we knew it must be an Anderson cache! We sat in the lawn chairs set up and enjoyed a refreshing Cactus cola as our excitement grew about arriving at Casa de Luna, home of the Andersons, Trail Angels who lived just over the hill. Terry & Jo Anderson run “Hippie Daycare” for hikers. Yes, it’s true, 2 amazing trail angel locales are located a mere 26 miles apart from each other.

We had met the Andersons briefly at Kick-off and were pleasantly surprised when they remembered us as we pulled up to their yellow house. A whole “lunatic lounge” are was set up in their driveway and their neighbor Doug gave us the grand tour of the Magical Manzanita Forest (with lots of prime camping spots), the house and extensive yard.

Doug also served as a tour guide as we went around all of Green Valley. We visited Jay, a metal worker who does awesome art and had just finished doing work on Johnny Depp’s house, saw strange rock houses an eccentric older lady has had built and searched the 2 general stores for sourdough pretzels for Dan.

Back at the casa Terry & Jo entertained us with hilarious tales of how they met, how they started hosting hikers and different pranks they’d played on hikers. We also met Boots, “The Ultimate Trail Hiker.”  He’s quite a character. He hiked 1,500 miles of the PCT last year but had to stop because of an injury. He’s planning on trying the whole thing again this year but after the first 20 miles had been distracted by various computer work & entrepreneurial ideas, and had been hangin’ at the Lunatic Lounge for a few days. Every day he says he’s leaving to hike, but gets sucked back into “the vortex.”

We also met thru-hikers Josh & Wendy, who arrived in time for Terry’s famous taco salad. It was delicious… we stuffed our faces and then went back for more. Wendy is tall & skinny and is carrying a 70 lb pack! I couldn’t even lift it. Josh is carrying a bit less, but still, I don’t know how they’re managing!  We had a great night chatting and stayed up way past our bedtime before finally retiring to the Magical Manzanita Forest for some deep dreamless sleep.