Castle Crags

Day 109: (17.2 miles)
mole 1505.4 – 1522.6

Up early as usual and out the door. The plan was to get a large coffee at the coffee house and hitch a ride to the trail head. Being early morning the traffic is high, even for this small town. However, two other hikers are at the freeway entrance hitching. They tell us they have been there for over an hour with no luck and we know this isn’t going to work. Remembering I heard about a possible bus I quickly went to work on my phone.  Yes, there was a bus in twenty minutes in front of the shopping center, $ 2.50. We made a quick walk and were on the bus headed for Castle Crags.

The bus driver, Michelle (he’s French), thinks the best he can do is get us with in a mile of the trailhead. Along the way Paul tells Michelle about our journey and they have an in depth conversation. I tell the two hikers that are on the bus with us, don’t worry Paul will get him to drop us off at the trailhead. Sure enough, Michelle detours the bus two miles farther down the highway to the trailhead. Thanks Michelle!! Today the trail climbs through  the Castle Crags State Park about 3200 ft. It’s hot… 90 something degrees, windless, and worse yet, I’m sick again. The past few days I felt good. I finish the ten day antibiotic for the big “G” tomorrow. However, apparently dairy products don’t mix with the G, and for coffee, I drank a large iced mocha.  My favorite, but maybe just a little too much dairy too soon. Now I’m paying for it…All Day!  My stomach is twisting and turning and the heat is awful. Needless to say I made a slow go of this climb. Our goal was to do 20 miles before camping. I could only get to mile 17. I tried to eat a little dinner, but still feel like crap. Did I mention it was hotter than crap.  In fact it was a trifecta of crap. Feeling crappy, hotter than crap and a crappy day-long uphill climb reminiscent of Belden.  Crap!  I hope tomorrow I’ll feel good again, and it’s just the heat.