Days 42 and 43: Life at Grumpy’s

Miles hiked: Zero

Mile Marker: 703.4

*NOTE TO READERS*

Thank you to everyone who reads my posts! I’m so grateful to have you all follow along this journey with me.

This past week, we woke up at 11:00 pm to climb a mountain, and I got behind on my blogs.

My blogs may be a little infrequent over the next week until I have time to catch up.

Thank you again for walking the trail with me!!

-Katy aka Tailwind

We have two zeros at Grumpy’s Bear Retreat.

The first day I wake up at a surprising 5:55 AM. I slept in pretty well! I head down the fine dirt path to the restaurant and am surprised to find Dad, Bumper, and Lucie already there!

It’s quiet for a while, and I grab an old sleeping bag from the hiker box. As eight o’clock approaches, the line to breakfast fills up. This older guy cuts in front of me. Most people have been mindful of who has been waiting the longest.

Not this dude.

Mike, the guy who works for Grumpy’s and is always the one running around, waves at us through the window. I pretend to bang my fists against the window. Mike imitates a monkey.

Good talk.

Everyone is lined up when Mike, the blonde haired guy with a bun sticking out of the back of his cap, slowly opens the door. He pokes his face out to look around dramatically at the line, then retreats back into the restaurant. The lock clicks.

A minute later and he opens the door.

I feel like I’m at summer camp again!

I order a burrito and the others get a plate of sausage, hash browns, and eggs. They get a pancake almost as big as a bicycle tire!

We hang out for a while until lunch, where I finish Lucy’s vegan chilli that tastes like curry. We wander down to Triple Crown store, a trailer that holds all things hikers may need.

I already rented my bear can and am picking it up here. I wish I’d just bought one. I have a discount for bear cans for writing on The Trek.

Oh well. It will be easy to drop this one off because the store at the end of bear can territory will just take it.

Upon returning, we have an extensive conversation about microspikes. We’re all sitting around a round table. Do we need them? Do we need an ice axe?

Rafiki calls his friend Captain America who has just finished the trail. Captain is from Tennessee and has a slight southern drawl that immediately reads as a friendly person.

Captain, from the other side of the phone, says we don’t need the spikes.

Savannah’s mom has already bought them for us, and I personally still want to keep mine.

“Whatever Journey does, I’m going to do,” Bumper says.

“Do what you need to do. Don’t follow my dad. He’s been doing this stuff for years,” I say.

As Dad says, it’s not good to always follow others out here.

We also decide as a group that if someone gets elevation sickness, we’ll all descend until we can go up again.

I really hope no one gets sick.

We’re also discussing some big miles.

I really didn’t like the 25-mile days. We’re thinking to change to a seven day carry. That’s going to be pretty heavy.

The day drags on in the hot sun, where we sit around on benches and chats with our hiker friends. The sun begins to lower. Dinner is a salad with chicken and avocado.

I decide to watch a movie on the large TV with the extensive movie options.

“You always tell me I’m a party pooper and don’t want to have fun,” I say to Rafiki. “I’m going to my tent to change and I’ll be back for a movie.”

Well.

I get to the porch and something is already on.

Love Island.

If you don’t know what this is, it’s an incredibly cringey show where perfectly plastic Americans are trying to make a love match with one another. And get kicked off of the show if they don’t get a match.

“I want to know what the average IQ is for these contestants,” Luxy says.

“Who picked this?” I say to the couple next to me.

Whoops. It was the person I said that to who that picked this.

Luxy, Rafiki, and I giggle and comment on the stupidity of the show.

“I feel like my IQ is dropping by watching this!” Luxy says.

Yeah. Me too.

The girl who picked the show says, “I know! It’s so cringy but that makes it so good!”

The three of us laugh as we walk back to our tents. I just wanted to have a fun cozy movie night! However, this show — the cringiest show in the world — did make for a memorable night.

The next day is a repeat of the last. I have the overwhelmed feeling of how on earth I’m going to pack my bear can. It takes me a few tries, but I end up donating some tunas to make everything fit.

Our first two days only need to have our food hung, so I’m counting on that.

Rafiki has a new outfit, different from his distinct red button up shirt and boxy shorts.

Now he looks like an endurance athlete, and we’re not letting him forget it. It makes it worse that he misses his red shirt, and contemplates keeping it!

We grab a shuttle to go to the general store. I chat with an older Australian couple for a bit then order some food.

“I think we should all have a voice in how we feel about this next week,” Luxy says. “I will go first. I think we should go in seven days.”

We’re all sitting around a wooden bench. I agree with Luxy. I want to slow down and don’t want to be rushed. It’s decided. We will get another day of food and hike this leg in seven days.

We play Cards Against Humanity while we wait for our food. Mine and Lucie’s come late, so I wrap it in its paper and we hurry to the shuttle. I eat most of it while I wait.

Soon, we’re all packed into the van like sardines, sitting atop one another. I don’t know who I’m not touching. I have my feet on the people in front of me, both of my arms resting on other people, and I’m leaned up against Dad.

We all laugh and giggle while we sit. This is way more people than we had on the way over here!

We pile out of the van like bugs out of a hole.

We hurry over to Triple Crown to make some purchases for an extra day of food.

The afternoon is filled with conversation with my niece and nephew. Richy joins me, and we tell elaborate stories of starry night skies and rattle snakes. My nieces eyes are as big as pie plates as we talk.

Later on, I take a shower in the tin-walled shower with a stone floor. The water is warm, so when a breeze comes I am freezing! Dad passes me some soap from the shower over.

I deal with some itchy feet while trying to do some foot care — my feet are a disaster. I have pricks in them that are permanently scarred with dirt. The bottoms of my feet are like plastic from all this walking. My old blisters have calloused and now collect dirt on the sides of my heels.

Rafiki shares his pizza with me and Luxy while I wait for that lady Katie (the American living in New Zealand) to return. She’s flipping a fuel can for me since I gave her some tunas!

Our group plays a card game to end the evening.