Needs CheeseApril 1, 2022

Along with the troubles and pain of the trail, there’s always a bit of magic. A couple of days back, at a junction, a woman popped out in front of us. She had a bag with a liquidy yellow gruel she was eating. Her trail name was The Giver. She was pretty much a full time hiker. She had hiked about four hundred miles from the north, and when she finished she would head to California and hike the PCT again. She asked to take a picture with us. She takes a picture with everyone. So of course, we too wanted in. She had a tag sewn on her shirt that said “footprintsforchange”. When I looked it up yesterday, I found her Instagram account. It’s really fascinating.

When we arrived last night there were three hikers and a biker at the campground, I mentioned I’d lost my glasses, one of the guys said, check the hiker Box, there’s a pair in there. They fit! After two days of misery, I have a perfectly good pair of shades.

We walked to downtown Patagonia for breakfast, and to retrieve our food package from the PO. It’s a small town stretching about four blocks on one street. The storefronts are brightly colored and cutesy.

Because it’s small town the hikers and bikers that came into the diner filled the place. Our shuttle driver from Monday retired here because real estate is cheap, it’s quiet, and the birding is great. Also, the politics are liberal.

Back at the campground, we were trying to get a move on it. But after four days on trail, we had business to take care of, showers to take, a food box to pack and clothes to wash.

I called Diana about the next drop. I had asked her to sign my name on a document and send it to a company that needed my “wet” signature. When I asked how she did on this forgery, she said the only writing sample she had of mine was the “needs cheese” I had written on the food box. So she copied “Needs Cheese” as my signature. There it is my new trail name.

We didn’t get on the trail until two. It started on a gravel road that narrowed to a small rutted dirt road. Since leaving Miller’s Peak on the first day, we mostly been hiking with cows and going through gates. When it was time to pitch our tent, we found a nice flat spot. All we needed to do was clear the cow pies. Needs Cheese