CDT Day 101 (8/27/23)
Miles 2427 (Red line 2771.4)- 2455 (Red line 27994) (28 miles)
Verbatim
It was a pretty day out here. But also sort of nondescript. That’s not completely true I guess. But the day did sort of slip by. Here are some exciting things that did happen today! I pooped four times and almost pooped my pants on the fourth one. I was just trying to pee!!! Before the third poop I had butt chafe. I’ve noticed that if I’m having any, any, I mean really anything down bellow I should try pooping. Usually the problem goes right away! I’m running out of toilet paper already and it’s only the second day out of town! I took a lot of TP from that town bathroom as well! Anyways. Four poops. I also saw some Stellar’s Jays! They were my favorite bird on the PCT. Maybe they’re migrating? Or do they live here? There are definitely signs that summer is over. The bushes are reddening, and the fireweed is on its upper and last bloom. There was another beautiful escarpment to walk under this evening. Truly magnificent to see the folds of the earth. And finally, I didn’t see another human soul today. The only signs of people were the trail, its footprints (Altras), and the planes that fly overhead. What do animals think of the noise of planes?
Post Note
I really do think Stellar’s Jays are beautiful. They have black bodies with a deep sapphire blue crested neck and head. I am a sucker for sapphire blue ever since I got a gameboy advanced and bought Pokemon Sapphire as my first game. I can still remember the shiny blue box with Kyogre on the cover. The way the translucent blue game cartridge clicked into place and shimmered on the back of the gameboy. Magic. So Stellar’s Jays are the literal best. On the PCT (much more pleasantly beautiful that the CDT) you walk through towering forests in Oregon and Washington where the Stellar’s Jays flit from branch to branch. They sparkle as they glance beneath the shafts of light which slip through the tree break. The Stellar’s Jay I saw this day on the CDT (the first I’d seen and only one I have a specific memory of) was broken down and probably dying. It looked extremely unkept, couldn’t fly for more than a few feet at a time, and cawed desperately for help. Stellar’s Jays have an awful sounding voice. It was really sad. But I was happy to see it anyways. It felt like home. Felt like I did.
I’m laughing thinking about the way I was running out of TP on day two of a stretch. Apparently I had procured more toilet paper at the bar while in Augusta. I wouldn’t have expected to run out on day two of a stretch if I had. But I wrote about it so apparently I did. I didn’t remember it when copying down the handwritten journal onto this webpage, but now a memory is coming back to me. I was at the bar talking to a Montanan native who was making me really sad because of how hard his life was. He didn’t have many teeth. He wasn’t really getting any service though was clearly there for a drink and some smokes. I’d sat outside to escape the loud dark interior of the bar and was really frustrated that now I was outside talking with someone. I didn’t have the energy to talk to him. And he was smoking while I was eating my pizza. I took my leave to go to the bathroom just to get away and on my way there realized it was a good idea because I needed toilet paper. There are so many things to manage on town days that it’s easy to overlook the simple responsibility you have to Robin Hood a prolific amount of toilet paper from whichever public bathroom you end up in. I’ve known hikers to take the last of a roll and then announce to the host that they ran out of toilet paper while using the restroom. hahahaha. Hiker Trash. Tip well, I guess.
So I entered the bathroom and then realized that the door didn’t close flush with the floor. It’s one of these old bars with western styling. So the door had rustic wood that hung down in jagged edges beneath the flat bottom of the door which was suspended two or so inches from the ground. With the shadows of the unlit bathroom upon approach I hadn’t realized until I’d entered the bathroom and wondered why it still sounded like I was in the same room as everyone else. So, I tried to roll out my allotment of privately sponsored public toilet paper as quietly as possible. I didn’t take enough evidently. I suppose I was trying to keep my pack weight down.
That fourth poop was necessary and not particularly comfortable. But things were better once it was over. I was exhausted. I’d had to wait until a stream crossing to poop this fourth time because I was walking without water. I got a whole liter of bidet water, to compensate for the fact I had very little TP to use, from the stream and then didn’t walk 100 yards away from the river before digging my hole. I walked far enough though, trust me. After I was done I came back to the stream and collapsed onto my backpack. The ONE, and only, upside of all the plastic in my pack was hope comfortable of a back rest it created. I laid there for an hour just watching the wind in the trees. I ate a little. Drank a little. Eventually I got up and walked again.