We caught Shade five minutes after we broke camp this morning. We had apparently not yet arrived at the Creek when we stopped last night. We laughed about it and ended up leap-frogging with him throughout the morning. I-80 hummed its unmistakable Interstate tune from down the trail and before long we snuck under the massive four-laner via the narrow hiker/horse tunnels leading to the craggy peaks on the other side. The wind howled and threw sand in our faces as we came to Donner Pass and settled in to wait for the trail angel taxi at around noon. I had dialed the wrong number first off, so when I called again and got the answering machine, we worried that we had missed them altogether, that they had driven off to Reno for the day to play slots and that we might end up sitting in the half deserted, windy-as-all-hell parking lot of the ski academy all day long. I fell asleep for a moment or two on the hot blacktop, grit and sand stinging my cheek and bikers passed by every ten minutes, nodding over to Eliza who sat off in the roadside sand bundled up in her windshirt against the hailing stones.
Before long, however, Hellkat pulled up in the Pooh Corner mobile and we were saved.
The rest of the day has been typically slothful and relaxing. Bill Persons, aka Pooh, is a retired computer guy, and an AT vet from '96. Doing this is his way of pitching in and giving back in response to the angels of his own through hiking experience.
The house is gorgeous, situated on Donner Lake. There is a climbing wall in the living room, two computers for hikers to immerse themselves in the Internet as much as their hearts' desire, stocked fridges, cold beverages, kayaks, sail boats, the works . . .
We are stuffed and desserted. It is a quiet evening, each of the four hikers here off in his own corner reading or scrolling away in cyberspace.
Tomorrow it's back to the trail, of course. We are looking forward to hiking and to taking our break. Not to mention everything else . . .
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