A "zero" day is defined as a day when no hiking is done. You walk a total of zero miles. Today was one of those days.
When you are in town, there's always talk about the trail among the hikers. At this juncture, there's a lot of discussion regarding water availability in the next section. There is also a lot of talk about the weather since another storm is coming tonight and tomorrow, bringing rain and snow.
It was odd getting up this morning and taking a shower! I wasn't even dirty. I headed out for breakfast at the Village Grill restaurant, since they open at 5:30.
The western omelette with country potatoes was delicious.
I then returned to the motel and remembered that they had a free breakfast buffet. So what did I do? I had a second breakfast!
And, since I will be getting back on the trail again early tomorrow morning, I took a breakfast sandwich, cinnamon roll and a banana to eat early tomorrow morning.
Back at the motel room, I laid out my food plan. I need to buy 6 more days of food since I already have a day of food. I calculate that it will take 7 days to get to Kennedy Meadows.
More Cowbell and I headed to the Albertsons store which was about 1 1/2 miles away. I found everything I needed and came back to organize it.
I managed to cram it all into my food bag and then packed everything into my backpack. It feels heavy, but it always does when leaving town with a full load of water as well.
Before noon I was hungry AGAIN! Gee whiz, will I ever get enough?
I managed to take a nap for an hour until my stomach told me it was lunch time. I wanted to try a hamburger from the Burger Spot, but when I got there it was closed. So I walked down to the Apple Shed and had their huge hamburger and potato wedges.
It has been showery since noon, so I was glad to be wearing my rain jacket. We might even see snow tomorrow since the trail takes us over 6,000 feet.
More Cowbell came in at 4:30 and said we were invited to come over to the hot tub next door to relax with some other hikers. I was hesitant at first, but More Cowbell said "come on, live a little", so I went. I am so glad I did! Although I didn't have any official swimming trunks, my black underwear served just fine. The water was wonderfully warm. While we were there, it was raining and then hailing! We all had hail stones in our hair.
Afterwards, More Cowbell and I had dinner at the Village Grill Restaurant.
As always, I feel apprehensive about returning to the trail tomorrow. Perhaps it has something to do with leaving the comfort of the town? Or maybe it has something to do with the "adventure"!
