Day 30
A zero day, as planned. The hostel had an unusual way of adding taxes after the quoted price — still under CHF 40 including plenty of food. The bed was slightly shorter than I am, which was mildly annoying. Otherwise fine. That’s about all there is to say about Day 30.
Day 31
The plan was to head back to the trail. Instead I spent most of the morning walking through town looking for better hiking pants. My current ones have a velcro adjustment on the side that cuts directly into my skin — right where the hip belt of my pack sits. After working through nearly every shop without success, I decided to head back to the trail anyway.
Then came the message: my package would arrive a day early. Since getting back from Lake Arrowhead would cost me roughly a day of hiking, staying one more night made just as much sense. Back to the same hostel. Ping-pong, reading, downloading music and books, eating. A slow day in the best possible sense.
Day 32
Woke up to a message saying the package was delayed by a day after all. Annoying enough to warrant booking another night. Then, later in the day, word came that it had actually arrived. No idea what happened with the logistics — but by then it was too late to start hiking anyway.
The day’s culinary highlight, if it can be called that: Mac and Cheese. For a Swiss person, this is not really cheese. I find no flavour whatsoever.
Day 33
Packed up the bag first. With over 100 miles to the next proper resupply point, there was a lot of food to carry. I don’t know exactly how long this section will take, but it’s not one to start underprepared.
At the post office, the solar panels were actually waiting for me. My power bank still has enough charge to get going, so I haven’t tested them yet.
Back on the bus, then two miles on foot back to the trail. The day started hot, then pleasantly cool once the trail moved into forest shade. In the late afternoon I ran into a hiker from the hostel and we walked together for a stretch. He stopped a little earlier than I did — I wanted to push on to a water spot for the night.
There I tested the new water bag I picked up in Big Bear. The idea is simple: a soft, compressible bottle-shaped bag holds three litres. Fill it, hang it somewhere, and gravity does the filtering while you set up camp. By the time the tent was up, the water had run into my bottle. Very happy with this purchase.
