May 23, 2018 Merry Meetings

Granny Hat is thankful today for family, in particular the southern California family! Sister-in -law Lori Miser, niece April Souseley and her kids Corban and Abigail drove out to Cajon Pass on Interstate 15 and met Mission laden with lovely, fresh, healthy fruits and veggies, a picnic from heaven.  He was so encouraged! And it made my granny hat heart glad to have loved ones checking up on him and getting photos.  Because this is how Granny hat pictures Stephan on the trail:

Thanks to April I know that he looks like this (photo credit Corban Souseley):

Mission fulfilled the traditional trek through the Golden Arches on I 15.  Most PCT travelers hike in one door, eat their fill and then exit out the other at the MacDonalds that is right on the trail. This is a very important and non-negotiable tradition. Stephan has been eating mostly plant based on this adventure but he succumbed to social pressure and consumed 1 triple by-pass, 1 double by-pass, 20 chicken McNuggets, 2 chicken strips and four drink re-fills.  (Granny Hat feels a trifle sick.)  I knew he was probably hungry but I had no idea!  Good thing that was followed up by fresh watermelon, vegetables and hummus.  April’s husband and sous chef also sent cookies, a win win Ryan! Bless you!

Granny Hat loves these photos, some funny desert drama:

Mission has made some amazing progress as my map shows.  He is north of Mt. San Antonio in the Los Angeles Mountains.  His GPS coordinates as of this publishing are 34.36661, -117.69496  Yesterday, Granny Hat sent out his fourth re-supply to Agua Dulce, Hiker Heaven, more about this interesting place when we get Mission’s full report here at Mission Control.

Mission has promised to send some of his photographs as well as his PCT journal entries so please keep following, interesting stories are forth-coming.  He has seen more rattlesnakes, a tarantula and one night was sure he heard the rattle of a viper or maybe it was the low growl of a bear, but it turned out to be nothing more than a distant train rumbling along the tracks.  This was before the fast food buffet of yesterday, maybe it was hallucinations brought on by hunger.  Or the call of civilization.  Mission says he loves being up on the mountain crests above the highways and train tracks.  His campsite views are breathtaking! He is getting accustomed to his wilderness bedrooms and the sound of the mountains at night.

So here’s to merry meetings and partings on the trail!  Happy Trails to you, until we meet again….

“The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet until it joins some larger way,

Where many paths and errands meet and whither then? I cannot say.”

J.R.R. Tolkien