I’m going to do the same thing I did at Roosevelt Lake, which is to post about where I am today and see if it helps me get inspired to polish up some of the back blogs so I can post them.

A few weeks back I was blessed that a young woman named Kremlin whom I met while hiking the Continental Divide Trail hooked me up with a trail angel in Pine. Kremlin hiked the Arizona Trail before Covid hit and met trail angel Kate then. Kate has since stopped doing a lot of trail angeling but with Kremlin’s introduction, she welcomed me into her home. So again, with no prior planning on my part, I had something to make my stop in town easier and more enjoyable.

I arrived in Pine on a chilly overcast day about 3 PM after hiking 16 1/2 miles. I was grateful that many of those were easier than the miles of the previous few weeks.. My back has been bothering me because I did three 17 or 18 mile days with a lot of climbing back to back in order to reach water each night. I decided to take one shorter 12 or 13 mile day during which I stopped often to stretch my back. This helped alleviate the constant pain I was feeling in my back with every step I took and made those final miles into Pine more tolerable. I was really grateful that I arrived at my angels house before a huge thunderstorm hit. I did not want to be on a ridge with lightning, so I pushed myself not to stop much, and it paid off in the end.

Kate has lived all over the world and is quite the artist. She works with paint, she built wooden furniture, she makes quilts, and she’s done tiling, including a wall in her bathroom and the floor in her kitchen with designs inspired from places she has traveled to starting at a very young age.

Since here I’ve worked on fixing the zippers of my tent, which are starting to come apart. I picked up my mail resupply, figure out what else I would need and purchased some additional groceries for this next 77 mile stretch. I’ve done my laundry, showered, spread out my gear to dry, back flushed my water filter, charged my cell phone, my battery pack my flashlight, my satellite device and the iPad that I blog on. I cut my fingernails with my little 1 inch scissors, combed my hair, which gets done about once a week, washed my pot and cup and spoon as well as my pee jar which all only get a cursory rinse if even that on the trail. So you can see that town days aren’t all about rest, but it is great to have a space to be able to do all those things and feel more put together when I hit the trail again. Sometimes I’ve had to do these things sitting on the sidewalk outside a grocery store.

I’ve spent time visiting with Kate and doing some calorie loading. One of the more enjoyable jobs I do in town is to be in contact with my friends from around the country. It is also when I get to read the comments people have left for me on my blog. Once again I want to say thank you to all of you who take the time to read it and encourage me to keep hiking and writing. It really makes a difference to me and helps me when times feel tough.

It has been the perfect time to have a place to layover because the weather in sunny Arizona has been rainy, cold and a bit snowy. I heard that Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon area had more snow yesterday. Kate has invited me to stay as long as I want, which is a dangerous thing for a trail angel to say to a thru hiker. I don’t usually double zero but since I’ll be in Flagstaff about a week after I leave here I’m willing to take some extra time in this lovely home which will hopefully mean the snow will be a little less when I hit it.

I’ve crossed the halfway point and I’m holding up fairly well. I’m taking time to do some back stretches that a friend of mine in Colorado who was a trail angel on the Continental Divide Trail sent to me. I will try to get some blogs from this past week posted and then pack up and head out tomorrow morning. The next time you hear from me in real time I should be in Flagstaff more than 100 miles away. I don’t have anymore connections with trail Angels planned so it might be harder for me to post blogs without an in-town place to stay. I say this just in case you don’t hear from me for a while you’ll know why. Until then happy trails to all whatever journey you may be on.