Recuperation - Monday, May 19

"Its been a quiet week in Lake Wobegone, my home town."

                  -Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion

"Its been a quiet day in Twin Pines, my adopted Trail Town."

                   -Chuck Caley, PCT 2014

It was a quiet day, as it should be when recuperation is the goal. Sally had a chance to rest her ankle and foot for another day while I recovered from my battle with diarrhea.  

We awoke in our cabin, walked to the small store for eggs and hot dog buns and had scrambled egg dogs for breakfast.

In truth, that is about all we did all day. Eat a meal, read a little, watch Cosmos on the iPad, take a nap, walk back to the store for more goodies, walk to the post office, etc. Hot dogs for lunch and chicken noodle soup and saltines for dinner.  In a flurry of responsible behavior I fixed a leak in my sleeping pad, put shoe goo on the soles of my boots and washed our clothes in the bathtub using shampoo for detergent. 

The activity that I enjoyed the most from the day was watching the new Cosmos by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I found the visuals created for the show tremendous and was thinking how I would have used them in my classroom if I was still teaching. There were a few tidbits I picked up that I did not know. But most of all I kept comparing his presentation of the science material to how I presented it in my class. His show covers the topics I taught in my science and math classes. 

I found his presentation excellent … but felt he missed presenting key elements that help tie the material together. After watching about 6 episodes I vainly decided they should have consulted me before they started filming. I am sure I could have added to their script to make their points more clear. There is nothing like 34 years of teaching to dissect what non science people do and don't know, what their misconceptions are and the level of detail needed to have the concept hit home. 

Dave, our Trail Saint, offered to drive us back to the trail head tomorrow for us to restart our trek. He was hoping to get some early morning hiking in so he agreed to pick us up at 5:30am and deposit us on the trail by 6. 

Sally and I repacked our packs in the evening so we were ready for our early morning departure. 

My stomach felt well all day. I was not shy about what I ate and it responded well. Sally iced her ankle off and on while elevating it. 

By evening fog was bushing the tops of the firs and pines surrounding our cabin. All in all a quiet day. As it was supposed to be.

A quick update on our friends. Coyote, Crotalus, Far Out and Grasshopper are at Hiker Heaven, mile 456. All are doing well. Crotalus's ankles still sore, but improved. Coyote's feet begin to cry out at 15 miles but she's okay. Far Out has a condition we don't talk about in polite conversation but is treating it. They are all happily together. Backup and Horizon are across the Mojave Desert and near Tahatchapi. About mile 600.

All the kids on the trail are good looking and above average.