The next morning, I got some bad news. Boo Boo had a stress fracture in her foot and had to get off the trail. She and Hedgehog are going to Seattle for a couple weeks to heal up, then head southbound to finish their thru-hike at Walker Pass. I will miss my new friends, but the timing should work out that I can watch Boo Boo when she runs the Crater Lake marathon later this year.

I went back to Kennedy Meadows to spend some time with Team PRT. It was Dishcloth’s birthday, and there is a general store out there, but not much else, so I brought a cake from town.

If you ever want to get a weird look from someone, go to the bakery and ask for a cake that says “Happy Birthday Dishcloth”. Works every time.

Day 1 at Kennedy Meadows had me bringing Manchurian, Hoop Dreams, and Peter Pan to Ridgecrest for the day. We resupplied and they picked out gag gifts for Dishcloth, including a sheer skirt and a championship wrestling belt, which apparently he has to wear and carry with him for the next several days.

We stayed up until midnight, sitting around the campground and talking. The next day, four of us went back into town, where Dishcloth caught up on his 78,000 birthday emails and texts and facebook wall posts.

By the time we got back to Kennedy Meadows, Robin was there waiting for me! I took her to town to celebrate our 12th anniversary a day early. We stayed at the Carriage Inn ($75 - most expensive hotel since Banning!) and I took her out for steak. The next day, she took a zero, and we went back to Kennedy Meadows to pick up Tears and take her to town to enjoy the wonders of air conditioning, forks, and roofs.

They got back on the trail the next day, and now I’m in Bishop, hanging out with Lion King again for a couple days. He’s been my “PCT tour guide” and has been in the right places to show me all the good hiker places as I get to new towns.

Robin & Rachel are in the Sierras now, I won’t see them until Saturday, where they have to hike off-trail for a day so they can get to town to resupply. I’m planning on sitting at the trailhead at Onion Valley road for a few days this week. It’s a long hitch, and hikers will need some help getting to town. Can’t wait.