April 23 -- Day 6 -- My trail angel wings

There has to be a special place in heaven for people like Jan, Scout, and Frodo (and other trail angels). I can't begin to tell you how much they do (and how much money they spend!) transitioning hikers to the trail. It's just incredible. And now I'm officially one of them, though merely an apprentice.

At 6 am, I took Ryan and a bloke from England, who was aptly dubbed the Mad Hatter, to the trail. Hatter talked a blue streak, but he was rather interesting. He's been working in the Middle East for many years repairing commercial GPS equipment. He had also lived in the Philippines for awhile and had tales from that adventure, as well. He had spent the last two years traveling the US, looking for a place to settle. He decided to build a home in Oregon, I believe he said. So he's walking home from here. He was rather intense, but it made the 75- minute drive fly by.

We traveled through snow at 4000 feet, and it was cold at the trail head, but it was already turning into a beautiful day. The rain was gone, and the sky was clear. It was absolutely gorgeous. I bid Ryan farewell at the border and was a bit sad. I'm still struggling emotionally with my decision not to hike the trail. There was so much excitement and nervous energy from the herd of hikers leaving. They all seemed so thrilled to be there, and looked forward to the many hardships they would encounter along the way. It will be interesting to follow their journals this summer and see how they fare.

The Mad Hatter wanted to go to Lake Morena campground and start his hike on Sunday morning, so I drove him there and checked in with the kickoff organizers. It's a very large park, but was already filling up with people. Tents of every size, shape, and color dotted the landscape. There would soon be many, many more. I walked around most of the day, running into people I had met at Scout's and Frodo's. All were doing well, but had tales to tell from the last two days of hellish weather. Again, I struggled emotionally for most of the day, feeling disconnected from the hikers, since I was no longer one of them. I'm still sorting out my emotions from all of this and can't say that I've found peace with it yet. Everything is a trade-off. I didn't want to be alone on the trail, but I'm going off alone to drive around the country. In exchange, I get the security of a vehicle and the luxuries of running water and flush toilets at campgrounds or motels. Hopefully, I will meet some friendly, interesting people along the way. I think this is the best decision, but I will struggle with it for awhile.

Around 5 pm, I drove back to San Diego to pick up another hiker at the airport. He had contacted Scout and Frodo at the last minute, and they were not able to help him, because they would be at the kickoff, so I volunteered to shuttle him out to the kickoff. He was a young personal trainer from Dallas, who was in between jobs, which made it a good time to hike from Mexico to Canada. After stops at two stores for provisions, I dropped him off at Lake Morena at dark and drove back to San Diego to stay with Jan (and her husband, Jim). I had left that morning at 5 am and didn't get back until 9 pm. I had been driving for four hours, so I was exhausted, and went straight to bed. Tomorrow should be an interesting and busy day, as well.