The Legend of the boston mUle
With yesterday’s extra miles, and essentially just a road walk to get to 84, I was in no particular rush to get moving. So I slept in a whopping half hour. I had thought about moving slow and taking my time, but before I knew it I was packed up after coffee and ready to go.
Roger That had planned to go into Santa Fe, so I left him a note that I’d meet him at “Big Eddys Take-Out” a few miles up the way.
Let’s just say, I’ve never felt like more of a city kid... as I rolled up to Big Eddys, I realized it was a large eddy in the river, and a take-out spot for kayaks and rafts... aka a parking lot with a bathroom and trash bin, and most definitely no food. I felt a little foolish, but hey, most of what I dream about these days is food, so it’s par for the course I suppose.
I waited around there for an hour and a half or so for Roger That to arrive, but started getting a bit roasted in the sun as there wasn’t any shade, even though there was a nice rock to lay out in and hang. Eventually, I pulled some duct tape off my pole and wrote another note to leave along the trail so RT knew I would be waiting along the road.
A couple short and easy hours later, and I was on a busy road. The older crew had rolled passed while I was waiting, and planned to hitch into town. By the time I got there, they were all gone and I was happy to see it might be fairly easy to get a hitch. If I could at least save Jesse a drive out, it would make me feel better asking for a ride back to trail. However, as I approached the trail spot along the road, I noticed Jenga was there. He had rolled passed me early this morning as I was drinking my coffee, and I was surprised to see him still there.
The trail did a little wonky pull off the dirt road about a mile before 84, and I had missed the trail turn off so just followed the road to 84. It seemed the older crew had as well (I had been following their foot prints). It was about a mile along 84 to reach where the trail dumped out from the dirt road. It appears the three of them had gotten picked up and passed right on by Jenga, who had likely been there for some time before.
Ironically, as I approached Jenga, someone rolled right to Jenga to pick him up. 100 yards or so away, the fella backed up and offered to bring me into town as well! Well now, I didn’t even stick out my thumb or had gotten to the spot where I was going to hitch from, and I already had a ride.
While excited and gracious, I declined the ride as I didn’t want to leave RT hanging, and silly ol me didn’t get his number to text him, even though I said I might try to hitch in prior to the 3ish time period when Jesse would roll up. Not wanting to go back on my word or leave a hiker behind, I just hung out and waited for him. About 45 mins later he rolls up and we start hitching.
We didn’t have a ton of luck, although after about 45 mins a fella stopped off to offer us some food and water. Food we declined (headed into town anyway) but water we happily accepted. Then he offered us a beer and we jumped on that pretty quickly.
At about 1:30 (30 mins before Jesse was finishing up with work and planning to head over to us) a pickup truck stopped for us and we hopped in the back. He was only going to Espinola, but at about half way I was happy to save Jesse a bit of driving.
I love riding in the back of picks up, even if it might be a bit dangerous. Especially at highway speeds on single lane highways. But hey, it was fun and we made it safely. Unfortunately, not fully to Espinola. There seemed to have been an accident up ahead, and the road was closed causing a reroute. The driver said it would probably be best for us to hop out there, so I texted Jesse to update him on our whereabouts.
Quite literally in the middle of nowhere (and later told one of the prime locations for hand offs of drugs being smuggled into the US from Mexico) we hung out under a tree and waited. There was a gas station 1.5 miles back down the road we came, but by the time we walked there (about 30 mins) Jesse woulda been there to pick us up. So we waited.
Finally, a truck rolled around the bend with an awning and big ol’ tires. Before I could even see the driver, I knew it was him. He pulled off to the side, handed us each a big bag of chips and a couple Gatorade’s, and we were on our way to Santa Fe!
There was only enough room at the Sant Fe Hostel which Jesse works at for me, so RT booked a motel nearby. We dropped him off and then we headed to the hostel. I had a private room ready to go, did my laundry, showered, and laid flat for a moment. What a glorious feeling, to be on a soft bed in the shade and clean, in clean clothes.
RT was wiped from the day, so Jesse and I went to a local brewery to eat dinner and have a few beers. I had a few beers, and a few dinners. The waitress was confused when I ordered my second meal as she thought she already brought our food out. The endless pit of a hikers stomach. With fresh green side salads, cheeses, breads, a Philly cheese steak AND hamburger, all the delicious food sank into the black hole which is my stomach happily. Then we went back to the hostel to sleep. And sleep I did.
Lauren was off to Aruba in the morning, so I kept my phone next to me so that I would wake up when she had made her way to the airport. I had maybe twister her arm a bit to say she was off, as she didn’t want to wake me (with the two hour time difference and her early flight, it was about 3-4am my time). Happily, I woke to a little text, and exchanged a few brief messages between falling back asleep (a couple times). Regardless, I slept like a baby in the comfy bed and was happily filled with food and beer.
All in all, the legend of the Boston Mule (Jesse’s’ trail name) rang strong. He’s off to finish the PCT next month raising awareness and money for his non-profit, with epic longer term goals and plans for it. It’s always humbling to see how small acts of kindness and helping out a stranger can blossom into such different and exciting things. To watch his project grow into the greatness it is today, and will be tomorrow, has been a humbling experience that I’m proud to have been a very very small part of inspiring.
