Sadly I had to say goodbye to Butterfly again today.
It was great to see and hear about all of her experiences for the last 85 miles in the Sierras. My journey is definitely different and I am trying to find all the positive parts I can. Being Butterfly’s personal trail angel is definitely at the top of the list.
After spending one short day together it was time for Butterfly to continue on. We did manage to take care of resupply and find her a new sleeping bag. She bought a 5 degree Western Mountaineering bag that will definitely keep her nice and warm going forward.
This afternoon I gave Butterfly, Sprinkles from Germany, Angelina, and Hillary a ride to the Onion Valley Trailhead for Kearsarge Pass Trail. We have been hiking around Angelina and Hillary since Big Bear and they are now part of our trail family.
It was extremely hard to say goodbye and in all honestly it kind of sucked… I so badly want to be hiking… I so badly want to experience the beauty of the Sierras with Butterfly! Lucky for me two additional hikers Smoke and Goosebumbs needed a ride down to Independence. After they had finished their beers I handed them and a few more hugs and kisses to Butterfly, it was time to go. Soon I was heading back down the mountain with two new PCT thru-hikers.
As soon as I was in front of the Independence Post Office I had another PCT hiker needing a ride up and picked up two more in front of the Chevron. Soon I was heading back up to Onion Valley Trailhead with Ronnie from Israel, Blueberry, and Chimney Sweep.
Determined to head back down the mountain with at least one thru-hiker in need I waited, and waited, and waited some more. I knew at any moment a hiker could come down. I told myself I would wait one hour… And when that passed one more! I waited over two hours and finally had to just drive down the mountain. Alone again on my unexpected new journey.
