The 24 miles from The Saufley's to The Anderson's are infamous. There is a challenge, taken from a similar 24 mile stretch on the Appalachian Trail, where you have to carry 24 beers, 24 miles, 24 hours. You can drink them all or pass some off to hikers you see along the path. We heard stories of a few people taking on the challenge during the time we were making the journey, passing out under trees, et cetera. We didn't do the challenge, but we definately passed out under a few bushes. It was brutally hot and it seemed like the whole day was spent going from bush to bush, shade to shade, nap to nap. We were in the middle of one such nap, planning on going just a bit further and finishing the trek to The Anderson's in the morning, when who should come down the trail but Ms. Teri Anderson herself. We hadn't heard much about what Casa de Luna was like, but the woman before us had a huge presence and a pink mohawk. We jumped up, half asleep, offering to help carry the water jugs she was resupplying. She just said "I don't need help, but I do need a hug!" And she gave us each, sweaty and sleepy, a huge bear hug. "See you there! Come by any hour, we'll be up. Oh yeah, there's also a surprise for you a little ways up. You'll dig it!" And then we were left there, stunned, in the hot trail, and we couldn't wait to get there. We hightailed it out of there as fast as we could into the setting sun. We made it to the surprise as it was getting dark. A hollow in some oaks, decorated as a haunted house. Skeletons with sunglasses hanging from the trees and, in the middle, a fresh supply of water, soda, and beer (to Brett's delight). We hiked into the night, happy to not be hiking in the heat. We got to the road into town around 10pm. And decided to walk the two miles down the road to the house. A man out in his yard gave us slurred directions to the house between sips of beer, but we had nothing else to go off of and found ourselves winding through neighborhood streets all with strikingly similar names. Before long, we felt like we had seen the entire neighborhood, discovered both town markets, a diner, and an empty ranger station, without any sign of the famous Casa de Luna. We were about to curl up on the sidewalk, when a local kid drove by, we waved home down, and he told us that he could sometimes get cell service on one square of sidewalk next to the liquor store. Sure enough, we got service, got through to the house on the first ring, and got directions. A few minutes later, and we were on the front porch of Casa de Luna, 1am, just as the last delirious partiers were settling down to bed; limbs in every direction. We got some half-coherent info from one of the hikers setting up his bed on one of the couches out front. Apparently, we had just missed chocolate syrup wrestling, Joe would be making pancakes in the morning, we could camp in the Manzanita garden out back, and please shut the gate. And then he passed out in a heap on the couch. We made it about 3 feet into the garden, threw down our packs, and flopped onto the ground. This was our longest day, 30 miles altogether. We slept in and then had a very nice day of relaxing on the front porch with a ton of hikers. Casa de Luna is funny because it is such a vortex that we met people who had been there for weeks. It is known as the party house, but we found it to be a great place for mental rest. Spending time with good company. Feeling that there was nowhere else we needed or wanted to be. Most of the challenge with a trip like this is mental. Your body can do the work, but the number of miles you can do is all based on how you feel mentally. It's good to know that we're capable of doing a 30 mile day.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Casa de Luna-tics, mile 480
The 24 miles from The Saufley's to The Anderson's are infamous. There is a challenge, taken from a similar 24 mile stretch on the Appalachian Trail, where you have to carry 24 beers, 24 miles, 24 hours. You can drink them all or pass some off to hikers you see along the path. We heard stories of a few people taking on the challenge during the time we were making the journey, passing out under trees, et cetera. We didn't do the challenge, but we definately passed out under a few bushes. It was brutally hot and it seemed like the whole day was spent going from bush to bush, shade to shade, nap to nap. We were in the middle of one such nap, planning on going just a bit further and finishing the trek to The Anderson's in the morning, when who should come down the trail but Ms. Teri Anderson herself. We hadn't heard much about what Casa de Luna was like, but the woman before us had a huge presence and a pink mohawk. We jumped up, half asleep, offering to help carry the water jugs she was resupplying. She just said "I don't need help, but I do need a hug!" And she gave us each, sweaty and sleepy, a huge bear hug. "See you there! Come by any hour, we'll be up. Oh yeah, there's also a surprise for you a little ways up. You'll dig it!" And then we were left there, stunned, in the hot trail, and we couldn't wait to get there. We hightailed it out of there as fast as we could into the setting sun. We made it to the surprise as it was getting dark. A hollow in some oaks, decorated as a haunted house. Skeletons with sunglasses hanging from the trees and, in the middle, a fresh supply of water, soda, and beer (to Brett's delight). We hiked into the night, happy to not be hiking in the heat. We got to the road into town around 10pm. And decided to walk the two miles down the road to the house. A man out in his yard gave us slurred directions to the house between sips of beer, but we had nothing else to go off of and found ourselves winding through neighborhood streets all with strikingly similar names. Before long, we felt like we had seen the entire neighborhood, discovered both town markets, a diner, and an empty ranger station, without any sign of the famous Casa de Luna. We were about to curl up on the sidewalk, when a local kid drove by, we waved home down, and he told us that he could sometimes get cell service on one square of sidewalk next to the liquor store. Sure enough, we got service, got through to the house on the first ring, and got directions. A few minutes later, and we were on the front porch of Casa de Luna, 1am, just as the last delirious partiers were settling down to bed; limbs in every direction. We got some half-coherent info from one of the hikers setting up his bed on one of the couches out front. Apparently, we had just missed chocolate syrup wrestling, Joe would be making pancakes in the morning, we could camp in the Manzanita garden out back, and please shut the gate. And then he passed out in a heap on the couch. We made it about 3 feet into the garden, threw down our packs, and flopped onto the ground. This was our longest day, 30 miles altogether. We slept in and then had a very nice day of relaxing on the front porch with a ton of hikers. Casa de Luna is funny because it is such a vortex that we met people who had been there for weeks. It is known as the party house, but we found it to be a great place for mental rest. Spending time with good company. Feeling that there was nowhere else we needed or wanted to be. Most of the challenge with a trip like this is mental. Your body can do the work, but the number of miles you can do is all based on how you feel mentally. It's good to know that we're capable of doing a 30 mile day.
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Michael Barbiasz commented on your link.
ReplyDeleteMichael wrote: "This is really such a cool thing to follow. As someone who has always loved the outdoors, I can say I am truly envious and wished I had done it. Great job to Brett and Dana thus far. I look forward to being one of the first to buy their book."