Shall I share this story? It happened. So, I guess I will. I wanted to get an early start to avoid the heat. But as I got out of my tent… a horrible feeling came from down below. Yes. Diarrhea. Yowza. In my pants. What to do??? I was wearing my ONLY bottoms – my hiking shorts. I finished my business near the bushes and cleaned myself up as best as I could. I then remembered there was a little creek a short way down the trail – about a 2/10 of a mile or so. So, away I hiked, in the dark with my headlamp on, in my underwear, holding my soiled shorts. The creek was very shallow but I made good use of what it gave me. In no time my Patagonia Multi Trails Shorts were super clean and super wet (I highly recommend these shorts. You can get them at REI.) I marched back to my campsite with a huge satisfied smile on my face. The shorts dried quickly.
It was a good early morning of hiking. I called my friend Jill from Michigan and I told her my sad tale. She was very understanding and laughed appropriately.
Late morning and afternoon was so hot again. I hid in the shade of a large bush again for a while – but not for long because I had a long ways to get to my objective of the day – Mike’s Place – the next water source.
I made it. A hiker from Japan, Atsushi made it there at the same time.
Mike’s Place is probably one of the most unique stops on the Pacific Crest Trail. It is what it sounds like. It’s the homestead of Mike. Mike has been a Hiker himself and he has dedicated his land to be a crash pad for weary hikers. There are places for hikers to tent, wash up a bit, maybe do a little laundry by hand, there’s a very sketchy and unique pit toilet, etc.Mike wasn’t there that day, but he had a caretaker who was very generous with cold drinks…and later some weed for those who wanted to partake (obviously not me).
That night, I slept in the most filthy place I have ever slept in my whole life. I ignored rat droppings, and tried not to breathe in too deeply.  I should’ve just set up my tent.