Day 14 - Sept. 2

Guadelupe to Avila

While at Subway I checked my Facebook messages and discovered that the company I had mailed my CCT guidebooks to, to be turned into PDFs, was owned by my ultra running friend, Kawai Tatsuya!  He had seen an order with my name come through and asked me if I had placed it.

The night before I left for my CCT expedition I was Googling how to turn a book into a PDF, I didn't want to carry the heavy guides with me.  I had thought that FedEx or some other office supply company could do it, but I was wrong. I did find 1DollarScan.  It had gotten good reviews, so the next morning, before I left, I ran the books over to the post office and mailed them in, hoping that my PDFs would be done soon so that I could use them on my journey.  I didn't realize how little internet service I would have and how important those guidebooks would be.

There I was, in Santa Barbara County, the same place where I met Kawai, and in a way, he was saving the day again.  I had met him at the Santa Barbara 100 mile race, around mile 80.  I was crying in pain after just having completed four other 100 mile races in the previous six weeks.  SB100 was also notoriously difficult, with over 24,000 ft of elevation gain.  Kawai told me that everything would be okay and we talked about the monks in Japan who run ultra long distances.  We ran most of the rest of the race together, save for a small section at the end, when I went ahead to make sure we had made the correct turn toward the finish line.

The PDFs I had ordered were ready soon after that and I relied on them more and more as the trip went on.  They had the mileage for each segment, and gave forewarning about upcoming river crossings and showed the trail's alternate routes if arranging a boat wasn't possible.  They gave information about services and towns nearby and whether water was available at the trailhead or via creeks on the trail.

My Facebook posts from that day:



After my long charging session at Subway, having missed some of the cooler morning air, I headed out.  The sun was strong even in the morning and people kept talking about how hot it was, over 110 degrees high for the day, it might have even been 110 in the morning when I started out.  I grabbed a few snacks, including multiple big bottles of electrolyte drink at a small grocery store.  I could've moved faster had I not been carrying so much hydration.  In retrospect I should have carried less.  Maybe I subconsciously wanted to move slower, given that I hadn't slept the night before.

 I ran past fields, saying hello to the farm workers.  It the middle of the day, when the sun was probably at its hottest, a woman driving by stopped to ask if I needed a ride.  I told her about my quest.  It turned out she had done the Camino de Santiago.  She was a devout Catholic and prayed for me.  She gave me two cards to carry with me, one was her personal angel car, which she told me, she had never given out.  I told her about my time as a Carmelite nun at the monastery Our Lady of Guadalupe, it was funny to be having that conversation in a town with the same name.  I told her about the big and small turban shells I had found, and how I kept the small one with me.  She told me that attaching a shell to your pack is part of the Camino experience.  I didn't realize the next town I would stop at was Avila, the name of one of my favorite Carmelite nun's hometown, St. Teresa of Avila, Spain.  The woman gave me the phone numbers of two groups of monks I would pass up ahead and said they would be happy to have me stay with them if I needed a place.

My Facebook post a few days later:

Eventually I came to a small collection of restaurants and shops.  I stopped at the gas station for portable snacks and had a vegan burrito at a nearby restaurant while my phone charged.  I ran again until I came to a fruit and vegetable stand.  The clerk was wearing a UCR shirt, it turned out he was a college student at UC Riverside, where I have my gym membership.  I love the UCR gym and outdoor pool.  He was originally from that town and let me use the bathroom, even though I don't think he was supposed to.

I ran on until I got to Oceano.  I stopped at a convenience store -- every time I saw a convenience store I stopped!  I wasn't always sure how long it would be until the next one.  And I welcomed a break from the hours of jogging and walking.  A little way beyond, I reached the beach.  I remember being so happy to be back on the coast, after the long inland highway section.  It renewed my spirit.

The Oceano Dunes Beach is the only beach in California to permit vehicles.

I had considered camping here, but there were big illuminated signs warning of hefty fines for camping without a permit on those beaches, and everything was sold out that night.  So I ran on.  I  needed the extra miles anyway.

I saw on the CCT website that parts of Oceano Dunes are closed through September for the Snowy Plover.  It was a Saturday so I couldn't call to double check.  Thus, I took the alternate route for part of the day.

I ran on to Pismo Beach, which reminded me of my familiar southern California cities.  I tried to find a hotel but things seemed to be booked.  My SPOT's power light was blinking red for the first time so I stopped to change the batteries.  The battery change was successful but somehow I didn't turn the tracker on again, and didn't realize until five or so miles later.  My FitBit GPS watch was still working then, so I have a log there.

Night had fallen and I was getting tired.  I stopped at a gas station for some sunflower seeds I could eat to keep me awake.  I was walking now.  I started walking through a narrow park overlooking the water, with large houses and apartments behind it.  There was a young man looking over the railing at the ocean in the moonlight, a parking lot, presumably for the park, behind him.  He said that he and his friends were on a road trip and had tried to get a hotel, but everything from there to LA was booked for the holiday weekend.  So, they had decided to park their van sleep in it.  He just couldn't sleep.  I was glad I hadn't wasted more time trying to secure a hotel for the night.  I half wanted to ask him if I could camp there, it seemed like a safe area and he was on guard for his car of people already.  But I wanted more miles.

I only made it a little further and fatigue set in, I backtracked, thinking I might ask him about camping there, but I couldn't find him, maybe he had overcome his insomnia and retired to the van.  I walked north again, through the park, looking for a good place to sleep.  I spotted an area behind some bushes that was matted down, stepping stones leading to it, I couldn't figure out why.  This looked good enough, and I set up my bivy and caught a few hours of sleep.