I woke up around noon, wishing I had set an alarm. I used all of the coffee grounds in the cabin's kitchen to make a big pot of coffee. Unfortunately the inn didn't have breakfast, not even food for purchase. I ate the remaining food in my pack, two protein bars and some sunflower seeds, thinking I would find food in Patrick's Point. The innkeeper told me on my way out that it was people like me who made him want to keep doing his job. He said I should look into being an innkeeper, if I ever got the chance. He used to work as a police officer. Seeing crime and heartbreak got him down but he said people who stayed at the inn were always upbeat, usually on vacation, and inns were in great locations. I had actually been thinking that it might not be the worst job. I have two ultra running / hiking friends who work as innkeepers and had enjoyed meeting the staff at the independent places I stopped at along the way.
Next up were a few road miles and then a trail around Patrick's Point State Park, which would eventually lead down to the beach. There were quite a few people out on the trails in the state park that morning, one group was having a barbecue. I half wished I was part of it. There hadn't been any shops in Patrick's Point, only B&Bs, so no food directly available.
It was neat to see the same CCT logo marking the trail all the way up here again. The beach was windy again and I remember putting on my stocking cap after seeing people around me wearing theirs. It was a slow slog. I finally made it to the end of the beach segment, and said hello to a woman walking my way. She was in town for a Humboldt State rugby reunion. She was excited for my journey and gave me a handful of almonds!
The guidebook said that the spit of land in front of Stone Lagoon could be impassable, and in that case would require a boat shuttle. So, I opted for the alternate route, which was a long detour around the lagoon.
Running on the highway sapped my energy. There was only a narrow shoulder and lots of traffic in the daytime, construction work made running on the highway even more precarious. My parents had arrived in Oregon the day before and I felt bad that I wasn't going faster. They had tickets to fly back in about a week and I didn't want them to have to change their flights. I started worrying that something could go wrong at the last minute and I wouldn't complete the trail. Maybe I shouldn't try to go too fast. Around this time, or maybe it was the day before, my right shoulder blade began hurting and I had to move my pack's strap around it to hold the shoulder still. Every time I would take a deep breath, or sneeze, the shoulder would sear with pain. Maybe I had slept on it wrong? Or maybe carrying my phone and external charger in the front of my vest over that shoulder had taken a toll after so many hours. It would persist through the remaining days of my trip though got better. It's almost gone as I write this (Oct. 22) but still bothering me a little when I run.
A few miles down the road I spotted a camp store and stopped to grab some snacks, three different kinds of peanut butter crackers and V8. It was five or six at night. I stopped to tell the checkout lady at the camp store my woes. She said there was a hotel five or so miles ahead. "It's the only hotel in Orick that you or I would stay at," she said. Apparently the city has some issues with drugs, and she didn't think the other hotels would be safe. She called the Palm Cafe & Motel and asked if they had any rooms and what their prices were. $60 a night, I could do that! She put me on the phone and I made a reservation. I had really wanted to go farther but it was already getting dark and I was afraid of the cold, especially with my probable Raynaud's Syndrome. I thanked the lady at the checkout. She hugged me as if I were her child and wrote down her number on a piece of paper for me, in case I needed it.
In my notes on the previous highway section I wrote, "hills, wind, cold, crying." I think the cold was the worst. After I bundled up I felt better. The snack at the camp store, and knowing I had a hotel to look forward to helped a lot too. I put on an old Rich Roll podcast episode, the only one I had on my phone. It was an interview with Mishka Shubaly, former addict and now ultra athlete, famed author, and professor at Yale. He talked about a school shooting he had witnessed as a child, his struggle to please his father, his favorite drug "opana," how he had hit rock bottom, and then how he had found ultra endurance sports. I calmed down.
In only four or so more miles I arrived at a grocery store and stopped to grab some produce and snacks for the night. I was a little out of it, I dropped my hat and the lady at the checkout came over with the hat, and a basket for the items spilling out of my arms - broccoli, peaches. I wanted potatoes for the potassium but not the fat in potato chips, a box of potatoes au gratin was on sale for $1.50. I bought it and ate the dehydrated potatoes like chips while I walked. I started to feel better and wondered whether I should try to go farther, but I had already made the reservation...
When I arrived at the hotel there was another convenience store just across the street and I made a second stop, I was going to treat myself to whatever I wanted, I had been at probably the lowest point of the journey mentally earlier today. Sick of processed food I bought discounted local red wine, pickles, lettuce, and mustard, it was like home (except I didn't drink alcohol that often). I asked the clerk if he knew whether the motel had shampoo and a man hanging out nearby, who worked at the Palm Cafe, told me they did. After I checked in I found out that indeed shampoo was not included and could not be purchased at the hotel, so I returned to the store. I had also forgotten a corkscrew.
There was a TV in the room but the power button had been smashed out and the remote didn't work. Not that I cared too much, I'm a little embarrassed to say I even tried turning on the TV. I wanted to be in bed asap and up early. I did take time to have a little picnic of the produce I bought at the two stores -- only drinking a little of the wine, I didn't want it to disturb my precious sleep, and then sat in front of the heater enjoying the tropical air before setting my alarm early and turning in.
Trail Notes:
The guidebook said that the spit of land in front of Stone Lagoon could be impassable, and in that case would require a boat shuttle. So, I opted for the alternate route, which was a long detour around the lagoon.
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