Day 18 - Zero at Ziggy and The Bear

I woke up with a splitting headache and feeling dizzy. A bad start for a bad day.

I was hoping it will get better soon, but the dizziness was here to stay. Finally, Idan left at about 9 to head towards Big Bear. He is planning to do it in 3.5 days, and then take a zero over there. So I'll have time to catch up to him.

The day at Ziggy's was very relaxed, and I might have enjoyed it more, had I not been feeling like shit the whole time. Ziggy, The Bear and Caretaker Ron run an excellent place for hikers to rest.

Many hikers left this morning, and some waited for the heat to break in the afternoon. Some even left at complete darkness. It seems that night hiking is very common on the PCT.

Many new hikers came today, including hiker #400, who got a McDonald's gift card as a bonus. Each hiker that passes through registers and gets his photo taken, and he has to remember his number (mine is 368), so that when he sends Ziggy a postcard from down the trail, they will be able to easily find him in the books.

At 13:00 Ron made the Burger King run, getting everyone's orders. I got their veggie burger and fries. Wasn't too good, but at least I had lunch.

I met Rustic, who hiked the trail last year, and got snowed in just before the Canadian border. His girlfriend (who did the trail on a horse) and him finally finished October 28th. Probably the last of the season. Now he is training to start the trail in June, and finish it in 75 days. Very impressive.

I also met 5 US war veterans who are hiking the Warrior Hike, to "hike off the war". They all came and left today. An interesting bunch.

All in all it was a nice, relaxing zero. But I was too bummed out to notice most of it.