Tuesday, May 13, 2008

May 12: I met Chuck Norris

This day was spent getting to know some of our new hiker friends. I'm trying to avoid writing to much about other hikers in detail and by name, but I have to mention one name. I laughed after I heard myself say to Jessica, "That Chuck Norris seems like a really nice guy." That's right, I'm hiking with Chuck Norris. Hikers go by a trail name that is usually given to them by someone else while hiking. You can never remember all the Brians, Jeffs, Sarahs and so forth, but it's easy to remember someone's trail name that usually is connected with a good story. Well, Chuck Norris looks like Chuck Norris! Really! He's middle aged and has a few extra pounds so he's not the fit Walker Texas Ranger you might be used to, but there is a strong resemblance.

He is a great guy. He hiked that Appalachian Trail last year and got the name there. At the time he didn't realize there was a resurgence of Chuck Norris jokes and lines. You know the ones like "Before the boogyman goes to bed he checks his closet for Chuck Norris." And "Chuck Norris visited the Virgin Islands and they had to rename them The Islands." He said he probably wouldn't have taken the name if he knew there were lines out there like the second one, but it had already stuck.

Later this day we crossed a dirt road and there was this place that had a bear in a cage! I saw my first bear on the PCT and it was in a cage! We're not sure what exactly what the place was, someone thought they had trained animals for movies in the area. It was a big bear in a pretty small cage. You might think I was a little scared, but luckily this was the day I was hiking with Chuck Norris.

We stopped more than an hour earlier than usual to camp with this group. We only had less than 10 miles to the next town anyway. Hikers shared some extra food with Jess and I, plus another made a campfire. We usally don't have these but this place was a designated camp with a fire ring. It was a real treat. There was also a lady with a horse camping there. She is doing the PCT with her horse for about a month. She rides some and leads the horse other times. She seemed to be loving it!

As we went to bed that night we learned why there were some that wanted rename our friend "Chuck Snorris".

Total Milage: 255.9
Today's milage: 20.9
Camp 15: Fire and a Horse

No comments: