$1 Shower and Laundry:
Before I dive into this segment I would like to preface this with letting everyone know that I prefer machine washed clothes. I would gladly pay the usual $5 to run a load of wash through at the local laundry mat. However, in this town stop there is no such option and I must resort to creative measures to wash some of the sweat and grime from my clothes. Here in lies the art of the $1 shower and laundry cycle.
The cycle begins with the shake out and strip down. You want to make sure you have everything in order before you start to maximize your time once you put your quarters in. Once you have all clothes to be laundered in a pile under the shower head and you yourself are ready to jump in, grab your quarters. It's shower time! Plunk your first 2 quarters in the shower machine. You want to start with a quick scrub of the legs to get the major dirt off. Then stomp on your clothes and lather up. The soap suds from your shower wash down to your clothes. Stepping on the clothes pile neads the soap in. After 5 minutes the shower stops. Then you get down to the dirty work. With your bar of soap continue to lather and suds your clothes and make sure you have the extra dirty parts and pieces scrubbed well. Time for round two; the rinse cycle. Plunk your remaining two quarters in the shower. Finish any showering necessary, then dance! Fast feet work best to continue to work the soap through the clothes and rinse. After your second five minutes is up you have a clean body and clean(er) clothes. Wring most of water from clothes then hang dry on food hanging line tied between two trees.
The cycle begins with the shake out and strip down. You want to make sure you have everything in order before you start to maximize your time once you put your quarters in. Once you have all clothes to be laundered in a pile under the shower head and you yourself are ready to jump in, grab your quarters. It's shower time! Plunk your first 2 quarters in the shower machine. You want to start with a quick scrub of the legs to get the major dirt off. Then stomp on your clothes and lather up. The soap suds from your shower wash down to your clothes. Stepping on the clothes pile neads the soap in. After 5 minutes the shower stops. Then you get down to the dirty work. With your bar of soap continue to lather and suds your clothes and make sure you have the extra dirty parts and pieces scrubbed well. Time for round two; the rinse cycle. Plunk your remaining two quarters in the shower. Finish any showering necessary, then dance! Fast feet work best to continue to work the soap through the clothes and rinse. After your second five minutes is up you have a clean body and clean(er) clothes. Wring most of water from clothes then hang dry on food hanging line tied between two trees.
Goodbye Xena:
The morning I left Castella Mom and Dad picked up Xena. I would have felt more sorry for Xena if she didn't look more excited to see Mom & Dad than when she first saw me. Even still I was very sad to see her go. I heard later that once home she didn't do much more than sleep for the next two days. Maybe a good decision to send her home.
Poison Oak:
Unfortunately the most memorable part if this section was my poison oak rash. I must have picked it up on my bare legs on the way into Castella. The night at the state park I had a horrible bug bite on my left thigh that I scratched all night. Turns out it was not a bite, but poison oak. I managed to irritate and spread it all over. I got it on the back of both knees, on my thigh, and for extra discomfort a small patch where the sun don't shine. Itchy! The worst was the large patch on my left thigh which blistered. I put anti-itch cream on it, but it was still a tough mental challenge not to touch my legs.
On trail:
The trail from Castella to Etna takes you through Castle Crags and then through the Russian wilderness. Pretty and hot! It was nice to gain some elevation again so we had cooler nights, but the heat persisted throughout the day. There was one day that I noted beginning to sweat by 8:30am.
In this stretch we decided to try for our first 30 mile day. We wanted to see what our bodies could do. Also this set us up for a 25, then 9 mile day into Etna. We did it! Although, we were very tired at the end of the day. I fell asleep so fast that night!
With our easy 9 miles out to Etna Summit we were able to get a hitch and be in town by 11am!
Trail Statistics
Trail Statistics
Miles:1606
Days:98
Days of Poison Oak:5
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.
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