May 3, 2017
Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
We spend the better part of the day sitting on the beach in perfect weather, and it's hard to believe we've spent two full days in Ocean Beach without actually setting foot on the beach.
The morning started with cold press coffee + ice cream + peanut butter at The Nest, followed by breakfast at Breakfast Republic. Our server had a name I will never forget because I love it so much—Ramsey. What a cool name! It helped that he sat down with us and asked a million questions about the trail, continually telling Alex and I that we were inspiring. I accepted every encouragement I could get, as with every passing hour I have been increasingly doubting my sanity for choosing to do this thru-hike.
After breakfast we finally took care of the business we had been dreading—packing our packs and extra trail food. It took hours and felt like a complete mindfuck, but we finally packed our packs and mailed our first resupply to Warner Springs, plus a box to Idyllwild. The only thing left to do is run to REI for a pants-patching kit for me and sleeping bag liner for Alex. Pro tip: take your crampons off before putting your rain pants on unless you want to rip extra ventilation holes in your rain pants. Thank goodness for Tenacious Tape.
With our chores done we spent the afternoon at the beach, restless and churning with thoughts of our looming adventure. When we couldn't sit still any longer, we headed to the hostel, cleaned up, and walked right back out the door to buy our final real-human food from the Ocean Beach farmer's market. After finding underspiced and overcooked Indian food to fill us up, we were invited on a sunset walk to the Sunset Cliffs with all of the hostel friends we had made thus far. Complete with a few craft beers and ocean waves, it was exactly the thing to keep my brain occupied.
To top off our last night in civilization, the hostel had a pub crawl for one of the employee's birthdays. As only an Ocean Beach hostel can, the evening began with jello shots and ended with a Reggae-Funk dance party. We'll call that going out with a bang.
