Day 15: water cache ridge - cs160 via paradise valley cafe (mi 144-160)

 

I made some poor decisions today, and things were rough. I gorged myself at Paradise Valley Café, where I earned my trailname 'slosh,' (based on the sloshing of my stomach as I  waddles back to the trail) after  consuming a steak, 3 eggs, hash browns, biscuits & gravy, 5 slices of bacon, and a half-pound bacon cheeseburger with guacamole and jalapeños in one sitting. Erin was dubbed 'smiles' by Shotput because she is always smiling, and even when she isn't, her eyes are smiling. 

Digging in to my second meal at the Paradise Valley Café

 

I determined my new backpack was causing some impingement of the femoral cutaneous nerve as a product of fitting properly (Erin theorizes its because I have no fat). The symptoms of this nerve impingement are numbness, tingling and burning along the outsides of the thighs, which I definitely had. Furthermore, I had a very miserable walk up the mountain after my combined breakfast and lunch, and required a nap only 2.5 miles in to the climb. On the plus side, Erin and I did get trail names, I got a lot of calories, I found a cozy on the side of the road, and we left the desert. 

Walking through the sesert on the way to Paradise Valley Café.

Various thru-hikers outside Paradise Valley Café.

 

Coolest critter of the day: The out of range black headed grosbeak that I saw this morning was definitely very cool. I had no idea that it would be found in the middle of the desert, which is a completely different habitat than it's normal distribution.