Day 34: Baden-Powell & friends
Saying we took it easy would be laughable. No one really intended to leave early today, but I woke up before six. At noon, we were still at home sorting things out. And that’s okay. The idea of doing the Baden-Powell climb-summit-descent in one day was feasible if we had left really early.
Once done with the preparations, we looked for a ride near the supermarket, someone willing to take us to the spot where you get back on the PCT to head towards the summit. It’s only a few kilometers to the parking lot from which all day hikers start for any tour in the area. We’re not having too much luck with hitchhiking, so Judith goes over to the gas station across the street to ask directly if anyone is going in that direction. Eric is there filling up and tells us yes right away. As soon as we get in the car, we discover that he’s not just anyone: a former professional NHL player (he played in Europe as well), he lost both his legs from the knee down because he was stuck for eight days in winter in a remote area of the Sierra Nevada 😰🥶 He regards himself as fortunate to have managed to get back home somehow. He showed us around the area – it seems that the movie “Wild” was partly filmed here because it’s close to Los Angeles and easier to reach than taking a movie crew to the Sierra Nevada – he took us to a scenic spot where we could observe the peak we would soon climb, and he left us his number – after asking us to take a picture together, as if we were the celebrities – for any eventuality. “Call me or let me know if there’s anything wrong. I’m pretty good at getting myself out of dire situations.” And all this happened by chance, stopping the first guy we met at a gas station.
