I started hiking before the people I camped with woke up. As I quietly snuck out of camp, I settled on a trail name to go by while on trail: Ninja. 

A trail name is a huge part of the thru-hiking community where most people are known by their alias vs their real name. Now that I’m on the PCT, I get asked more frequently. I decided Ninja in part because I made a joke once that I feel like a ninja when I hike with my hood up (which due to the Arizona sun has been 24/7), but mostly because a constant theme of this hike has been popping in somewhere unexpected, like the ranches in middle-of-nowhere Arizona, and then disappearing into the horizon. It is also fitting because I am quickly discovering a theme in just two days on the PCT -- I’ll see someone on the trail, perhaps hike with them for awhile or maybe even camp, and then rise earlier or hike longer in order to stay on pace with my goals. The Great Western Loop is a largely lonely affair, and a name like Ninja portrays the fleeting nature of my presence. 

Plus, growing up I always wanted to be a ninja. 

Today I saw less PCT hikers, but was shaken out my slow morning hiking pace by a hiker who zoomed by me on an uphill. I let him pass and then tried to keep up. He was hiking at a blistering almost 4 MPH pace. It was a fun challenge and made the morning miles zoom by. 

I experienced my first ‘trail magic’ where a nice couple offered me two juicy oranges (holy hell, they were good) and a protein bar. Hiker hunger is real right now and it’s hard to only just eat my allotted 5,000 calories a day so the extra food was so very much appreciated. 

I met a hiker, Logan, today. When he mentioned he started at the Grand Canyon too, we both looked at each other in surprise. Then a light bulb went off -- when talking with Charles (the old rancher on day 4 of my hike), he mentioned two other hikers had passed through a few weeks prior “doing some loop”. I asked Logan if he met Charles and he said yes and described him hilariously. 

We hiked the next 2.5 miles in constant conversation, both of us eager to share and compare experiences, and have someone else able to fully relate. At a break, I hiked on with Logan mentioning he’d catch up. 

I arrived at camp disappointed to not heard from Logan. It’d been nice to have someone at a similar pace. Lo and behold, he arrived 20 minutes later and let me know that in the excitement of meeting another GWL’er, he’d dropped his headphones and had to hike back the 2.5 miles to get them. 

Another day grateful to be out here. 

Miles: 32.2