miraculous recovery and another unexpected stop

Day 29 ~ miles 468.2 - 478.2

We awoke at our usual time, just after 5am.  I was terrified to get out of the tent, to stand up, to put my pack on and hike.  I completed my usual morning routine slowly, and surprisingly pain free.  Now the real test, I hoisted my backpack up and onto my shoulders, heavy with 5 days of food.  Alright, that went well, so we set out for the day.  My pain was gone!  It was unreal; every change in slope and grade I was prepared for pain, but it never showed up.  I could feel a very slight discomfort, but it somehow never worsened.

We knew that we would encounter a closed section of trail today (due to past fire), but we didn't know the details of the detour route.  We  arrived to the burn closure hoping that detour info would be posted, but it wasn't...and no cell service.  Our only option was to head to Casa de Luna to find out about the official detour.

We walked 2 miles off trail to get to the Andersons' place.  We arrived to a driveway full of chairs and couches, where plenty (10-15ish) of hikers were lounging, all of them in Hawaaian shirts, most of them with.  beers in hand (it was 11am or 12pm).  And we were so excited to see the entire cabin crew there, we thought they wiuld've been long gone!  Looks like we're staying at Casa de Luna, how could we resist?  After all, I should rest my injury, right?

We quickly got into uniform, (Hawaaian shirts) and joined everyone hanging out in the shaded driveway.  Casa de Luna featured a 3 hole disc golf course (which we played around on) and an enchanting Manzanita forest where we will be sleeping.  We enjoyed Joe and Terry's incredible hospitality, as they prepared a delicious meal of taco salad with all the fixin's. 

Now to not get sucked into this vortex of a place...