Lately I've had to tear myself away from town. I've had to prod and push myself a little to leave the company of people and comforts of food & cold drinks behind.  Not this time.  Etna's great.  A lot of hikers have come in and then left. It's great to see new and old faces.  But I have ants in my pants.  I'm anxious to get back on the trail.  I'm restless and need to get moving!  Only 4 hiking days from Oregon.  But I'm doing what I need to do, resting and icing my knee.  I like riding the bike donated by the hiker hut because it uses different muscles and gets the blood flowing so I'm not so stiff.  It's working.  I'll be able to hike out.  I'm feeling good.  There's still a lot of snow in Oregon north of Crater Lake and in Washington that has slowed hikers down.  They've even had to break out thier microspikes and ice axes.  So an extra day here to allow snow to melt more there, its all ok.  I'll be able to make up time with the mellow terrain ahead.  And I'll have people to hike out with.  So yay, back on the trail again I go.  Stacy, a local thru hiker had a dinner party at her house last night.  She rounded up the hikers staying at the Hiker Hut and Motel Etna and brought us to her house where another hiker who is a chef was cooking.  And could he cook!  He made Jambalaya, salad, and a zuchini/yellow squash dish.  It was delicious.  It was fun to share a good trail experience with my hiking friends.  So Etna has been one of my favorite stops but I'm happy to finally be getting back on trail.  I haven't been able to get pictures of myself since I've been hiking solo.  So here's a picture of me at the Hiker Hut with a bike.

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