All notions of gut-friendly food went out the window the moment our nice chauffeur dropped us off at the tiny food mart in Independence. We established base camp outside in a pile of sodas, buns, chips and winegums. I triumphantly Facetimed my mom. Our real lives suddenly seemed so close, I needed to make plans for autumn, get a job and a life after finishing my BA two months before.

But first things first. Our only mission in Independence was to chill the heck out. We’d arrived a day early, so we had two full days to chill horizontally with a family sized bag of BBQ chips and travel channel TV. I had my first shower in a record-setting eight days, and watched in dismay as my “tan” ran in brown streams down the drain. So much for SPF 45 sunscreen, who needs sunblock when you got dirt?

Our wonderful trail angel Liv Kari and her boyfriend Marv drove up to our inn with our resupply boxes (the last ones!) and took us out to dinner in Lone Pine. I was already stuffed from snacking all day on my walnut-sized stomach, but still stuffed down a mushroom-cheese-avocado burger & a 7-layer chocolate cake.

Our second zero passed in much the same fashion as the first. Linda, the lovely hostess at Ray’s Den Inn, was kind enough to bake our cornbread mix into muffins for us.

We are so close to the home stretch now. Already I felt beyond accomplished. We’d crossed seven passes above 3000 m, and we never felt even close to giving up. I was increasingly ending my days feeling like I could have gone on. I’d shed all the extra weight I had on me, I was pure lung-capacity and muscle.

We were tan and strong, our packs didn’t bother us at all anymore. Every day we drank electrolytes and had 2,5 servings of dinner. We were up by 06 and in bed by 19.30. The trail tears at you, but in the end it’s all about putting one foot in front of the other while chewing a Clif bar to the rhythm of your strides.