A term often thrown around on the trail is "Hiker Hunger". As if you can only imagine, hiking 25+ miles every day will work up quite the appetite. Before starting this trip I heard of people getting this incurable trail "illness" after about two weeks. Well three weeks in now I can personally attest to this manic need to consume calories. It seems to have hit me more than the others I'm hiking with. At the most recent trail angels house we stayed at I was able to finally weigh myself and I am officially down about 14 pounds from when I started!! I now weigh a whopping 159 lbs. About as much as the high school version of myself. Woohoo... Not. It doesn't seem to matter how much I eat. When we stop at restaurants in town I often order three entrees and have no problem finishing them off. It's now normal for the waiter to cut me off mid order because he thinks I couldn't possibly eat anything else. The 11lbs of food I bring with me for a four day stretch will probably only last me 2.5 or 3 days. I do hope my body finds some kind of an equilibrium here soon and the rapid weight loss decreases. It doesn't worry me in any way. Believe it or not this is somewhat "normal" (as if walking across the country was anything along the lines of normal). We often joke about our endless appetites and it's somewhat of a challenge to see if we can order TOO much food at any given meal. Another hiker told me a story about his friend who went to a burger restaurant with a Big Burger Challenge. Finish the whole burger and fries and your meal is free and your dirty hiker mugshot gets plastered on the wall. Well, he ordered the massive meal, along with a milkshake, and after beaming for his finishers picture went next door and got an order of orange chicken from Panda Express.

When I left my job and responsibilities at home to come hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I didn't realize I'd be acquiring two full time jobs in their place. Eating, and of course, hiking.