Day 5 was an adventure from the very beginning. We had been told the previous evening by several fellow campers, who reminded us that they were staying in comfortable trailers, that there was a 100% chance of rain over night. We joked about 100% and the fact that nothing in life ever really is, especially since we were all trained as infantry leaders to make an 80% decision and go with it in a combat situation; as there's never time for the "100% solution." Percent chance aside, it stormed heavily on us over night but our tents held firm and we emerged from them dry in the morning to see standing water in every direction. We made a hasty fire and warmed some chicken noodle soup. As we were polishing off the last bites, Marilou appeared with our serving spoon that she had mistakenly taken home when she departed the night before. She said she was glad to see we hadn't floated away and wished us well as we headed off for the days 21.7 miles, proving to us once again what a truly kind and generous lady she is.
As we were hiking down an access road that parallels Hwy 1 just outside Monterey, we saw a green car parked on the side of the road with its flashers on. As we cautiously approached, the passenger window went down and we stopped to talk to the lady behind the wheel. She said that she had read about us in the paper and that she had been driving up and down Hwy 1 looking for us and she had seen the American Flag flying and knew it was us. She told us she was born at Camp Pendleton and that her father was a Marine. What she told us next let us know that we were talking to a true hero’s daughter. He served 32 years in the Marine Corps, retired as a Master Gunnery Sergeant and had fought on Iwo Jima during World War II, at Inchon during the Korean War and did two tours in Vietnam before being forced to retire in 1978. We were humbled and honored to be in her presence. As it was a bit windy and cold and we
were wearing only long sleeved t-shirts, she offered us the jacket and scarf she was wearing and a couple additional she had in the car. We declined and informed her that in spite of the weather, the fast pace we kept allowed us to stay warm. As we were departing, she reached into her purse and handed us a generous donation. We thanked her, told her what an inspiration her father was and pushed on. As we were moving down the road, we discussed how much our morale had risen and the fact that we could hike forever as long as we keep running into the caliber of people we have been as fortunate to thus far.
Thomas Muir
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