Final Reflections, a Really Long Post – October 23, 2010
It’s been over a week since I returned home, and I’ve been procrastinating writing a concluding journal entry. Perhaps I can attribute the delay to the fact that I’ve been quite busy coping with day to day life in normal society. Or maybe I’ve been procrastinating b/c I haven’t been quite ready for the finality of such an entry. Certainly it’s too soon for me to have a solid handle on what all this walking has really meant to me, and for that reason it’s difficult to write about. Here are some initial thoughts…
What I learned – the Baby Ruth is superior to the Snickers, and the Double Stuff Oreo is truly the ultimate cookie. J/K…kinda…I begin with these conclusions for two reasons. a – they are indisputable facts. b – When I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2006, I set out with the belief that after 5 months and over 2,000 miles of walking, surely I would have had adequate reflection time to figure out answers to all the world’s problems, and at a minimum to develop an excellent life plan for myself. Neither happened. Instead, I spent most of my time thinking about what I would eat when I got to the next town and how many more miles I needed to walk until my next snack break. Thus, when I set out to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail this year, my ambitions were slightly less grand – discern answers to just America’s problems (not the entire world’s), and establish a five year plan for myself (as opposed to a fifty year plan). But again, I have failed. Social Security is still going to run out, and I remain baffled by the Tea Party movement. I don’t know what I am going to do next week, much less next year. This go round my thoughts centered on what I would eat in town, how much water I should carry between sources, what I would eat during my next break, how many miles remained between me and Canada, and what I would eat for dinner. I am exaggerating only slightly.
The best way for me to comprehend what this hike has meant to me is to compare my PCT experience to that I had on the AT four years earlier. If nothing else, I feel like I’ve gained a much greater perspective on what my first thru hike was all about. Will it take a CDT attempt to shed light on this walk??? Below are some comparisons, which might even be mildly helpful to the reader who has no interest in me personally but is trying to decide between the two trails, or AT alums who are preparing for a PCT thru-hike. Skip the next four paragraphs if you’re less interested in the trails themselves, and want to hear more about my personal feelings…
I’ve heard many people say that the AT is more physically challenging, and the PCT is more mentally challenging. I disagree. In my experience the PCT was more challenging all around. I believe that the PCT is considered more mentally challenging b/c you have to be more aware of water sources, and b/c resupply on the PCT allegedly requires more planning (I rarely found this to be an issue at all, almost always buying as I went). The greatest mental challenge for me was dealing with the rain. Although it rained more often on the AT, when it did rain on the PCT, it was a much bigger issue since we didn’t have the AT shelters to rely on. Not only can AT hikers sleep in shelters and thus avoid setting up and taking down tents in a downpour, but the shelters provide a great place for a lunch break. When it rained on the PCT, stopping for lunch or any break meant sitting in the rain, and generally I opted to keep moving. Keeping my gear dry was nearly impossible after two days of rain on the PCT, and the rain I experienced on the PCT was generally colder than that on the AT. While I was blessed with two + months of nearly perfect weather in the middle of my PCT hike, I would say that overall there is more potential for severe weather in any season on the PCT, from snow in August to hurricane force winds in the desert in June. Furthermore, the additional 500 miles of length on the PCT also add to the mental challenge.
Regarding the physical challenge (though in my mind the two are inextricably linked), the AT is generally considered more physically challenging b/c it has steeper climbs and descents and more overall elevation change. The PCT involves lots of nice, relatively flat ridge-walks. On the AT you are pretty much always either going up or down. I agree that it is easier to walk 3 miles an hour on the PCT than it is on the AT, easier to put in a 25 mile day on the PCT. But here’s the thing…on the AT you don’t HAVE TO walk 25 mile days travel from Georgia to Maine (or vice versa) in a single year. The trail is shorter, and the hiking season is longer, and most people take about six months to complete the trek (which is unnecessarily long IMHO, but you get the point). On the PCT, you HAVE TO walk 20-30 miles a day consistently to reach Canada before the snow flies. In my opinion, that’s physically really tough. Perhaps in an ideal snow year, a six month thru hike would be a possibility, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Although I found the PCT more challenging overall than the AT, the fact that the PCT was my second thru hike was a huge mental boost. When I started the AT, I had never been backpacking before. Everything was new, scary and exciting. On the PCT the daily routines of long distance backpacking came back to me quickly, and on some level I felt that I had returned home. I had a comfort level and a confidence that I lacked on the AT. On a related note, I wish I could see some statistics on what percentage of PCT thru hikers are AT alum. From my observations, I would guess that while less than half of those who attempt PCT thru hikers are AT alums, well over half of those who make it all the way seem to have an AT thru hike under their belt. For example, eight of the eleven of us who made it to Canada on October 11th have hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, and another had hiked well over 1,000 AT miles.
Another general comparison is that the PCT has more mind blowing scenery than the AT. I get pretty defensive when people criticize the AT, calling it a long green tunnel. However, I do agree that the scenery of the Appalachian mountains is a more subtle beauty than what I encountered out west this summer. I love the familiarity of the southern Appalachians and relish being among the trees and seeing the forest up close, but I have to admit that I was blown away by the 360 degree views in the Sierra Nevada and throughout Washington state. If that’s what you want, head west asap.
On a more personal level, I think that the differences in my experiences on my two thru hikes have much to do with where I am in my life now as compared to 2006. Although only four years have passed, I think the years between 25 and 29 can be fairly transformative years. When I hiked the AT, although I wasn’t fresh out of college (I had actually just completed my MA), I didn’t feel any different from those who had just graduated from college, and in fact the two people that I became the closest to on the AT were less than six months removed from their undergraduate experience. Over the last four years, I wasn’t really aware that I had gotten older, but when I hung-out with twenty-three year olds on the PCT, I felt really old. Not necessarily in a bad way, I just became aware that I was in a different stage of life. (Notable exceptions include HeeHaw and Grinder, twenty-three year olds with such remarkable life experience that they are wise beyond their years). As on the AT it took me a little while on the PCT to feel like I had really found my niche within the trail community. But in both cases, once I had found a trail family, the social aspect of the hike was truly fantastic. I do not think I could have finished either trail without the support of my trail families, and even if I had I wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun.
A lot of people hike the AT soon after graduating college, and then go on to begin careers and sedentary lives, the AT being their one big adventure. I didn’t want to be one of those people, so it was really important to me to get out to the PCT before too much time had passed. I needed to thru hike the PCT to convince myself that having diverse experiences and challenging myself in unique ways would be a priority in my life. I remember that a lot of people I met on the AT had a really hard time adjusting to their regular lives after their hikes were over. A lot of people feel depressed and like they don’t fit into normal society. I really didn’t feel any of that when I returned home in 2006. After finishing my AT thru hike, I felt like my life was just beginning. It seemed like the future was full of exciting possibilities. Now, four years later, as I approach my 30th birthday, there is still a lot of uncertainty in my life. That uncertainty is now causing me a fair amount of anxiety, and it seems that I’m at a point where I have to either embrace uncertainty as something that will be a constant in my life, or make a decision to pursue stability, perhaps at the expense of adventure (paraphrased from a conversation I had with BR, who was able to verbalize some of these feelings better than I’ve been able to).
Two weeks or so into my PCT thru hike, I was having a bit of a hard time. My knee was killing me; I had hellish blisters on my feet, and I was alone in the desert, going five days without seeing another northbound hiker. During this time, I wrote a list of reasons why I wanted to thru hike the PCT. I’ll close this post by including them here (in no particular order).
-to experience the western landscape intimately, something that is only possible when traveling slowly, ie walking.
-to visit small towns off the beaten path, learn more about life and culture along the trail.
-challenge myself physically, see how far I can push my body.
-get out of my comfort zone. doing so contributes to emotional growth.
-small deprivations helps us to appreciate things we usually take for granted AND allow us to recognize what stuff in our life makes us happy and what is just clutter.
-escaping constant stimulation allows for extended time for reflection
-to connect with diverse individuals in an environment where superficial differences do not preclude meaningful interaction. And where interactions are more intense without the distractions of everyday life (phones, internet, tv, etc).
-to experience the kindness of strangers
-sense of accomplishment from sticking to a goal
If anyone is actually still reading…I just want to thank everyone that followed my hike online. I appreciate all the interest and encouragement. The five months and six days that I spent on the Pacific Crest Trail were some of the most memorable days of my life, and I am incredibly grateful for the experience. I wouldn’t change a single day of it; even the difficult days contributed meaningfully to the whole experience. Until next time…
On the night of October 10th we camped just 6 miles south of the border. When we woke up on the 11th, it was 25 degrees outside, and the clouds seemed to be breaking up. The cold weather made us realize that winter was truly just around the corner, and we were grateful to be finishing before the first big snow made the trail impassable. The cold temperatures made it difficult to get out of our sleeping bags, but everyone was in a good mood and excited about reaching the border. We listened to the “Lion King” soundtrack, some ’90s gangster rap, and a few Patsy Cline hits (seriously, on all accounts) through Barrel Roll’s portable speakers to get pumped up for the day. My shoes were frozen solid, and I hadn’t untied them the night before, so I couldn’t even come close to getting them on my feet. I had to dump boiling water on them in order to get them thawed well enough to shove my feet inside.
We hiked the six miles to the border together. It didn’t feel at all like the hike was coming to an end. Perhaps because in comparison with my AT finish (on top of Katahdin, the most bad ass mountain east of the Mississippi), the easy stroll to the Canadian border seemed anticlimactic. It was as if it was just another morning on the trail. In fact, the last conversational topic we engaged in before rounding the corner and seeing the monument was about the characters on the TV show, “Weeds,” and how much better Mary Louise Parker has aged than Elizabeth Perkins. And then, there we were at the border. We hung out at the monument for almost two hours – taking pictures, eating lunch and passing around a bottle of Black Velvet Canadian whiskey that we’d carried all the way from Skykhomish. I think we were all pretty relieved about finishing. There had been so much uncertainty about the weather over the past several months and always that concern about whether our bodies would hold up physically, or if those frequent twinges of pain that we all felt in our feet, ankles, knees, etc would erupt into something serious. Beyond the relief though, I felt a bit emotionally void, perhaps unable to process the significance of the moment or to grasp that this journey was really over.
Indeed the journey was not quite yet over; we still had eight miles to hike out of the woods to the road in Manning Park, Canada. The last eight miles dragged a bit. The terrain was easy, but we were all ready to be done. Lady LNT (a section hiker from Seattle that we had met in the Sierra) rented a fifteen passenger van and was waiting for us at the trailhead when we arrived at 4pm. It was great not to have to take a series of busses back to the U.S. LNT commented that we all looked a bit more tired than we had last time she saw us in July, and I imagine that she was correct. After a stop at McDonalds an hour into the drive, we headed straight to Bellingham, WA for the night. Lady LNT had attended college in Bellingham and did a great job showing us around. As I sat eating Creme Brulee at a local microbrewery, it was hard to fathom that my day had begun with most of my belongings being literally frozen solid.
Grinder’s passport was expired, so as many hikers do, he had to turn around at the border rather than hiking into Canada. The nearest road access to the border on the U.S. side is at Harts Pass, 30 miles south. On the morning of the 12th, the boys rented a car to go pick him up. Lady LNT drove the girls down to Seattle via the scenic route along the water. B/c Gangles is a high powered business woman in her other life, she got us a swanky hotel room in downtown Seattle with Marriott reward points. After dropping our stuff, we explored around Seattle a bit. The boys’ drive to Harts Pass and back turned out to be an all day event, so we went ahead to the thrift store without them to buy clothes for all of us to wear out that night. When the guys finally made it to Seattle they were tired but cheerful, and with Grinder safely in hand, we all donned our newly purchased hideous outfits and went out for a night of celebratory debauchery. Although the nine of us were the only patrons at the bar we ended up at, we had a truly great time.
The next day, T-Bone and Barrel Roll drove me to the airport, as I was the first to split from the group. Although I had already said my goodbyes to everyone else at the hotel, I felt like everything really hit me when they dropped me off, and I was alone for the first time. By that night, I was in my bed in GA trying to come to terms with everything that has happened over the last five + months.
The Last 190 miles – October 15, 2010
Since I finally have abundant time at computer, I’ll go ahead and do a detailed account of the last week + on the trail, and then I’ll follow up with more a separate entry about the finish and some reflections on what it all means.
After I last wrote, we departed from the Dinsmore’s on October 3rd, after a truly great breakfast – I highly recommend the store/restaurant in Barring, WA to future PCT hikers. Despite not hitting the trail until 11:30am, we put in 18 miles with minimal night hiking. Although there were a lot of clouds, we didn’t get rained on at all.
The 4th was a fantastically scenic day with better weather than expected; although it rained a lot overnight, it never did more than mist lightly during the day. We were so lucky that the fog broke up, and we were able to enjoy some views. We got our 26 miles in, but did have about half an hour or so of night hiking, which I did with Big Foot. We had a really enlightening conversation about how he has been able to overcome all kinds of tendencies toward injury by improving his hiking form.
October 5th was a tough but rewarding day with good weather and phenomenal scenery; Washington continued to impress and surprise me. Two really long climbs made the day slow – it took almost twelve hours to do twenty-four miles. I spent most of the day alone, and listened to a bunch of music on my itouch. I ate lunch with T-Bone at an amazing pass with 360 degree views and then hiked with Steiner briefly until she stopped to wait for Gangles. I spent a lot of the day focusing on my hiking form, per my discussion with Big Foot the previous night, and I fantasized about my newly improved form making me into an exceptionally fast hiker. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll keep hoping.
October 6th began slowly due to two tricky river crossings, including the Siuttle, where I scooted across a log on my butt, high above a raging river. All of this was followed by a long climb. The last fifteen miles was pretty much gradual downhill though, and I knocked it out in just over five hours, including a bit of night hiking with the man train. Grinder had a fire waiting for us at camp, and thus ended another challenging, but memorable day.
On October 7th, we woke up early to begin hiking at 6:45am to ensure that we could cover the 5 miles necessary to catch the 9am bus to Stehekin. Stehekin is a small community on Lake Chelan, 10 miles off the trail, with no vehicle access. So, if we had missed the shuttle, we would have had a long walk to the PO. We had heard that the services in Stehekin (which are pretty much limited to the PO and a famous bakery) were cutting hours after October 1st, but detailed information was difficult to find. We were relieved when we heard that the PO was open (so we could pickup our supplies for the final section), but we were ecstatic when we heard that the bakery was open. The shuttle driver stopped to let us run into the bakery, and the only word I can think of to describe our behavior upon seeing all the pastries, was that we all became incoherent. We all bought a wide variety of some of the most delicious confections I’ve ever experienced. From there we spent the middle of the day drying out our gear on the grassy lakeshore and organizing our supplies for the remaining 90 miles, before taking the 3pm shuttle back to the trail. We only hiked six miles out, and camped at an established site with a picnic table and a pit toilet.
For several nights before Stehekin, I had foregone setting up my tent in favor of sleeping in the “man tarp.” At first, I volunteered to sleep under the large tarp that Grinder, Barrell Roll and Big Foot shared b/c there wasn’t enough ground space for everyone to set up. In Stehekin, I asked to become an official member of the man tarp so that I could send my tent home and save 3lbs on my back. Sharing the tarp with the guys for the remainder of the trip brought back fond memories of sleeping in the AT shelters.
The following day, 10/8 we did a 29 mile day that began with a 20 mile climb. Things went better than you might expect. Everyone got an early start, and I caught up with the boys for lunch, 15 miles in, just pass Rainy Pass. Once we finished the climb, we had an incredible five mile ridge-walk, which I tried to really cherish, imagining that it was probably the last of so many awesome ridge-walks on this trip. It never rained on us, but we could see clouds moving in all day. Big Foot, Hee Haw, T-Bone and I pretty much sprinted the last downhill, covering 4.2 miles in 65 minutes. Grinder and Barrel Roll were already building a fire when we arrived in camp. Over dinner, we realized that we had our math wrong, and that a 29 mile day wasn’t really necessary. We planned for a sixteen mile day for the 9th, the shortest day I’d done in months (not counting days heading into or out of towns).
It had rained quite a lot overnight, and Big Foot and I had a hard time keeping our feet under the coverage of the tarp, so my sleeping bag got a bit wet on the bottom. Although the rain had lightened up significantly by the morning, since we knew we only had a short day ahead of us, we all lazed around with Moosie joining us in the man tarp. Overall it was a very relaxing and atypical morning. When I finally began hiking just before 11am, I hiked the 16 miles pretty much straight through, as it was cold, foggy and misty. I walked into Harts Pass with Moosie, Steiner and Gangles, where the boys had already set up the tarp. It took me awhile to warm up, and BR let me use his water resistant overbag. The guys dug a trench around the tarp, and only b/c of that drainage were we able to stay reasonably dry overnight. It poured rain all night, and I felt grateful that we were now so close to the finish.
On the 10th we had to get up and break camp in heavy rain, which was unpleasant and delayed our departure until 9am. I figured that we would cover the day’s 24 miles relatively fast b/c breaks wouldn’t really be an option. I kept telling myself that we only had to survive one more night. All we had to do was keep our stuff dry enough so that we wouldn’t freeze overnight, and then it wouldn’t matter anymore, since we’d reach Canada early the following day. Despite the fact that it rained, snowed, sleeted and hailed at various times during the day, the precipitation was very light overall, and the day wasn’t that miserable. I hiked with Steiner and Barrell Roll for awhile, and we talked a lot about what this hike had meant to us, particularly in comparison to our respective AT thru hikes.
Everyone except Moosie and T-Bone made it into camp before dark. We had never really stopped all day; all I had eaten was peanut butter and icing by the spoonful. As soon as the sun went down the temperature began to drop significantly. I immediately put on all my layers upon reaching camp, including all three of my remaining pairs of dry socks. HeeHaw and I went to get water for everyone from Hopkins Lake, with me wearing my crocs. On the way back, I accidentally stepped into ankle deep water with both feet, and my feet remained in a state somewhere between numb and excruciating for the rest of the night. The guys all contributed dry socks, and I put a hot water bottle down by my feet, which helped a bit, but I was kind of miserable, and didn’t sleep well as the temperature continued to drop throughout the night.
Last on Trail Post – October 2, 2010
Today will probably be the last time I get to access internet during the hike. I’ll be going into Stehekin on the 7th, but word on the trail is that there’s no phone or internet service there. I’m at the Dinsmore’s right now, trail angels who live near Skykhomish, WA – just under 200 trail miles to go.
The last three and a half days have been pure backpacking bliss. Perfect weather, mind-blowing scenery, manageable mileage and good company. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness area was beautiful, reminscent of the High Sierra in some ways with the rocky terrain and many small lakes. We reduced our mileage goals to 22 miles per day after hearing how rugged this section of trail was. The shorter days made the terrain seem relatively easy, and yesterday we even made time for our last swim of the hike. The “swim” was more of a quick dip into a frigid lake just to say that we swam in a lake in Washington, in October.
Despite the pleasant stretch we just enjoyed, I am ready to get this hike finished. I’m tired mentally and physically, and ready to be home. Also, rain is supposed to move in tomorrow evening. We only did eight miles today, so we’re resting up for the remainder of the day, and enjoying some good food here in town before pushing out in the morning.
Snoqualmie Pass – September 28, 2010
In the six days since I last posted, we (the nine members of the Sobohobos) have walked 165 miles, which is not too shabby. The terrain in Washington is a bit rougher than what we encountered in Northern California and Oregon, and from here the trail is only supposed to get even more rugged. This week the weather has been markedly better than it had been when I posted from Trout Lake. We had a couple dry days with perfect temps, a few days with light rain, and only one truly miserable day where it down poured from sunup to sundown. Lucky for us, one of the relatively clear days occurred when we were hiking through the Goat Rocks Wilderness, one of the most scenic stretches on the entire trail. Had we arrived one day earlier or later, the trail would have been totally socked in by fog, and we wouldn’t have been able to see a thing. Instead, we enjoyed amazing 360 degree views while hiking along the knife’s edge section, a long and challenging ridgewalk. I also saw mountain goats and a fox – two types of wildlife I haven’t previously encountered.
A few days later Barrell Roll’s friend, John picked us up from Chinook Pass. We managed to fit all nine of us into John’s expedition for an hour drive down to his home where his wife cooked us an amazing dinner as well as breakfast the next morning. John’s wife Rachel was (understandably) a little worried about hosting eight total strangers in their home – they have two young children, and she is seven months pregnant with their third. I hope she was pleasantly surprised though. We were all on good behavior, and our hiker stench didn’t seem to offend anyone too much. Overall, it was a great little trip, and another example of the overwhelming kindness that I’ve been shown throughout this journey. The day that John dropped us back off at the trail was the clearest day I’ve seen in weeks. Good timing again b/c we had killer views of Mount Ranier, which is probably the most stunning mountain I’ve ever personally encountered.
From here we have 260 miles remaining to hike, and are hoping to finish on October 10th. Snow is always a possibility though, so if we have to take days off to wait for the weather to clear, our finish date could be delayed. As I hoped, the social support of the group has been invaluable. Being cold and wet and covered in mud is still not fun, but having a solid group to share the experience with makes it bearable.
I’m still at the monastery, so I figured I’d do another quick post, which I’d like to dedicate to food. Food occupies much of thru hikers’ thoughts and conversations. Before I hiked the AT, I had visions of walking along thinking deep thoughts and discerning the answers to all the world’s problems. Instead, I mostly thought about what I would eat during the next town stop. On this hike, I had no such grand illusions. Recurring cravings for me (which are pretty common among hikers generally) include pizza, ice cream, salad and coke. I also dream about chicken biscuits, pulled pork and sweet tea – extra frustrating since I won’t be able to access these delicacies until I return to GA. In a typical town day, I’d guess that I consume about 6,000 calories. On trail, I shoot for 4,000. I’ve only lost about two pounds since I’ve been out here, so I guess I’m right on target. Aside from crushing double stuffed oreos into my cereal, and the glorious icing and peanut butter sandwiches I’ve mentioned before, I wouldn’t say that I’ve been eating too much bizarre stuff. I can’t say the same for everyone that I’ve been hiking with. I’ve recently seen one guy eat coffee grounds by the spoonful (he chases them with water), and another regularly crush vanilla wafers into whatever he’s eating for dinner, be it split pea soup or refried beans.
For one 30 mile day, I recorded everything I ate, for your reading pleasure. This day was slightly unusual b/c I don’t often cook lunch – usually I eat pepperoni and cheese on a tortilla or something of that sort. I also usually eat more frequent snacks. Here goes…
breakfast – four packs of peaches n cream oatmeal, mixed with one pack vanilla carnation instant breakfast, eaten cold – 650 calories
snack – blueberry muffin with 1 TBS butter, 1 payday candybar – 940 calories
lunch – one box pinenut flavored couscous with 2 TBS butter & one packet alfredo flavored powder mix; one bag skittles – 1180 calories
dinner – one box macaroni and cheese with 4 oz monterrey jack cheese, one dark chocolate blueberry bar – 1380 calories
total = 4,150 calories
Over 2200 miles walked – September 20, 2010
It’s rained everyday since I’ve been in Washington – four days and counting. It’s been pretty hellish; everything is soaked. The good news is that it hasn’t been terribly cold – nothing like the rain we had in Oregon. The better news is that I’m currently sitting in a warm, dry place. I’m at the Trout Lake Abbey, a Zen Buddhist montasary. Definitely the greatest place I’ve stayed since the Saufley’s 1800 miles ago (I’m at mile 2237 now). The folks here are incredibly hospitable, and I’m tempted to stay here inevitably. I’m wearing a robe while my clothes are in the wash. I’ve had a hot shower, and my tent, etc are hang drying in the greenhouse. Gotta keep making progress towards Canada though. Rumor has it that the sun may shine on Tuesday and Wednesday; keep your fingers crossed.
I’m feeling much better after a few days on antibiotic – turned out I had a bacterial infection called campylobactor. It’s usually caused by food poisoning, but also carried by birds. Since I hadn’t eaten in a restaurant within at least five days of being sick, I’m guessing I got it from drinking water with bird crap in it. Sweet.
Anyway, things worked out as well as can possibly be imagined because on the day I returned to Timberline Lodge, the newly expanded sobohobos hiked in – Barrell Roll, Moosie, Steiner, and Gangles are now hiking with T-Bone, Grinder and Big Foot. I’d been wanting to hike with all these folks anyway. The whole group is really upbeat and very committed to finshing, and I think the social support will be invaluable when the weather turns bad. My first day back, we hiked a 26 mile day, and then walked 22 yesterday into Cascade Locks, OR. It definitely wasn’t easy for me to put in those kind of miles after being sick, and I’m glad we’re taking a zero day here, so I can rest a bit. The hiking both days was fantastically scenic though. Ridiculous views of Mount Hood, Adams and Ranier. Yesterday we took the Eagle Creek alternate route, which is best known as “the trail where you walk behind a waterfall.” In addition to this waterfall, there were several other pretty sweet falls as we climbed down into the Columbia Gorge.
We’ve rented a house (pretty random, but these things happen when you hike with Barrell Roll), and are cooking a big dinner tonight before walking across the Bridge of the Gods tomorrow into Washington, our final state, with 508 miles to go until Canada.
Feeling a Bit Better – September 12, 2010
I’m feeling a bit better. I got a prescription for an antibiotic yesterday, though my lab work results won’t come back until Tuesday. I hope to be back on trail tomorrow.
Struggling through Oregon – September 11, 2010
So it’s been three weeks since I’ve really posted, and quite a lot has happened. California really went out with a bang. The Marble Mountains in the northern part of the state were incredibly beautiful. I was told that the area has the highest black bear concentration in the lower 48. I believe it – I saw three bears in one day, bringing my total to seven on the trip. On the same day, a couple from Virginia named Cristy and Cruse saw six bears, and Wiffle Chicken saw four at once.
Since I’ve been in Oregon, there have been some really fantastic days. Crater Lake is a place that I’ve always wanted to visit, and I’d rank it up there with the Grand Canyon as far as most jaw-dropping natural features I’ve witnessed. The PCT runs along the rim of the lake, and the view was truly spectacular. Erica and Ben drove down from Portland to meet me, and we enjoyed a nice afternoon and evening in a hotel in Klamath Falls, Oregon – made even more enjoyable by the fact that I was avoiding cold rain outside. I hiked through the Sisters Wilderness area over Labor Day weekend with perfect weather and great views of the Sisters mountains, and other big, snowy, picturesque peaks. Also during Labor Day weekend, I took a long lunch break, complete with a swim out to some floating docks at the Elk Lake Resort.
Overall though, my time in Oregon has been quite trying. For 8 of the last 14 days it has precipated for most of the day, and it’s been a cold rain – except for the Monday before last when it snowed all day. At first, it was kind of a novelty – snow in August, and pretty – several inches accumulated pretty quickly. But by the end of the day, I was quite cold, and all my clothes were wet. Although my sleeping bag was still dry, without the layers I usually sleep in, I was unable to stay warm. I spent the night boiling water to pour in my water bottle to hold next to me, and doing push-ups and planks to stay warm. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. I’ve since gotten a new sleeping bag and some other better gear, but cold rain is still not fun. Also, I hear that some of the areas we’ve hiked through have been quite scenic, but visibility has been so limited that I really couldn’t tell you.
I’m torn about whether or not it’s appropriate to write publicly about my bowel movements. Probably not, but to make a long story short, let’s just say that yesterday I had to be rescued from the Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood, mile 2107 on the trail and about an hour outside of Portland, by my friend Megan’s incredibly kind Aunt Kate. I’m currently at Erica and Ben’s apartment in Portland and headed to the hospital to try to get lab work done to see if I have giardia. Although I’m sick, I’m incredibly grateful to not be in the woods and to have such helpful friends. The fact that it’s Saturday and college football is on doesn’t hurt either. I really hope to be back on the trail soon, and I’ll certainly post again before I head back there.
About to get kicked off the library computer – 15 minute limit is absurd! Just wanted to report that I’ve made it to Ashland, Oregon – mile 1726, and everything is going splendidly. Hopefully I can post more soon.
-I’ve hiked five thirty mile days over this last stretch (with most other days in the mid 20s), and although the terrain has been moderate, walking thirty miles in a day has yet to be easy. It takes all day and leaves the feet unhappy.
-Speaking of feet, last week I started having some notable soreness in my heels. I couldn’t see any visible blisters amid the dirt and calluses, but I suspected my worn out shoes were to blame. When I reached town, I scrubbed my feet, shaved down the calluses, and was able to cut a hole in the remaining callus to drain the fluid that had accumulated underneath. I also got some new Nike trail runners, and my feet have been feeling great for the last one hundred miles.
-I wrote in Chester about how dirty I’d been, and that dust continued for another 150 miles. Luckily I had the chance to take two showers in this section. Both in locales of amazing hospitality that deserve a post of their own. First, at Drakesbad Guest Ranch, hikers are treated even better than the paying guests, and a group of twelve of us enjoyed a four course meal and a heavenly soak in the hot-springs. Just one day later, I reached Old Station, CA and was welcomed into the home of Georgi Heitman, where I was fed, laundered and showered.
-I have developed the ultimate trail breakfast (and/or lunch, and/or dinner)…bagel with butter, peanut butter (no that’s not a typo, I did mean butter and peanut-butter) AND rainbow chip icing. I cannot give enough accolades to this creation.
-I mentioned before how the scenery had been a bit mundane in Northern California, and that continued up until mile 1500. However, the last one hundred miles have totally wowed me. The views of Mount Shasta and the hiking through Castle Crags State Park, and the Trinity Alps have been some of the most scenic stretches of trail that I’ve experienced. I will definitely be back in this area again in the future.
-I bought some new, pink, leopard print dirty-girl gaiters that are totally awesome. If you dont know what that means, look it up – or let your imagination run wild.
-One anecdote to close…First, many of you are aware that women in my family are prone to night-time halucinations and panics. Well, I cannot recount the sequence of events that occurred on Saturday night – whether I started having a bad dream and kicked my tent over, or whether the wind blew my tent over first. All I know is that I woke up in the middle of the night, screaming and writhing around with my tent tangled on top of me. I woke up most people camped within a quarter mile radius, most notably Wiffle Chicken who had the misfortune of being tented about ten yards away from me. Had he not gotten up, walked over and shined his head-lamp on me, I don’t know how long I would have remained in my panicked state. As it was, I was mortified to face the other hikers who had been awoken by my screams when I saw them the next morning.
-I’m at a quaint hostel, called the Hiker Hut, in Etna, California, which is a lovely town (mile 1606 on the trail), but tomorrow begins the final push into Oregon, which I should reach in less than a week.
Milestones – August 6, 2010
All that being said though, I actually had a really fun week. I hiked 138 miles in five and a half days on trail and am currently in a section with some great town action. I can’t say enough about the Red Moose in Sierra City. A few days later, we walked into Bucks Lake for resupply, a swim in the lake, and a restaurant meal – and were treated to free, homemade peach cobbler and offers from locals to take showers at their homes. The next day (Wed 8/4) the trail walked right through Belden Town Resort. Although, we’d heard the area was a haven for hard-drug use, it actually turned out to be quite pleasant. Not only did I get another restaurant meal, and the opportunity to wash off in the river, but the resort had a ping-pong table, allowing me to brush up on my famous table tennis skills. Actually, I got my butt kicked, but it was still a good time.
I have been more dirty this week than ever before on the trail. The dust is even worse than in the desert. Although I took a shower immediately upon arriving in town, it seems that I forgot to wash my knees, and they are currently embarrassingly gray.
Special thanks and shout outs to Piper’s Mom, who gave Wiffle Chicken and I a ride into town today. She is a trail angel who became involved in the PCT when her daughter thru-hiked a few years ago, and it sounds like she stays pretty busy carting hiker trash around Northern California all summer. Still amazed by the kindness and generosity of so many people I meet.
Good People – August 1, 2010
I’ve hiked just over a hundred miles since I last posted – I’m in Sierra City now at mile 1197. I’ve seen two bears and quite possibly the most fantastic lake in the world (Aloha Lake in Desolation Wilderness). I’ve also encountered some pretty amazing and generous folks along the way that deserve more than the brief mention that I’ll provide them here. On two separate occasions, drivers were willing to cram seven hikers and seven packs into their vehicles for rides to or from the trail. The first driver had to return home to get a larger car, and the second had to cancel an appointment, but both were happy to help. Although these accommodations made for cramped rides, we had no complaints. Not sure I can say the same for the trail angels’ whose cars now have that hiker stench soaked into their upholstery.
We also ran into a woman who gave us a twelve pack of beer, a bottle of wine and a few snacks. She lives in Washington State (just visiting this area) and promised a shower and a space to sleep on her floor when we get up to her neck of the woods. Right now I’m typing from the most interesting place in Sierra City. A couple bought a restaurant / b&b type place here just six weeks ago, just to use for storage (they’re gold-miners). After helping out one starving, nearly drowned hiker, things escalated quickly, and they’re now welcoming hikers to camp on the lawn for free, and providing free showers, laundry and internet access. AYCE (“all you can eat” – the most beautiful acronym ever for thru hikers) breakfasts and dinners are available for a small fee. I’ll be grubbing on ribs in just a few hours. Super nice people.
I hiked only the third 30 mile day of my life yesterday; my calves are pretty sore today, but hopefully they’ll be better in time for me to head out at a decent hour tomorrow. This week I hiked with Wiffle Chicken and the SoboHobos -Barrell Roll, Moosie, Steiner and Gangles (named b/c they met during their southbound AT thru hike in ’05). Had lots of fun with all of them, and am really happy with trail life at the moment. How could I not be with ribs awaiting me???
Big Miles up Ahead – July 26, 2010
After Matt left, I hiked 75 mile in three days – 23, 30 and 22 mile days. The terrain is still tough, but should level out a bit over the next week. I had a bit of a tough time mentally as well. I did not see any other thru hikers, and after a week of hanging out with Matt and several weeks of hiking with Breezy and Wiffle Chicken, it was challenging to readjust to walking by myself all day and camping alone at night. A lot of people are dropping off the trail now, perhaps overwhelmed by the miles we have remaining, or feeling a lack of motivation since we’ve now hiked through the most stunning scenery on the trail. It is going to be difficult for me to reach Canada before October 1st. I pretty much have to hike 25s everyday. I know it will be tough, but I’m pretty confident about my odds of finishing. I’d even say that I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Over 1,000 miles walked – July 23, 2010
It is with great pleasure that I report to you that I mailed my bear-can home today. In the national parks through which we walked over the last three hundred plus miles (Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite) , hikers are required by law to carry all food and other smellables in bear-proof containers. The bear can only weighs 2.5 lbs, but it’s bulky, awkward and terribly annoying, and everyone ditches it at the first possible moment. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with all that extra room in my pack now. I will probably begin skipping down the trail.
Matt hiked the last 76 miles and managed to keep up a champion’s pace doing three 20 plus mile days in a row, and then a tough 12 into town yesterday. The scenery blew his mind (as it would anyone’s) and I think he got a kick out of his new window into the thru-hiker subculture. We had perfect weather, and encountered just enough snow on the ground to glissade (slide down on your butt) down a slope.
All that pleasant stuff being said though, the mosquitos have reached a new level of insanity. Stopping for a break is rarely an option. I try to keep my skin fully covered, but my hands and neck have fallen victim to dozens of bites. When I sit cross-legged, sometimes my knees press up against my pants, and the bugs can bite through. I counted nearly twenty bites on just my left knee this afternoon. Supposedly the mosquitoes will chill out a bit after the next hundred miles. I sure hope so.
Finally able to update – July 16, 2010
Finally….a new blog entry. Since I’ve last written I have hiked the longest stretch of trail in the country without crossing a road (200+ miles), seen the most phenomenal Sierra scenery, been awoken by an earthquake, and survived some pretty aggressive mosquito swarms (special thanks and shout outs to my stylish full-body mosquito suit). Although I hiked through more snow than I have ever previously seen, it was quite manageable, if slow going at times – which I attribute to my late Sierra entry date. I had really great company throughout this section and continue to meet the most interesting and diverse people. I encountered a curious (but not threatening) bear, and tons of marmots (I’ll keep you updated on my attempts to catch and domesticate a marmot so I can have a furry cuddle buddy in my sleeping bag at night).
The second side trip was again 16 miles round-trip. Although I’d planned to hike all the way through the Sierra without resupplying, I realized as soon as I attempted to load my pack that I needed to reconsider. My pack is only made to carry 35 lbs, and I’m pretty sure that I’m only made to carry an even lighter load. Along with Wiffle Chicken and Breezy, I decided to hike out at mile 790 via the Kearsage Pass Trail to the town of Independence, CA to resupply half-way though. While hiking down the side trail, Breezy ran into someone he knew, and convinced them to loan us their car. The car was a huge windfall since we thought it might be tough to get a ride into town. I haven’t felt so excited to have access to a car since I was sixteen.
We happened to be in Independence on the Fourth of July. Given their name, the town of Independence has an unusually large celebration for a town of less than 600 people. We started the day with a pancake breakfast hosted by the Lions club, walked in a parade behind a huge PCT banner, enjoyed a deep pit bbq (who knew they knew how to do bbq out here), watched a frog jumping contest and ended the day with fireworks. All in all it was a hilarious slice of small-town Americana, and when I post pictures of the motley crew hiking in the parade, you’ll see just how well we fit in – or not.
Our next resupply point was at Vermillion Valley Resort, a mile and a half walk, and a five mile boat ride off the 877 mile point on the PCT. The boat leaves at 4:30pm, and Wiffle Chicken and I had twenty miles to walk to reach the boat in time. Early in the day, it seemed we were right on schedule, but as the day went on, we got behind. Fortunately, the last 8 miles were all down hill, and I literally ran for much of it, approaching a four mile an hour pace, and arriving at the dock, just as the boat pulled up.
By the time we reached Toulomne Meadows (mile 942), we had nearly completed the John Muir Trail. The JMT, which runs contiguous with the PCT for most of its route, is widely considered to be the most scenic hiking trail in the U.S. At Toulomne Meadows the JMT split from the PCT, as the JMT’s last 27 miles descend down into Yosemite Valley. Having never been to Yosemite, and wanting to check the JMT off of my life list, I decided to hike the remaining miles. The terrain was pretty easy, and I did it over two days, allowing a leisurely pace.
I think this post is long enough. Matt will be hiking the next section with me (Toulomne to Sonora Pass). Hopefully from now on, I’ll be able to post more regularly.
Hitting the High Sierra – June 27, 2010
Hi everyone. After a wonderful week at home, I’m back on the trail. As always, bus travel was slow, and I got started hiking significantly later than I had planned. I hiked 10 miles the first day back, followed by 30 miles yesterday, and another 10 today. Doing 30 miles (tied for my longest hiking day ever) on my first full day back was tough, and I’m a bit sore today. I’m now at mile 702, Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierra. There is a general store here with showers for hikers, and I’ve set my tent up out back. A local resident lets hikers use his internet. I’m surprised by how hot it is – 90 degrees in the shade – but I’m hopeful that the heat wave is melting that snow that I’ll be encountering in the next few days.
I am a bit intimidated by the snow, the river crossings, the bears and the mosquitoes. But my main concern is how I’m going to carry my pack with 10 days of food, cold weather gear and a bear canister. My belongings will not come near to fitting into my pack, so I’m experimenting with different methods of strapping stuff to the outside. This next section is supposed to be the most beautiful on the entire trail, so I am excited despite my worries. If all goes well, I will not leave the trail for the next 177 miles, so that means I’ll be out of touch for awhile. I’ll post more asap.
Finishing the Desert – June 19, 2010
I’ve now covered 651 miles of trail. The last section started out as a bit of a debacle, but ended with three and a half days of pleasant walking. When I left Mojave, I had to walk through nine more miles of the wind farm that had presented such a challenge several days earlier. When the wind blew from the side, I could not maintain my balance AND continue to walk. I had to turn my back to the wind, jam my poles into the ground and shuffle along sideways. Despite the wind, the temperature was quite warm, so I began the hike wearing shorts. Sand and debris pelted my legs, causing a notable amount of pain. As I attempted to put on my pants that were whipping around uncontrollably, I accidentally let go of my sleeping pad and it was immediately taken by the wind. The nine miles was slow going. At an interstate crossing, I met a man who was just finishing a bike ride, and he offered to drive me back into town, suggesting that the winds at the top of the next hill might reach 100 mph that night. It didn’t take much convincing, and within 30 minutes I was back in Mojave, feeling a little wimpy about my decision.
The next morning, the hwy was closed due to the high winds, and I had to walk 13 road miles back to the trail. I was not happy. Once I reached the trail though, the wind was totally manageable, and there were trees, which, as I think I’ve mentioned before, have a strong positive influence on my mood. I hiked 16 trail miles to the first water source. When I arrived at the source, I was thrilled to see that seven people were already camped there, including Sky and Marianne, Stroker and Chocolate Bandito (of AT fame). In addition were three others that I hadn’t previously met, Pony, Your Mom and Borders. I joined the group, cowboy camping right in the trail, the last remaining flat spot. Sky let me borrow an extra foam pad; the temperature was perfect, and I slept wonderfully.
The next day (Saturday) was another tree covered walk on easy terrain. Despite long breaks throughout the day, twenty-four miles went by quickly. Camped that night with Pony, Your Mom, Chocolate Bandito, Sky and Marianne. Was really enjoying all the female companionship. The guy to girl ratio on the PCT is probably about 8:1, so all of these girls camping together is certainly a rarity. I enjoy the guys’ company for the most part, but sometimes I have to hear long conversations about topics like the varied ways different sorts of wood burns, or the merits of different brands of chainsaws. Who would have thought men could be so passionate about their chainsaws; or that two guys that I’ve hiked with have lost chainsaws in a breakup. What kind of girl takes a chainsaw in a breakup???
On Sunday we were back to a desert type environment – no shade and no water. We were beyond relieved that two caches had just been refilled with 100 gallons of water. Had they not been full, we would have had to walk 1.8 miles off the trail (one-way) to get water from a source that sounded less than desirable. Again I knocked out big miles (25) quickly, and reached camp before 7pm.
On Monday I had 21 miles to reach Walker Pass from which I would begin my journey home. The miles flew by. The day started with a 2,000 foot climb, but it was quite well graded and not particularly challenging. The only thing that slowed me down at all was that for much of the day, the trail bed was deep sand – pleasant on the feet, I guess, but difficult to move through quickly. Came across extravagant trail magic at the Walker Pass campground that reminded me of some that I encountered on the AT. A woman named Oakie Girl had set up two tents where she was hanging out and cooking and generally providing for hikers for several weeks. Such a pleasant surprise.
From there it took me almost forty-eight hours to reach Atlanta. One hitch, three busses, 12 hours (overnight) in the airport and a five hour flight. I’m here (well on the east coast anyway, headed to SC this afternoon) until next Thursday. I’ve been getting prepared to enter the High Sierra next week. I am a bit intimidated by the snow and by the weight of my pack (I’ll be carrying ten days of food), but I am ridiculously excited overall.
Mile 558 – June 10, 2010
The desert is officially almost over, and let me tell you – I am ready for a new ecosystem. I tend to handle the heat better than most people, and would certainly prefer it to the cold, but with temps reaching one hundred degrees this week, and an almost complete lack of shade, it’s getting a bit old. I’ve been getting up to begin hiking at 5am the past four days to get as many miles in as possible and find whatever small amount of shade is available before the mid-day sun gets cooking. Those that know me will immediately understand how serious this heat / sun situation is because I’m typically not a morning person.
Now for a brief summary of each day since I last posted…
-6/4, headed out of the Suafley’s early in the day to hike the 24 miles to the Andersons’, aka Casa de Luna. Was happy to be hiking again and flew through the gentle terrain. Became (even more) paranoid about rattlesnakes when one leaped from a bush at chest level towards Red Cash Folsom and we subsequently learned about the Mojave Green, an aggressive and particularly venomous type of rattlesnake that lives in this region.
When trail angel John Deere dropped me off at the trail that morning he said in a serious tone, ” I have to tell you what I tell all young women: Use good judgment at the Andersons’.” Hmmm, I thought, what am I headed towards? Casa de Luna did indeed have a debaucherous atmosphere, but Joe and Terry Anderson are some of the warmest most compassionate people that I have ever met. In addition to welcoming hundreds of hikers into their homes each year, they provide three meals a day, highlighted by Terry’s famous taco salad each night.
-Spent most of 6/5 (my one month anniversary on the trail) lounging around the Andersons’ watching movies and waiting for the heat to break. At 5pm I headed to the trail with Red Cash Folsom and Hui (I was finally able to catch up with Hui as he was caught in the Anderson vortex for several days). We hiked eight miles and camped with several other thru hikers – Picker, Dr. No and Special 41.
-On 6/6 the whole group woke up at 4:30am to begin hiking. Hui, Cash and I put in 18 miles before 1pm. We found a small grove of trees where we lunched and dozed in the shade for several hours before putting in an additional seven miles to make 25 on the day.
-6/7 – woke up and walked 7 miles to a highway crossing with an interesting compound type complex called hiker-town. Hiker-town is a few acres of land owned by a wealthy film producer. He built a home in the desert as a getaway and began placing old film props (cars, manikins, art, etc) and old-west style buildings around the property. When he found out that the pct passes right by his place, he began inviting hikers to hangout in a large garage that he’s converted into a sort of lounge area. Hiker-town is strategically located just before the hottest section of the trail – 16 flat, straight miles along an aqueduct. Hui and I waited out the heat and began the aqueduct walk at 5:30pm. I had heard a lot of negative talk about this section, but I found it rather enjoyable. The temperature began to drop shortly after we began walking, and we saw an amazing sunset. The miles began to go by slowly after dark, and though we walked until after 11pm, we didn’t quite make it to our intended destination 16 miles in.
Two little terriers began following us at about 7:30pm. At first their constant barking seemed malicious, but eventually they stopped barking but continued to follow us for the rest of the night.
-6/8 – When we woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see that the dogs were still with us. They began jumping vigorously on my sleeping bag when I sat up in the morning (I hadn’t set up my tent, being so tired when we reached camp late the night before). The dogs began hiking with us, and I started fretting about what I would do if they followed us the entire twenty-five miles into town. I didn’t want to leave them alone in the desert, but it would have been quite difficult to implement any of the ideas I came up with (fly them to Atlanta and convince one of my animal loving friends to take them in?). Luckily they began to follow another hiker about 6 miles into the day, so I didn’t have to make any decisions. They would be well served to hangout on the PCT and let the bleeding heart hikers provide them with food for the rest of the summer.
The 25 miles into town yesterday were tough…very hot, 3,000 feet of elevation gain, no shade due to fire damage. Most notable was the wind near the end of the hike. I wish I had never written about the wind before b/c this wind made all others feel like a gentle breeze. I literally had difficulty walking or even standing up straight. I could not have made it without my trekking poles. Again I was walking through a wind farm, so instead of cursing the wind I (tried) to be happy that Californians are getting clean energy from this force.
Hui has a friend who lives outside of Tehachapi, and we stayed with him last night. He took us immediately from the trail to a Mexican restaurant that has dollar tacos on Tuesday nights. I am not exaggerating when I say these were the best tacos with the freshest, highest quality ingredients I have ever had. In spite of what Matt said when I raved about these tacos on the phone, this is not just hiker hunger talking. These things were the real deal! We watched the Lakers-Celtics game at the restaurant (it’s unusual to be in an atmosphere where people actually like the Lakers) and then collapsed into bed exhausted.
Hiker Heaven, Day 2 – June 3, 2010
I meant to mention yesterday that one of the few amusing aspects of the road walk was that several cars pulled over to ask me, “Where the on earth are all you people walking?” I got the impression that these drivers had been commuting along the road daily and seeing five or six or more hikers everyday for the last several weeks, and had finally reached the point where they couldn’t stand the curiosity anymore. This guy, “No Pain” who is a five or six time AT veteran had a similar but funnier experience…Someone who pulled over while he was walking asked what he was protesting. Apparently the driver had the strange impression that we were walking from Mexico to Canada in protest of something and planned to rescind our citizenship at the border. I wonder how such rumors get started.
I also forgot yesterday to comment on the unique rock formations we’ve been seeing, especially in the Devil’s Punchbowl and Vasquez Rocks areas. I think they must be the work of the San Andreas fault.
I have pretty much been eating since I’ve been here. Last night I had my first ever “In and Out” burger as well as a pint of the best flavor of Ben and Jerry’s that I’ve ever tried – Boston Creme Pie. This morning I had another new and wonderful creation…cinamon roll french toast.
I’ll be hiking out tomorrow; headed for the Anderson’s. They are trail angels 24 hiking miles away who also host hikers. Today is the hottest day that we’ve had since I’ve been out here, and it’s only supposed to get hotter. My schedule over the next twelve days until I fly out will not be too grueling – I have just under 200 miles left to cover; good thing since the heat might become an issue.
I’ve arrived at “hiker heaven” at the Saufley’s in Agua Dulce, PCT mile 454. I can’t wait until I can post some pictures of this place. The Saufleys have the capacity to host fifty hikers in their home, a full size trailor and six canvas tents with cots. Donna Saufley does the laundry; there are three computers, a charging station for electronics, a package pickup center, loaner clothes, a ride board and more ammenities that I can’t think of right at the moment.
Since we last spoke I have walked my first ever thirty mile day; navigated both the fire detours (including a 37 mile road walk), and stayed with a kind trail angel named Jean in Wrightwood.
At first I didn’t mind the road walking too much, but in yesterday afternoon’s heat it was getting pretty old. I can’t remember being in direct sun for such a prolonged time since summer soccer camps as a kid. I have been really good about sunscreen, but I still have developed a phenomenal farmers tan. My biggest concern though was where I would camp during the road walk. The first night I stealth camped in a discrete spot just off the road. Yesterday morning I met up with two guys named Walker Texas Ranger and Flannel. I stayed with them most of the day, and we ended up camping at an awesome farm called blum ranch. I was tempted to buy some peach preserves but didn’t want to carry them into Agua Dulce.
I am currently in line for a shower, so I’ll stop now. I may take a zero day here tomorrow, so perhaps I’ll write again.
I got a late start out of Big Bear after pleasant visits with my dad, who drove up from a conference in San Diego; and Mr. Alley, a friend of my grandparents’, who took me out to a delicious Mexican dinner and showed me around the town. Since leaving Big Bear I have hiked 77 miles. Here are some high-lights and low-lights from this last stretch.
Hi-lights:
-awesome views of Big Bear Lake and Lake Silverwood
-pleasant (almost cool) day time hiking temperatures, in a region where 110 degree temps are common in May.
-daily mileage totals of 22, 21 and 25 miles that didn’t even require hiking all day.
-There is a McDonalds 0.4 miles off the trail at the I-15 intersection. You might think that McDonalds and thru-hiking don’t really go together. One being a healthy, ambitious endeavor; the other a large corporation making unparalled contributions to the obesity epedemic. If you thought this way, you thought wrong. Consuming large quantities of food is an integral part of a thru hike, and a place with a dollar menu like McDonalds where a hungry hiker can consumer thousands of calories is heaven. While I did not attempt the challenge of eating everything on the dollar menu, I did indulge in 2 double cheeseburgers, a strawberry milkshake and some chicken selects. Sadly, only three hours later, I am already a bit hungry again.
-seeing increasingly more hikers as I gradually catch up with the back of the “herd”(people that started the trail at the “kick-off” held during the last weekend of April).
-Deep Creek Hot Springs; hot springs = good.
low-lights:
-Deep Creek Hot Springs is a “clothing optional” location frequented by some colorful and very naked locals; old naked guys in public = bad
-on my first night out of Big Bear, I hiked only 9 miles before it got dark. It was a cold night, and I didn’t want to spend the time learning how to set up my new tent, so I simply got in my sleeping bag and tried to go to sleep. I woke up around midnight, too cold to sleep. The moon was almost full, and I was camping in a clearing, so I could see quite well. About 1:30am, I saw a coyote about 10 yards away, just standing and looking at me. I yelled and clapped my hands, and when it ran away, I saw that it had a companion. Needless to say, I did not sleep much the rest of the night.
-my new tent (I immediately swore off cowboy camping after the coyote visitors) blew over in the wind on Wednesday night; hopefully b/c I dont know how to set it up quite right yet and not b/c it’s a flawed design.
-aches and pains: right knee still sore; shin splints in my lower right leg; periodic shooting pain in the top of my right foot; new (fairly minor) blisters. I bought three bags of ice, filled up a tub with cold water, dumped in the ice, and submerged myself for 20 minutes. It wasn’t pleasant, so I hope it helped and wasn’t just useless torture.
-I couldn’t figure out how to upload pictures on here, so I’ll have to wait until I take time off before the Sierra and can spend a bit more time working on that.
looking ahead:
-I have some concerns about the next stretch of trail; there is a 10,000 foot mountain to traverse (Baden-Powell) that is still totally covered in snow; and major trail reroutes and detours around a burned area that will require significant road walking.
Mile 265 – May 23, 2010
I have just eaten a delicious pancake breakfast at the Big Bear Lake hostel and am looking out the window at a blizzard. Well, I’m sure technically it’s not a blizzard, but to me it sure looks like one. It is 28 degrees outside with a wind advisory and has been snowing since early this morning. I have never been so happy to be inside. I’m taking a zero day today (day with no hiking), and tomorrow the weather is supposed to be much better, so it’s all good.
Tough hiking these these last five days since Idyllwild. I left Idyllwild last Tuesday to do the 16 mile road walk around Fuller Ridge. The road walk was tough, but I was met with success (read, I did not get hit by a car). The next day I descended 7,000 feet over fifteen miles down towards interstate 10. I thought this downhill hiking would be quick and easy, but it was neither. There was no shade at all on the trail; the sun was blistering, and for the first time on this hike I got horrendous blisters. At first I found it odd that I could walk 200 miles with no blisters at all, and then in one day develop them in multiple places on both feet, but on further thought, I realized that going down for fifteen straight miles probably was a different sort of stress on my feet. Once I got to the bottom, I hiked another five miles and then settled down for the night.
My feet were feeling pretty excruciating the next day, so I decided to take it easy. I hiked seven miles to this Wildlands conservancy that had running water, shade, grass and picnic tables. I took a relaxing four and a half hour break there, avoiding the heat of the day. I walked only six additional miles after leaving my lunch spot, making it a 13 mile day, my shortest on trail day so far. On Friday, my feet felt much better, and I was able to hike 21 miles. The first 10 miles were up a creek bed in a HOT canyon; navigating the multiple creek crossings was tough. For the first time, my gps unit was actually quite helpful, and I felt some sense of accomplishment for making it through on my own.
It is worth commenting that for the three and a half days described above, I did not see a single other north-bound hiker. I am still behind the bulk of the other thru hikers. At lunch on Friday (just after climbing out the canyon and finding some much needed shade) I came upon three other hikers also enjoying the shade. I was pretty happy to have the human contact and we enjoyed a leisurely lunch together. This group was moving slowly (they started two weeks before me), and I went ahead of them that afternoon to hike an additional ten miles. During this ten miles, I climbed 5,000 feet, in addition to 3,000 feet during the creek bed walk. By the time I was at the top, the sun was setting, the wind was picking up, and the temperature was dropping. I found a somewhat sheltered place to camp, but the wind was so intense that I didn’t get much sleep that night.
Yesterday I knew I had twenty miles to hike to get into town, and I thought it might take most of the day. Instead, the terrain was really flat and fast, and between 6:30am and 2:30pm I covered the twenty miles. The miles were going by so fast, that I thought I must be confused about where I was, but soon I reached the hwy, and shortly there after I was eating country fried steak in a restaurant. I was happy to see that there are about ten other hikers staying here at the hostel.
I’m at mile 265 now, over 10% of the way done with the entire trail, and well over a third of the way done with the desert section.
Yesterday (Monday) was probably the most intense day of hiking of my life. After Matt and Nora dropped me off on the trail (on Sunday), I hiked about eleven miles before finding a spot to camp for the night. During the hike I didn’t see any people until about 7pm. Then I saw an older man with an exceptionally long beard approaching from the north. I knew it was the famous Billy Goat, a long distance hiking legend who has 20,000 hiking miles under his belt. I was honored to chat with Billy Goat for a few minutes about conditions on the trail up ahead. I asked if he had seen other hikers that day, and was disappointed when he said that he hadn’t.
I knew the next day I would be crossing a section that was covered in snow, and Hui had recommended that I hike with “people who know what they’re doing.” Where am I supposed to find these people? I thought, since I wasn’t encountering many people, either with or without experience route finding through snow covered trail.
The next morning (yesterday) I began hiking at about 6:45am. Within an hour of hiking I came across a campsite where two girls (who I later learned to be sisters) were just getting ready to begin hiking (I guess they had already set up camp when Billy Goat passed the day before, and he didn’t see them in the evening light). Later when I walked an hour in the wrong direction down a side trail stopped for a break, the girls caught up to me and were joined by a young guy named Odysseus who had apparently camped only a mile behind me on the trail. I was relieved to have people with whom to confront the snow. We gained several thousand feet in elevation over the course of the day, definitely the steepest climbs I’ve yet encountered on the PCT.
In mid afternoon we caught up with two section hikers who were taking a break. While we chatted with them, a thru-hiking couple approached on the trail. I couldn’t believe it; twenty-four hours earlier I felt completely alone in the wilderness, and now I was with seven other people, by far the largest number of people I’d seen thus far on this trail.
Odysseus, No Pants, her sister (whose name I’m not sure of), and I took off to tackle the snowy section of the trail. Immediately things went awry. We lost the trail and attemped to climb straight up the side of a snow covered mountain. The section hikers saw us from down below, and called for us to come back down. I was scared I would slip and fall to my death. Although I fell many times over the course of the day, I escaped without any serious injuries.
Once we made it down to level ground, the couple that we’d seen earlier hiked back towards us. They’d lost the trail as well, and decided it would be safer to hike through as a group. To make a long story short, I dont think we were ever on the PCT for the next four hours of hiking, but with two gps units, a good map, and several good brains, we made it to our destination, Saddle Junction. I literally do not know how I would have made it through on my own an am infinitely thankful for the camraderie and assitance that I gained from the other hikers.
After 2.5 additional (snowless) miles down the Devils Slide Trail, and a two mile road walk, we finally made it into town at about 8:30pm – over 11 and a half hours of hiking. I was exhausted, but a Mexican meal and a shower made me very happy. Not that it was ever really in question, but there is no way I am attempting Fuller Ridge, which is under even deeper snow. It will require a nearly 20 mile road walk for me to avoid it, but my safety is worth the extra miles. While some people will probably hitch to the trailhead, I’m not b/c my goal is to walk from Mexico to Canada, and to maintain the integrity of that endeavor, I dont want to skip any sections.
Gotta go now, headed to the store to resupply for the aproximately 100 miles between here and Big Bear City. Need to begin this long road walk before it gets too late in the day. Will write from Big Bear next weekend.
Let me start by saying that I don’t think I adequately emphasized how lovely Warner Springs is. They have one of the largest pools I have ever seen, and it is fed by hot springs, keeping its temperature near 105 degrees. Being in that pool, floating on some noodles is the true meaning of relaxation (and the only time my knee has felt loose in the last week and a half).
We hiked only six miles out of town, and just like the half day hike into town, it was truly blissful walking. Hui and I camped down by a creek and had a chilly night – woke with my sleeping bag covered in frost. The temp got up into the 80s the next afternoon though, during which I hiked my longest day yet – 23 miles, followed up by my first night of camping by myself this trip. I wasn’t too scared, and the night was notably warmer, giving me probably my best sleep thus far.
As many of you know, I was supposed to be attending a wedding in Atlanta next weekend. Well, it only took a few hours of desert hiking for me to realize that taking five days off to travel across the country and risk still being in the desert in late June was foolish. When I reached Mount Laguna I called Kelley and told her I would not be able to make it, as I decided that I couldn’t take that kind of time off until after I had the 702 desert miles under my belt. I do hope Kelly forgives me and has a great wedding weekend!
Matt had already planned to visit his sister in LA this weekend, but I hadn’t considered meeting up with them since I thought I would be seeing him in Atlanta next week. Since I’m not going to be traveling home next weekend (and since my knee is still messed up), I decided to meet up with Matt and Nora this weekend. We agreed that they would take me back to the trail at mile 151 where I got off (two hours by car from LA), if I made it down to LA on my own.
I started hiking before 7am to get in 12 miles and reach the hwy by noon. Seven hours, one hitch, one cab ride, two bus trips and several bizarre conversations later, I found myself in an Applebees in Riverside California waiting for Matt’s sister to pick me up (I was supposed to take the train into LA from Riverside but missed the last departure of the night).
I sat down at the bar a couple seats over from a guy who noticed my pack, and asked me if I was hiking the PCT. I said that I was, and he told me that he lived in Idyllwild (where I had just come from). He said that he had just left Idyllwild and driven down to Riverside an hour and a half earlier. Oh the irony! Had I gotten a ride from this guy, I would have saved five + hours of travel and avoided the guy who sat next to me on the bus for forty minutes, saying over and over again, “Your straight blond hair with little pieces of brown looks very pretty with your green shirt” (should be read in an inappropriately loud monotone – think Rain Man).
I’m resting in Nora’s apartment now, icing my knee and eating a lot. Hui will be a day or two ahead of me when I get back on the trail, but I think I will relish the solitude of the desert after the traffic and craziness I’ve experienced in just a half day in LA.
I am enjoying the hiking. The plant life out here is much more diverse than I imagined. When I’m hiking with Hui I get to hear a lot about the different plants, most of which I would have just labeled as “cactus.” So far everything is a lot more green than I had anticipated – thanks to the wet winter / spring. We’ve also hit the desert at the perfect time – full bloom, beautiful flowers everywhere.
I love being able to do big mile days right off the bat, but my knee is giving me a little trouble. Hopefully the half day today and another tomorrow will help with that. I’ve had a few other misadventures as well: I lost my water filter, and had some issues with my tent, which I will elaborate on below.
I had my first trail magic (acts of kindness towards hikers) last night, when a section hiker named Grumpy brought Hui and I 7ups and candy bars to our campsite. When Grumpy asked why my tent was set up with rocks, I told him that I had lost my tent stakes two days earlier. He walked back down the trail to his car; got the stakes from his own tent, and gave them to me, trusting me to mail them back to him when I can get more. Unfortunately I learned later that night, that even with stakes, my tent does not function well at all in extreme winds as it began to literally blow away at midnight last night. I think I’m going to have to look into ordering a new one online in the off chance that we run into any rain down here.
We’ve been meeting a handful of other aspiring thru hikers, even though we are significantly behind most of the herd that started in late April. One sad story about a man we met…on the second day we passed a guy named Jake who had started a day before us, and was moving very slowly down the trail. He had just retired from the army and had a hip and shoulder replacement a year ago after getting shot. He said he was recovered from those injuries, but that his knee was causing him pain. He told me that one of his army buddies had hiked a bit of the PCT and dreamed of doing a thru hike, but was killed last year. Jake was carrying his ashes to scatter at some point on the trail. The next day we found out that later that night, Jake had been hiking through the night and fell and busted his face up pretty good, and broke a couple ribs. He had to be life flighted out of the woods. It’s crazy how things can go so bad so quickly.
Not sure how to transition from that downer…Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures when I reach Idyllwild next weekend. A little nervous b/c we have to cross a high mountain this week (I think) that is allegedly still covered in 2-4 feet of snow. There is also a forest fire a couple hundred miles ahead of us, that may require us to do some road walking around it. For now though I am going to relax and enjoy this day in town.
Flying to LA and taking a train down to San Diego today to get my PCT hike started. If all goes according to plan, I’ll arrive early this evening. My friend Mary is picking me up from the train station, and I’ll stay with her tonight. Sojo and Hui will be meeting up and starting the trail with me. For those that are new to this hiker trash world, we go by trail names. Mine is Swiss Miss. I know it seems odd, but it becomes normal very quickly. Hui is a friend I met on my 2006 Appalachian Trail thru hike, and Sojo and I met through the PCT listserve. next four and a half months or so.
Peanut Butter and Frosting 