Dropped nearly everything at Lake Morena so my family (Larry, Sela and Tim) could drive me to the border with a lighter pack. (This is known as “slack-packing” in the hiking community.) Left the border at 8:30 AM after the obligatory border photo. Hugging Larry and Sela good bye it really struck me — I'm alone…I'm free all at the same moment.
Signing it at the registry I added my name to the other pilgrims, vagabonds, wanderers and yes hiker trash. As the trail began it was curious that it ran along the side of the road, crossing and recrossing, I could see our car on the top of the hill and then they drove north, leaving dust clouds driving away… So here I am in the middle of the desert not really by myself but feeling so full of adventure.
Two trail bosses from California Fire division of Forestry visited with me for a bit. They were very proud of the trail which is well deserved. As I progressed up the trail for the next several miles, amazingly clean and well groomed.
I stopped at 10 miles to look at my feet, which are fine. Drank a
couple liters of water and enjoyed the smells of mint, sage and sand.
The flowers are in every color. Several hikers are already at Lake
Morena and there are several hikers ahead of me today.
How did I
get so lucky?
Cibbets Flats Campground .8 miles downhill from trail. Saw lizards, rosy boa, garter snakes. Hiked for 2 1/2 hours from Lake Morena to Boulder Oaks and slept for an hour, ate a bunch of boiled eggs and bell peppers. Tonight I slept near a bunch of other hikers, ripped out a corner of tarp.
Mt Laguna Campground. At 2:30 Squeak called his girlfriend in San Diego and asked her to bring out Pizza and snacks to the campground…and she did. Vevee also brought pie, cheesecake. What a life!! Lots of great people — K-too, Chef, Nocona, Bald Eagle, Debbie, Robert, Jenny, Micheal and lots of others. So a feast and rides to and from trailhead.
Today I hiked further than I ever have with a full pack, weighing in at 42 lbs with food and water. Nearly 15 miles, in 11 hours. Enjoyed really simple pleasures; watching a bee get a drink, seeing a woodpecker, meeting up with other hikers to talk about the trail and the day. Now its 10 and I'm beat. There are about 20 campers in the campground with about 5 truly amazing snorers.
I sent my coat home today because I needed more room in pack for the upcoming water challenges. I'll eat a bunch tomorrow to make more room. My feet are looking good and I am pleased with my mileage today. I did 15.5 miles but I know I'll have to get bigger miles to make it to Walker Pass by June 1. So I will have to hike more hours and faster.
Seat - Feet - Eat
Tonight sleeping at side of trail under the stars. It's sure faster. Slept near Ukulele Nate & Brit, Squeak & Berkeley. Made camp at 7PM at mile 62.7 Mason Valley Tuck Road.
Walked with Berkeley for much of the day. A tiny blister starting on pinky toe. Pretty hot today. Decided to carry 7 liters of water into San Felises. Blister got much worse over the course of the day. Very beautiful desert flowers today. No water in most of terrain, although after 10 miles a huge tank with lots of hiker friends waiting and encouraging each other. There's so much camaraderie here it's simply amazing.
Left from tank heading over the mountain into the desert floor
note from typist: there is a page missing here
Yesterday I had every intention of going back on the trail. My feet were feeling better, yes, yes, they were. But when I was sorting through my gear — what I don't need, what to send home, send ahead, pack & go — I took a really good look at my feet. I assessed them from a more clinical point of view. So 12 blisters with 2 bruises over 1″ x 1″. Two of the blisters on my heals are marble sized and the one on my pinky toe is quite large and very painful. My plan for healing them is to keep pressure off them today — I've popped them all with a needle in the hope of decreasing overall pain, which seems to have worked. I washed them with soap, then I applied ointment and put on clean socks and elevated my feet. In the light of day I vacillate between “yes I made the right decision” to “I should just tough it out and shuffle up the trail”.
I'm lucky to have a safe haven. I'm staying at Monte's still. His hospitality has been awesome. Great coffee, omelets, warm bed, laundry, and just a place to sit and be comfortable.
Reading on the internet to follow other trail journals, there are many hikers with lots of zero days for blisters. Seems pretty equal for ultralight and non-ultralight hikers.
There are lots of things I could think of dropping some more weight, but I don't really know where. I guess I'll start by thinking again about the stove issue. My stove, the Jetboil, has a couple of crappy problems:
And here I thought the endless loops of gear-talk were done. Oh naive me.
If I wink my eye maybe it'll just be replaced. Probably not. I'll just stick with this stove until Agua Dulce.
Back on the trial, walking with Monte for a few hours, but my feet are not yet healed. Well, more accurately, I'm missing the bottom of my pinky toe. Ouch! Struggling up the trail in lots of heat. The trail grade was easy (6%) but it was super hot with hot wind. After about 5 hours I found a couple of boulders making a shady spot, threw my pad down right next to the trail and fell asleep in the shade. Other hikers were similarly affected by the heat and there were several hikers asleep by the trail or resting any way. Rousing myself, I pushed on after a two hour break and climbed to Lost Valley Spring. My water from the creek earlier that day was a lovely shade of green. Lots of hikers — K-too, Quasimodo, Nocona, Bald Eagle, Chef, Ossie, Robert, Debbie — making dinner. Two others, Ski Bum and SnowShoe, got water and left. I settled in and made dinner. Got done and needed more water, so I headed down to the spring to get some water.
K-too and I were chatting and laughing. As K-too reached for the cover of the spring a big ass rattle snake sprang up. K-too jumped toward me (and the safety of distance). The snake reacted by simultaneously attacking and retreating. Rattle, rattle, rattle. K-too was shaky; it was quite a scare. I was distant from the snake so it wasn't as intimidating. I then decided that I didn't need water after all. So we turned around and were heading back to the trail. Another hiker, Chef, came a-moseying down the trail. He was undeterred by the snake and plunked the intake tube for his water filter right into the water with one eye on the rattler, now coiled up a few feet away. He got his water. K-too returned to the spring and filled his water also. I got mine filled and we headed up the steep path to the dinner area.
As we shouldered our packs I noticed one of the guys wasn't really getting ready. Robert said he needed to go to hospital. He thought he had a hernia. After some discussion he wanted to continue a northbound trek rather than return to Warner Springs — 10 miles back. So, splitting up his gear and water, we started hiking, hiked for a few hours under a full moon without need for light. We hiked until 10:30 PM and joined up with the whole herd of 9 hikers.
The plan to get Robert to medical help the next morning was made and we slept in a huge burned-out area. Everything was ashy and as the moon shone on us it was a surreal setting.
Next morning we hiked out to Chihuahua Valley Road a total of about 8 miles. K-too had flagged a car down to get help at 6:30 AM and at 10AM a helicopter buzzed us looking for Robert. They gave him a one mile (FREE) ride via helicopter to the road where there was an ambulance, firetrucks, etc. We returned his belongings to him. Off he and Debbie went to Escondido to visit the hospital and doctor.
At Chihuahua Valley Road was a blessed water cache. 25 gallons of water and a trash receptacle. WOW! So very appreciated.
The group was very hot — temps over 100° and people were pretty tightly wound from the rescue. The people who'd walked out faster were ready for moving on, so they did. The group became smaller. Individuals hiking away in the hot air. The burn in this area is quite interesting; trees and rocks scorched beyond recognition. Mushrooms were growing on some of the trees. I'm listening to “Lord of the Rings” and the hobbits are enjoying lots of mushrooms, so it's a funny sight.
Long, hot, uphill/downhill, with dust devils plaguing me. The water and the long awaited tank at Tule Canyon is awful. It's silty or something so it doesn't really quench your thirst. I carried a lot of it and hiked into the darkness with a ghoulish orange full moon rising. The fires in Temecula are still burning not so far away. The ash fills the air and combined with the silty water makes my throat and tongue burn. Found others to camp near at about 9PM, washed up, wrote this and fell sound asleep (I hope).
Tonight lots of people want to be in Idyllwild for Cinco de Mayo. So we push the 13 miles in. The heat is intense, the hot wind chased me and I wore no sleeves and got a bad sunburn on my arms. Hard elevation increases this afternoon. I did make it to the highway into town late in the afternoon. Grabbed a veggie burger at Paradise and got a ride into Idyllwild with Rhythm's parents. Sidewinder got a fever, chills, etc. I think he has heat exhaustion. Train Wreck needed a couple of meals to stay on the trail so I gave her some (then I could go to town). Stayed at Taquitz Inn with Shepard, K-too, and Chef.
Hard to get moving. Got a ride back to the trail from Meadow Mary who is following her husband on the trail and providing support for many others: rides, advice, and TLC. Feeling sluggish this morning; too much food and not great sleep, also got really carsick on the ride from town around 17 miles.
Talked with Sela this morning about logistics and as always she's so terrific. She took care of many of the small worries I've had about logistics just making this a bit easier.
For the first time since the border we have a cloud cover. Outstanding! It's 10:30 and it's less than 75°. I'm carrying 4½ liters of water.
On the one hand it isn't a race —
Leaving the kickoff in high spirits everyone moved along pretty quickly. Now, days later, I am feeling disappointed with myself. My feet are still struggling — my little toe has had blisters within blisters and today's climb was very difficult.
I'd like to be in Agua Dulce the last week of May at the latest and I'm thinking about skipping part of the trail. 20 miles a day feels outside of reach tonight. It's cold and I'm lonely. It's beautiful and I am reborn, filled with gratitude for every fresh hour here on the trail.
Tonight on this high ridge I can see the twinkling undulations of lights, commerce, home and hearth. Yet I am far removed and victorious here under the manzanita and starlight.
In addition to being one giant 200 mile (so far) ant trail, supplied with an all-you-can-eat buffet of trail mix from hikers, this trail is sure one long wind tunnel. I hiked over 20 miles today with a nearly 8000 foot descent. It was great weather until around 7PM but at that time the wind kicked up and it was blowing with a fury. Every step was arduous because I felt like I would blow right off the mountain. The rocky flooring wasn't very stable and it was pitch black with just an LED flashlight. The trail went on and on and the lights of town didn't seem to be getting any closer. Mice were scurrying about the trail in the less windy spots. After two hours of dark crappy hiking in the wind, I reached the road and water, stripped my sweat-drenched clothes, put on long underwear, and fell into my sleeping bag. The wind made cooking an impossibility. Sometimes things are just hard.
After yesterday's highs and lows today was rejuvenating. I talked with Sherpa about the trail after the long and windy night. I could hear planes and trains and automobiles and wondered if they would take me to my life. But I know if I went away from this it would lose its sharpness and poignancy. I need to keep doing this even if/when it's hard.
I got help from the convenience store owners to get a ride back to the trail and the guys at the wind station gave me water and that was my contact with humanity today. I slept alone in a beautiful canyon having frogs in the water and bats overhead. I slept really well.
Today I had no, zero motivation. I was tired, dull headache, and weary. Rested frequently, continued to drink a lot (there's plenty of water) but I just could not move very far.
The weather was great, water good, trail pretty easy.
I rested a lot and set up camp before 6PM. I'm disappointed because I wanted to get in 20 miles, but instead only did around 10.
Today was great! Ran into Rhythm and Sidewinder first thing this morning. Rhythm's foot is still bothering him so he's heading to a doctor ASAP. The weather was great: 60–70° most of the day. Hiking by myself from 6:30AM to 4:30PM with only a short break — drank a great big huge cup of COFFEE! Yum. I took a small portion of a pain pill. Man, I felt so much better. Really helped me go the distance — 19½ miles today — happily.
Met up with 4 hikers who told me that the Cabazon section (that I hiked the day before) is closed because of FIRE. I saw that burn area and thought it was new, but my gosh it was right there. They hitched up here (around 50 miles). I wonder if all the hikers made it out okay?
Tonight I met up with Sparrow and Blind Pig trail angels from Cascade Locks who are section hiking SOBO. Lots of good info on water and camping.
Tomorrow — Big Bear City. Woo hoo!
Today I hiked 18 miles and made it to a hot springs. It was certainly entertaining. A man dressed only in a towel made dinner for hikers. For $10 one could buy salmon or steak, potatoes, salad and cookies. Beer was $3. He hauled this food in several miles with him and a dog carrying the load. Ice was carried in by additional friends. Sitting in the hot springs with a “restaurant meal” after hiking a long day and then to still be in the wilderness was amazing. I hiked with my good friend Chef for a lot of the day. The trail was very narrow in some sections and there were a lot of snakes and horny lizards. I had to cross several steel span bridges today and I had quite a bit of trepidation because I just don't like to cross bridges. It went okay (no big suprise) and the scenery was certainly different.
Today I was at mile 474 at a trail angels house and I slipped and fell in the driveway. As a hit the ground I put my hands down to brace myself and heard/felt my wrist snap. My very first thought was thank god it wasn't my ankle. Many friends were around to help me up, got me ice, Ibuprophen, etc. I spent the evening in denial with my arm in the ice chest. I couldn't write, tie my shoes, use my hiking poles, unpack my sleeping bag, get my pack on my back…
Called Sherpa in Olympia to tell her, since she was planning on coming down soon, she just drove straight through so that by the time she arrived, I had visited the doctor. I did fracture my wrist and got a temporary cast. The bottom is fiberglass, hard plastered and the top is a stretchy wrap. The staff wanted me to see an orthopedist but I'm not going to. Too much time etc. When Sherpa arrived we decided to drive to Mojave and await my hiking companions. So Ashley, Sherpa and I spent a week in Mojave driving hikers to the trail, to the motel, and waiting for my wrist to get better. It was so fun to have Ashley with us during this time, she got to meet everyone and we just got to spend good time together.
After much impatience and waiting around we hit the trail from Walker Pass. We hiked out around 10AM and walked for around 10 miles. We camped high above the desert with competing winds alternating hot and cold and making it feel like a wind tunnel. In fact our dreams were full of wind tunnel references.
We're taking a break for a couple days. Sherpa's knees told us to. Back on the trail soon.
VVR was awful. Dirty, unsanitary and unsatisfying. We expected the high prices and that would have been okay EXCEPT that the food sucked, staffing was inadequate for food service, and the place seriously needs a clean up. Many of the thru hikers were satisfied with their experience because they could get beer. We spent $130 for the two of us to ride there on an overcrowded boat, eat two chicken dinners that had to be sent back because the chicken wasn't adequately cooked, waitress forgot my beer then forgot my coffee, etc. Sherpa got a piece of pie.
Over 45 people were sharing two bathrooms that had rotting sheetrock and decrepit facilities.
I would strongly recommend skipping VVR and instead resupply to Muir Ranch, for two people it would definitely be a better deal. Want some beer? Include it in your bucket or go to Mammoth Lakes where life is great.
Last week we had a bear encounter. We had stopped in Evolution Valley in the Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park to camp for the night. We emptied our packs of food but were sleeping on a ground cloth without a tent. We had been restless as we were alert to the risk of bears in the area and at 12:05, Crow sat bolt upright and started yelling at a bear to drop the pack! She and I jumped up and ran after the bears (a female with a yearling cub) with our hiking poles and sticks and rocks. We followed the trail of our stuff that the bear dropped from my pack and when we found her, started hurling poles and sticks and rocks until she dropped my pack. Our hiking companions thought our limbs were being torn off by the bear because I was shrieking at the bear, I was so angry. Fortunately, my pack only had a pocket torn out, but Crow's pack was completely torn out. The whole back was split down the center. We used a dry bag and lashed it together to make it work. And the bears never touched our food!
Otherwise, we are experiencing both unimaginable bliss and tedium. On balance thus far, the bliss wins.
After two days in Mammoth Lakes (mile 900), we're off to the trailhead late in the day. Most of the 20 hikers who were in town have left for the day so we're slightly behind. It took a long time to get some different equipment and say good bye to our hiking companion Jenny.
Sherpa needed different shoes, her boots were too hot and too heavy, we are lucky there were great outfitters in town. The folks at Mammoth Moutaineering were very helpful and had a great selection. She finally picked a pair of La Sportiva mountain runners. I am concerned that she is going to move even faster on the trail. She is quite speedy! I also lost my mosquito headnet and broke my freshette (which I use to pee standing up).
We also were so grateful for all the good food here — natural food cafe “The Good Life”, a polynesian restaraunt “Lakanuki”, and Schatt's Bakery.
There have been lots of hikers in town, most of whom left for the trail today. There was a big party for K-too's 50th birthday. We were new into town and too pooped to party. We stayed at the EconoLodge and many of the hikers stayed at the campground near the trail.
Jenny, who we hiked with for quite a while, made the decision to leave the trail. We are sad yet know that it's the right decision for her to make. She misses her girlfriend and had spent more of her travel fund than expected so finishing the trail would be difficult. She took a bus to Reno, then rented a car bound for Sacramento. Good luck Jenny!!
We're at the internet cafe waiting for friends to give us a ride to the trailhead. They all went to see Spiderman 2. I didn't want that much action so I sat and read other people's journals and surfed the internet.
My wrist is still painful but I just keep going. Sherpa's knees still look like someone stuck bagels in her knees and they're stiff, but she keeps going. The trail is sometimes a trial, but tonight I feel her pulling me back, so off we go.
At this point, our lives are all about bears. Since our first encounter, we have had four more incidents with bears attempting to steal our food. Of the more interesting, one involved another hiker who decided to hang his food instead of using a “bear-proof” canister and instead hung his food in a tree. We woke to him barking like a sick dog at a mother and baby bear in the tree. The bears were ripping down branches to get at his food bag and the hiker was standing at the base of the tree with a can of pepper spray! I'm not sure what he thought he was doing but I was not interested in dealing with a bear that had been shot up the butt with pepper spray. We got the guy to back off so the bears could come down without hurting anyone. After smashing all his food into our canister, he wanted us to keep watch all night and we told him that he was welcome to do so as long as he liked. We were going to sleep.
Two nights later we were camped in the valley of Yosemite near the base of Half Dome. A tagged bear came through our camp near dusk and soon we heard her being chased out of other folks' camps. Another bear was at our camp at 10:30 trying to get at our food but we chased him off. Minutes later we heard others chasing him out of their camps, then out of another and another, all night long. At about 5:00 he came back into our camp to bat around the canisters some more. We were yelling at him to get out and banging our pots together. I was on my hands and knees in the tent, about to get out when the bear smacked the side of the tent and sent me sprawling. The side of the tent is torn open from his claws and so is my shoulder. I am not seriously injured, but boy, those bears better watch out for me now! I just hope it scars so that I will always be able to show off my bear injury.
At any rate, we have had it with Yosemite bears and are going on to Sonora Pass. We should be in Tahoe in about a week.
We've made it into Tahoe without seeing any bears. What we did see is possibly the most spectacular display of wildflowers ever! The lupines were shoulder high, interspersed with paintbrush, Queen Anne's lace, golden wallflower, ranger's buttons, monkeyflower, and few dozen more that I don't know the names of yet. There will be pictures on the website soon. We also got to travel past mountains of exfoliating granite, massive cinder cones, miles of columnar basalt, and “bizarre but beautiful” hills of coarse conglomerate. Many of the upper lakes were teeming with trout but I had to give up my rod and reel to cut weight. Boo hoo. Oh well, I don't have time to fish anyway if I want to make the miles. I guess I'll just have to come back.
Now that we're out of the High Sierras the passes are not as challenging or exciting. Ascents to 12,000 ft. saddles were a daily affair then. Now we will only climb above 9000 ft. once more. The trail is a lot more roller coaster-like, a lot of ups and downs every day instead of one big ascent. I miss the grandeur of the large passes but my knees are grateful for the gentler terrain. I'm not looking forward to the warmer temperatures at the lower elevations, but the shift in enviros is always exciting.
Crow and I are recovering from the stomach flu. We are grateful to have been in town and not on the trail when we got sick but are anxious to get back. It's funny, after 4–5 days on the trail, we can't wait to get into a town for a bed, showers, and town food. But two days in town and we're itching to get back on the trail and OUT OF TOWN. Soon, there will be dramatically fewer towns to get in to. That will mean carrying more food (for me, about 3 lbs. per day). This will be in regions where we again have to deal with long waterless stretches so we will simultaneously have to carry more water. I'm not looking forward to the additional weight. I find that I eat like crazy for the first few days to cut weight and come into town on lean rations. Then, I tank up to bloated proportions on town food. Coffee with cream! Miso soup with sushi (happy hour from 5–6 for hand rolls) and then Caesar's Palace for the buffet— all you can eat! Oh yea, baby! (I have to say thank you to all the gamblers for subsidizing my meal here in Tahoe.)
I'm off now to restock supplies and give Crow a little nursing for her fever.
We are now out of the Sierra and into northern California. This has been a section of stealth. Stealth hiking: We slack packed from the Sierra Crest into Sierra City (pop. 225) but took a short cut across an old mining road that was on the map. What was not on the map was this was a private road owned by a man with large attack dogs who despises hikers. So the four of us ended up tip-toeing through several miles of threatening signs and howling dogs before making our way onto the city street at the end. Nothing came of it but there were a lot of thumping hearts and supressed giggles at our unintentional adventure. Sierra City itself was a delightful town with everything we needed within two blocks. That's the beauty of tiny towns. Laundry, lodging, post office, grocery store, and restaurants, all our needs compacted to ultimate convenience. And, everyone there was warmly inviting to us dirty hikers. The owners of the Red Moose Inn even had us over on their day off for a private breakfast of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, backyard peaches, coffee, juice and conversation. And George, who owns the Sierra Resort where we stayed, drove us to the top of Sierra Crest twice so that we could slack pack that section. It is a 4000 ft. ascent in ~5 miles so we were really grateful to be able to hike it down rather than up!
Stealth camping: We came into Chester to pick up packages and resupply but got in too late to catch the post office before they closed. By then all the rooms in town were sold out BUT the bartender at the Timber Lodge told us that we could just camp out on the lawn of the saloon. Great! Until about 5 AM when we heard the “Tcht, tcht, tcht, tcht, tcht, tcht” of the sprinkler system. After a quick pack-up we huddled on the patio in the company of about 500 empty beer bottles, waiting for the first coffee house to open at 6. What a funny life.
We are now at the home of Georgie and Dennis, trail angels here in Old Station, CA. They are going to give us a ride to Bernie State Park (after a visit to Subway Cave) and we will then hitch up to Dunsmuir. We are going accelerate our progress through this section and the next by yellow blazing (PCT by car). We are pushing the limit of travelability through Washington and need to make some miles. Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park was a surprise. I'd never heard of it, but Boiling Lake and Terminal “Geyser” were refreshing in a land of dust and heat and endless repetitive landscapes.
Yea, we're still walking. We made it to Oregon and should be entering Washington in less than two weeks. Recently we have traveled through some amazing country. Trinity Alps, Russian, and Marble Mountain wildernesses were especially beautiful in northern CA. Recently we walked around the rim of Crater Lake and then through the Three Sisters Wilderness. I could not have imagined the marvelous effect that lake-filled caldera could impose upon me. This was followed by the volcanic wonder of Sisters, again awe inspiring. After many miles of what felt like filler, it was energizing to be flooded with wonder and delight again.
I made a risky decision in northern California and paid the price, unfortunately. After hundreds of miles of sometimes oppresive heat, I decided to send my rain gear up to Ashland, OR. We were headed into Seiad Valley which has a reputation for being one of the hottest regions we pass through. It was my misfortune that we were hit with a storm system that locals said was more typical of October than August. This meant four days of trudging through blowing rain in a trash bag. The through-hikers before us complained of 100-plus degrees temperatures and here we were freezing our hineys off. Go figure. No harm, just misery. On the same stretch, Crow got attacked by hornets. They covered the front of her jacket and legs and horribly worked their way into her underwear to deliver some particularly nasty stings. Two days later she tripped on a strand of barbwire and impaled her calf with a barb. It was buried so deeply I couldn't figure out which way to extract it and just ripped it out. It has healed beautifullly despite our concerns about infection. We were more than ready to say goodby to our views of Shasta in this section!
We are heading into cooler weather (with our warmer gear) and coming closer to home. Ashley and Robin came down to Ashland to be trail angels for awhile. It was delightful to see them, but left me a little home sick. I look forward to the comforts of home, family, and friends.
editor's note: Crow and Sherpa had their first day of hiking over 30 miles; it was actually 33 miles!