Happy Place - Sunday, May 11

Adam Sandler, frustrated hockey player turned unconventional golfer in the movie "Happy Gilmore", had to find inner peace to maximize his game when his hockey anger overwhelmed him. To do this he went to his "Happy Place", a mental image of a beautiful outdoor setting with large trees, grass and bright sunshine (with a scantily clad girl, of course!) He needed his imaginary happy place to offset the frustration of his real world.

It is safe to say we all need our place of refuge, a place we feel comfortable, secure, safe; a place we can catch our breath and gather our strength before facing the world again. For most of us it is our home, or a certain room in our home. It can also be as simple as a quiet cup of coffee or a comforting bowl of chocolate chip mint ice cream, snuggling in bed with a good book or cruising Facebook to see what friends are up to.

When hiking on the PCT our usual "Happy Places" are a long way from us, so we have to find them where we can. Being lost in thought while hiking on the trail provides comfort. Snuggling under our down quilt atop our sleeping pads with our backpacks as backrest/pillow is always good. Today, we found our "Happy Place" along the trail.

We woke up at our customary 3:50am, surrounded by the eight tents that were pitched after dark last night. They were so close in this cramped camping area that their guy lines came within inches of our tent. We tried to be quiet as we munched our Pop Tarts, taped Sally's feet and packed our gear by head lamp, but I am sure we woke some of them. A wind raged through the tree tops above us making loud white noise that drowned out some of our commotion as we stuffed our packs and laced our boots.

We tip toed out of camp and started up the trail. We had another three thousand feet to climb today, on top of the three thousand yesterday, although today's climb would happen in five miles instead of ten, so we expected the trail to be much steeper. It did not disappoint. Most of the climb was through a burned forest (are you beginning to notice that a lot of the trail passes through burned forests? We sure are!) so the wind was not buffered as it swirled around knocking us off balance. The trail quickly gained a knife edge ridge top where the wind could really have it's way. As the sun rose it did little to warm the air at our increasing altitude so we continued to wear our down coats as we climbed. Occasionally, the trail would lead into a hollow that the fire had missed. Here we found verdant grasses and shrubs beneath towering trees and refuge from the cold wind. We were leaving the desert behind and changing to a mountain biome.

After about three hours of climbing we were tired of fighting the wind, tired of climbing the steep trail, hungry and ready for second breakfast. As we rounded a small ridge we entered a hollow protected from the wind and sloping to the southeast. 5 foot diameter Jeffrey Pines rose from the sloping ground like pillars. The sun bore down on a piece of flat ground 40 feet off the trail deeply covered in pine needle duff. What little wind we felt was diminished by the hollow and the vegetation. It was a very inviting place.

We gladly dropped our packs and laid on the soft duff of the forest floor with the warm sunshine providing gentle and welcome heat. We took out the stove and cooked scrambled eggs, cut cheddar cheese and wrapped them in Tortillas - delicious breakfast burritos. We had found our "Happy Place". We were warm, alone, out of the raging wind, comfortable, well fed and very content.

After 45 minutes we packed up and continued the climb up the trail. The wind continued to blow and the trail continued steeply uphill, but that 45 minutes sustained us the rest of the day.

Sally's foot was somewhat sore all day. Periodically she would step wrong on a rock in the trail and the twisting of her ankle would send shooting pains up her leg that would elicited a very loud yelp. A few minutes to let the pain subside and we were on our way again.

To find a suitable place to camp in these steep mountains (we are now at 8000+ feet in the San Bernardino Mountains) we had to go 11 miles until we found a saddle between two peaks that afforded us a level place to set up the tent. The wind continued to howl, but we were partially protected from it by a small ridge.

We got Sally horizontal in the tent as soon as possible to rest her foot, cooked chicken, potatoes and spinach (one pot meal) for dinner and snuggled under the down quilt to watch Sally's favorite movie "The Last Holiday" with Queen Latifah on the iPad for Mother's Day before drifting off to sleep under a cloudless sky of stars and a nearly full moon.