Somehow when I imagined hiking the PCT I thought it would be a march from Mexico to Canada, unbroken, one continuous hike with food drops, but a linear progression from one border to the next. In our case, it is obvious that imagination and reality are not matching up. We skipped 140 miles of desert. We had to skip closed areas that were burned. And in the interest of expediency I just skipped another 40 miles of trail.
I woke at my camp below Duck Lake to find a very cold morning. No frost, but very chilly. I had 11 miles to cover to reach the horse packing station at Reds Meadow. They also have a small store and cafe.
Along the 11 miles Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort looms overhead and with it cell towers and service. I called Sally and talked as I walked, catching up on her situation and sharing stories. Also, on this stretch of trail I passed the 900 mile mark. 900 miles from Mexico via the trail. I have walked about 700 of it.
I had made up my mind I was not going to hike the 40 miles from Red's Meadow to Tuolumne Meadows as I had already hiked it five times in my past visits to Yosemite and I needed the time to get to Lake Tahoe before my scheduled flight on July 8. It is about 180 miles from Reds Meadow to Hwy 50 at South Lake Tahoe. With 9 days left that is too far and cutting it too close to my flight. So I determined to hitch hike from Mammoth Lakes to Tuolumne, thereby shortening the distance to 140 miles. Still a long way to hike in 9 days, but more doable.
I caught the shuttle bus from Reds Meadow to Mammoth, then the bike shuttle to the village and finally the trolley to town. There I stopped at the Base Camp Cafe for a chopped salad with chicken, walked to the bakery next door for 2 cherry turnovers and a pull apart cake for Brian and Guy our favorite campground rangers at Tuolumne Meadows campground, then an It's It ice cream sandwich at the quickie mart, some new insoles and felt markers at Rite Aide and a Big Mac at McDonalds for dinner on the trail.
With the felt marker I wrote on my Tyvek ground tarp "Lee Vining" "Yosemite" and "PCT Hiker" and stood on the highway out of town, pack on my back holding my sign with my thumb out. It took about 5-10 minutes before a woman that works at the bakery and lives in Lee Vining picked me up. We had a nice conversation on the ride and then she dropped me at the turn off up to the park.
I folded my Tyvek so only the Yosemite showed and positioned myself up the road so I could get the people leaving the Mobile Mart.
It took about 15 minutes before a hiking guide that works in the meadows picked me up. We swapped hiking and adventure stories on the drive up the hill. She dropped me at the store. "Badass", "Fancy Pants" and "Landfill" along with 10 other PCT hikers were at the picnic tables outside the store. I said hi, then left my pack and walked over to the campground entrance booth to give Brian and Guy the pull apart bread. We talked for about 20 minutes and caught up on the latest news before I excused myself to return to my pack. I made a quick purchase of a few items at the store to assure I had enough food for my 9 days, then bid those I knew goodbye and headed down the trail. It was about 3:30 and I wanted to get another 6.2 miles under my belt by getting to Glen Aulen, a beautiful
site on the Tuolumne River, before dark. The trail parallels the river as it cascades westward so it was beautifully lit by the afternoon sun as I strolled by.
I made it with plenty of time to spare. Because it was a Saturday night there were tons of hikers. A nice lady pointed out a site available with a view of the river below that promised to be breezy, keeping the few mosquitoes about at bay.
A community campfire was started and I joined the other hikers to share stories and talk.
I excused myself after about an hour and retired to my Tyvek and quilt for the night. Tomorrow I hope to get 20 miles in, which should deposit me at Smedberg Lake, mile 969. Hwy 50 is at milepost 1093, that's124 miles to go. If all goes according to plan I will be at:
Mile 989 Monday night
Mile 1009 Tuesday night
Mile 1029 Wednesday Night
Mile 1049 Thursday Night
Mile 1069 Friday night
Mile 1089 Saturday night and on the road Sunday, hitching into Reno for a shower. Two nights in a hotel and a flight out Tuesday at 1:45 for home.
So much for the unbroken walk from Mexico to Canada.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Benefits of a Zero Day - Friday, June 27
As I hiked into Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) two days ago I was excited to visit this place I had read about in so many accounts of PCT hikers, but I was loath to take an entire day just to let my body rest. I had positioned myself within 10 miles of the resort and planned to get there before noon on Wednesday the 25 with the idea that taking the afternoon off would give me sufficient rest to regain my strength and move on. I refrained from following that line of thought and forced myself to stay Thursday, stating to Rolling Stone and Click Click that I had better be really strong come Friday after "wasting" Thursday laying around doing nothing. If you read the previous day's account you will see Thursday was one of my best days on the PCT due to the kids I spent the day with, so it certainly was not wasted. The question still remained, did I gain back strength to merit an entire day?
The answer is an emphatic yes! This morning I said goodbye and loaded into the van that was to drive us to the water's edge. It was a very beat up white Ford van with milk crates to sit on as the seats had been removed. The ill fit doors leaked the lake bottom dust in as we crawled along, causing much coughing from us four riders. We boarded the "ferry", a 14' open aluminum boat and cruised to the inlet end of the lake where the "captain" rammed the shore in an attempt to run the boat up the steep shore, but with packs and people in the bow we abruptly stopped upon impact, toppling us all off our seats into the bottom of the boat. The red faced "captain" apologized and we disembarked.
With four bars of service I used the opportunity to call home and say hi to Sally and Jeff. It was now ten o'clock. On a typical hiking day I like to have about 7 or 8 miles done by this time, but the boat did not set sail until well after 8:30 making an early start impossible.
There was about a half a mile of beach to walk to reach the trail head and then about two miles of trail to reach the PCT. 7 miles and 3000' of climbing were required to gain Silver Pass. I found the rest day did wonders! Where I had struggled up Seldon Pass Tuesday I flew up Silver and felt strong the whole way. The extra day's rest was worth it.
From the top of the pass a descent of 1500' to Fish Creek is followed by a 1000' climb up to Virginia Lake. From here an up and down traverse of the ridge for approximately 7 miles brought me past Purple Lake and over to the Duck Lake drainage. It was beginning to get dark as I found a place to camp, 17 miles up the PCT and 20 miles overall. The nightly routine of foot soaking, dinner and blogging were performed.
The value of the zero day was apparent. Although still tired at the end of the day, overall I felt stronger. I hope my short time left before I fly home on July 8 and the long trail distance to Lake Tahoe allow me another zero day. I now see their benefit.
The answer is an emphatic yes! This morning I said goodbye and loaded into the van that was to drive us to the water's edge. It was a very beat up white Ford van with milk crates to sit on as the seats had been removed. The ill fit doors leaked the lake bottom dust in as we crawled along, causing much coughing from us four riders. We boarded the "ferry", a 14' open aluminum boat and cruised to the inlet end of the lake where the "captain" rammed the shore in an attempt to run the boat up the steep shore, but with packs and people in the bow we abruptly stopped upon impact, toppling us all off our seats into the bottom of the boat. The red faced "captain" apologized and we disembarked.
With four bars of service I used the opportunity to call home and say hi to Sally and Jeff. It was now ten o'clock. On a typical hiking day I like to have about 7 or 8 miles done by this time, but the boat did not set sail until well after 8:30 making an early start impossible.
There was about a half a mile of beach to walk to reach the trail head and then about two miles of trail to reach the PCT. 7 miles and 3000' of climbing were required to gain Silver Pass. I found the rest day did wonders! Where I had struggled up Seldon Pass Tuesday I flew up Silver and felt strong the whole way. The extra day's rest was worth it.
From the top of the pass a descent of 1500' to Fish Creek is followed by a 1000' climb up to Virginia Lake. From here an up and down traverse of the ridge for approximately 7 miles brought me past Purple Lake and over to the Duck Lake drainage. It was beginning to get dark as I found a place to camp, 17 miles up the PCT and 20 miles overall. The nightly routine of foot soaking, dinner and blogging were performed.
The value of the zero day was apparent. Although still tired at the end of the day, overall I felt stronger. I hope my short time left before I fly home on July 8 and the long trail distance to Lake Tahoe allow me another zero day. I now see their benefit.
A Multidimensional Universe - Wednesday & Thursday, June 25 & 26
We live in a physical world of three dimensions. At any moment we can choose to go in any of six directions - forward, back, left, right, up or down. The down is restricted by the ground and gravity plays heck with the up, but a shovel or an airplane get us past these difficulties. Of course we can combine these movements in infinite combinations, such as forward to the left or backward and to the right.
But what if we lived in a two dimensional world, one where there is no up or down. The Plains Indians lived in this two dimensional world. The absence of mountains or valleys took away the up and down except for climbing onto or off their horse. They only moved left, right, forward or back.
For the past two and a half months the argument could be made that I have been living in a one dimensional world. I have been living on a line. The PCT allows only two directions, forward or back. There is no left or right. To go in those directions would leave me off the trail and lost. So like one of those toy trains that has a single pulley for a front wheel that follows a rubber tube, I stay on my line, following it north, the one dimensional man.
At least one dimensional as travel through this physical world is concerned. I think my culinary selections over the past two days exhibits a multidimensional aspect to my life.
I arrived at Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) Wednesday, excited at the prospect of real food from the resort. Hamburgers. Salads. Sodas. Fries.
I met Rolling Stone, Click Click, Ryan and Annelise in the cafe, all new to the resort and just off the trail, eager to eat. After introductions and finding where each had been hiking we placed our orders and enjoyed good conversation seated five to a table while waiting for our food. Rolling Stone is from San Diego and is out with Click Click, his girl friend, spending 40 days and 40 nights doing then JMT. They do 5 to 6 miles each day, enjoying the scenery and the experience. Rolling Stone has worked construction, been a valet, a taxi driver and taught English in Thailand. Click Click is an aspiring photographer that shoots weddings and school yearbook photos for income, but her ambition is to be a travel documentary photographer. She has been all around the world, Egypt, Israel, France, Ireland, Central America and so forth on a one year free pass from her friend that works for American Airlines.
Ryan is a climbing guide in Stanley, Idaho for six weeks each summer, where he was headed next and Annelise was returning to work near Sacramento, their hike in the Sierra having just finished.
I ate lunch and dinner in the cafe along with multiple purchases of junk food-pop, chips, cookies, brownies and such from the store. When you arrive they start a tab in your name so each purchase is painless, then settle up upon your departure. So Wednesday I ran up my tab eating well while hanging at the cafe/store.
Rolling Stone surpassed me in this regard. He had two lunch orders, two dinner orders, two orders of pie, a milkshake and some junk food from the store. He had lost 17 pounds in 17 days and was trying to make up some missing mass. His tab was nearing $100 by the end of the day. On the other hand, Click Click spent nothing. She raided the 55 gallon drum used as the food hiker box all day, the trail equivalent of dumpster diving, and feasted on Top Ramen, mixed nuts and various other bags of discarded hiker food. The contrast between these two methods of procuring nourishment was remarkable.
I decided that on my second day at VVR, Thursday, I would expand my multidimensionality and employ Click Click's methods rather than eat three meals at the cafe. Head first in the 55 gallon drum I rummaged through the assorted bags for breakfast and found 4 Instant Quaker Oatmeal packages and a baggie of mixed nuts and carob chips and a nearly empty fuel canister. With prizes in hand I returned to my tarp (it rained this morning! How rude!), snuggled under my down quilt and cooked up four bowls of oatmeal with nuts. Delicious. Nutritious. Free. Including the fuel to cook it. Now this is multidimensional living!
I had not washed my clothes in the week since Sally dropped me off. VVR offers laundry for $8 a load. But, my load is a shirt, a fleece, a pair of pants, 2 pair of socks and two underwear. These articles could hardly be called a load.
I took my laundry into one of the 7 bathroom/shower rooms available and scrubbed them in the sink with a Motel 6 bar of soap until the rinse water was no longer mud. I then hung them on my tarp guy lines to dry.
While on a roll in my multidimensional financial austerity I accepted a shower token from Meg as she did not use hers. She and her husband, Jeff, showered together.
As I lay under my quilt this morning I checked milages and days left and found a surprising amount of the former and an alarming lack of the latter. From VVR to Carson Pass is near exactly 200 miles and I have 10 days left after my zero today. 10 - 20 mile days in a row. Although the trail is one dimensional in length it oscillates into the up/down dimension, which taxes my cardiovascular system on the up parts and my knees and feet on the down parts adding another factor to the linear distance equation. I checked the profile along the z axis (up and down) and found after Silver Pass, 7 miles distant, the magnitude of the ascending and descending is diminished significantly. The 3000 foot ups and downs of the past five days turn into 1000 foot undulations over the coming 200 miles. Hopefully, this will make attaining 20 miles per day more tolerable.
In an effort (or more accurately a lack of effort) at expanding my multidimensionality I accomplished something today I have never been able to do. Aided by my severe case of Acute Mountain Lassitude I sat in the cafe in front of the TV and watched the entire Germany/US soccer match, start to finish without ever raising my sorry butt from my chair! The US lost 1-0. I state the score to prove I really watched it. I had been doubting my need for a zero day and contemplating moving on this morning, but after that display of total vegetative malaise I realized how tired I was and my need for rest. After my labors at shower and laundry I retired to my tent at 1 PM for an afternoon nap.
I rose from my nap and wandered to the bench in front of the store to find Click Click and Rolling Stone trying to fit their 18 days of food into a bear can and a half can, unsuccessfully. With the help of the JMT hiker Rickie, who had decided to stop at VVR permanently and take a summer job as a waiter in the cafe, they ended up with a large extra bag they would have to hang from the trees for a few days to ward off the bears. Rickie was a paralegal in San Francisco who was downsized during the recession. He talks a steady stream with much gesticulating and animation and is quite knowledgable. He had been lacking a trail name to this point but before we were done packing food he became Rikipedia Pedantica or just Rikipedia for short.
Shakespeare, Steel Toe, Crazy Legs, Pockets, Pathfinder, Amy, Tristen and Russell hiked in just before dinner and we had a wonderful reunion. While waiting for the cafe to open for dinner we sat on the front stoop and discussed life, upbringings and politics. The conversations continued through dinner and out to the campfire until long after dark. What wonderful kids! I would adopt them all and bring them home if it weren't that they were 23-29 years old and already obviously very independent. It will be hard to leave them all in the morning.
I stumbled off to bed around 9:30, leaving the kids around the fire. I fell asleep before the generator that powers the whole place shut down at 10. This was a wonderful multidimensional zero day. In the end I got to act like a dad and a kid simultaneously, counseling with advise, listening to setbacks and joys and sharing trail and life experiences. In the morning I return to my one dimensional linear wanderings, but today I was 3D.
But what if we lived in a two dimensional world, one where there is no up or down. The Plains Indians lived in this two dimensional world. The absence of mountains or valleys took away the up and down except for climbing onto or off their horse. They only moved left, right, forward or back.
For the past two and a half months the argument could be made that I have been living in a one dimensional world. I have been living on a line. The PCT allows only two directions, forward or back. There is no left or right. To go in those directions would leave me off the trail and lost. So like one of those toy trains that has a single pulley for a front wheel that follows a rubber tube, I stay on my line, following it north, the one dimensional man.
At least one dimensional as travel through this physical world is concerned. I think my culinary selections over the past two days exhibits a multidimensional aspect to my life.
I arrived at Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) Wednesday, excited at the prospect of real food from the resort. Hamburgers. Salads. Sodas. Fries.
I met Rolling Stone, Click Click, Ryan and Annelise in the cafe, all new to the resort and just off the trail, eager to eat. After introductions and finding where each had been hiking we placed our orders and enjoyed good conversation seated five to a table while waiting for our food. Rolling Stone is from San Diego and is out with Click Click, his girl friend, spending 40 days and 40 nights doing then JMT. They do 5 to 6 miles each day, enjoying the scenery and the experience. Rolling Stone has worked construction, been a valet, a taxi driver and taught English in Thailand. Click Click is an aspiring photographer that shoots weddings and school yearbook photos for income, but her ambition is to be a travel documentary photographer. She has been all around the world, Egypt, Israel, France, Ireland, Central America and so forth on a one year free pass from her friend that works for American Airlines.
Ryan is a climbing guide in Stanley, Idaho for six weeks each summer, where he was headed next and Annelise was returning to work near Sacramento, their hike in the Sierra having just finished.
I ate lunch and dinner in the cafe along with multiple purchases of junk food-pop, chips, cookies, brownies and such from the store. When you arrive they start a tab in your name so each purchase is painless, then settle up upon your departure. So Wednesday I ran up my tab eating well while hanging at the cafe/store.
Rolling Stone surpassed me in this regard. He had two lunch orders, two dinner orders, two orders of pie, a milkshake and some junk food from the store. He had lost 17 pounds in 17 days and was trying to make up some missing mass. His tab was nearing $100 by the end of the day. On the other hand, Click Click spent nothing. She raided the 55 gallon drum used as the food hiker box all day, the trail equivalent of dumpster diving, and feasted on Top Ramen, mixed nuts and various other bags of discarded hiker food. The contrast between these two methods of procuring nourishment was remarkable.
I decided that on my second day at VVR, Thursday, I would expand my multidimensionality and employ Click Click's methods rather than eat three meals at the cafe. Head first in the 55 gallon drum I rummaged through the assorted bags for breakfast and found 4 Instant Quaker Oatmeal packages and a baggie of mixed nuts and carob chips and a nearly empty fuel canister. With prizes in hand I returned to my tarp (it rained this morning! How rude!), snuggled under my down quilt and cooked up four bowls of oatmeal with nuts. Delicious. Nutritious. Free. Including the fuel to cook it. Now this is multidimensional living!
I had not washed my clothes in the week since Sally dropped me off. VVR offers laundry for $8 a load. But, my load is a shirt, a fleece, a pair of pants, 2 pair of socks and two underwear. These articles could hardly be called a load.
I took my laundry into one of the 7 bathroom/shower rooms available and scrubbed them in the sink with a Motel 6 bar of soap until the rinse water was no longer mud. I then hung them on my tarp guy lines to dry.
While on a roll in my multidimensional financial austerity I accepted a shower token from Meg as she did not use hers. She and her husband, Jeff, showered together.
As I lay under my quilt this morning I checked milages and days left and found a surprising amount of the former and an alarming lack of the latter. From VVR to Carson Pass is near exactly 200 miles and I have 10 days left after my zero today. 10 - 20 mile days in a row. Although the trail is one dimensional in length it oscillates into the up/down dimension, which taxes my cardiovascular system on the up parts and my knees and feet on the down parts adding another factor to the linear distance equation. I checked the profile along the z axis (up and down) and found after Silver Pass, 7 miles distant, the magnitude of the ascending and descending is diminished significantly. The 3000 foot ups and downs of the past five days turn into 1000 foot undulations over the coming 200 miles. Hopefully, this will make attaining 20 miles per day more tolerable.
In an effort (or more accurately a lack of effort) at expanding my multidimensionality I accomplished something today I have never been able to do. Aided by my severe case of Acute Mountain Lassitude I sat in the cafe in front of the TV and watched the entire Germany/US soccer match, start to finish without ever raising my sorry butt from my chair! The US lost 1-0. I state the score to prove I really watched it. I had been doubting my need for a zero day and contemplating moving on this morning, but after that display of total vegetative malaise I realized how tired I was and my need for rest. After my labors at shower and laundry I retired to my tent at 1 PM for an afternoon nap.
I rose from my nap and wandered to the bench in front of the store to find Click Click and Rolling Stone trying to fit their 18 days of food into a bear can and a half can, unsuccessfully. With the help of the JMT hiker Rickie, who had decided to stop at VVR permanently and take a summer job as a waiter in the cafe, they ended up with a large extra bag they would have to hang from the trees for a few days to ward off the bears. Rickie was a paralegal in San Francisco who was downsized during the recession. He talks a steady stream with much gesticulating and animation and is quite knowledgable. He had been lacking a trail name to this point but before we were done packing food he became Rikipedia Pedantica or just Rikipedia for short.
Shakespeare, Steel Toe, Crazy Legs, Pockets, Pathfinder, Amy, Tristen and Russell hiked in just before dinner and we had a wonderful reunion. While waiting for the cafe to open for dinner we sat on the front stoop and discussed life, upbringings and politics. The conversations continued through dinner and out to the campfire until long after dark. What wonderful kids! I would adopt them all and bring them home if it weren't that they were 23-29 years old and already obviously very independent. It will be hard to leave them all in the morning.
I stumbled off to bed around 9:30, leaving the kids around the fire. I fell asleep before the generator that powers the whole place shut down at 10. This was a wonderful multidimensional zero day. In the end I got to act like a dad and a kid simultaneously, counseling with advise, listening to setbacks and joys and sharing trail and life experiences. In the morning I return to my one dimensional linear wanderings, but today I was 3D.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Solo Day - Tuesday, June 24
Today the unexpected happened. For the past two months Sally and I have met legions of people while on the trail. People have passed us, we have caught them, we have leapfrogged the same people multiple times during the day. Today, I hiked for hours with not a single encounter. No one passed me. I did not pass anyone. Tie Dye, Billy, Silvia, Dogger, Fun Fact, Good Time, Vessel - all the people I have been sharing the trail with over the past few days just evaporated. An experience totally new to me on this trip.
I camped last night at the confluence of Paiute Creek and the San Joaquin River. When Sally and I camped here 7 or so years ago there were quite a few hikers so I expected the same again this time. There are lots of campsites. Oddly, I had the entire place to myself.
I awoke at 5:30 and as I was completing breakfast and packing I noticed Dogger on the bridge over the Paiute heading north. I did not see him again all day. I knew Tie Dye was ahead of me, choosing to go on to the Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) 3.6 miles further up a spur trail last night as he was hoping to buy bug spray when they opened in the morning as the mosquitoes are hatching and becoming a nuisance.
MTR is a mule packing station that also caters to hiker resupply needs. The only way to get to MTR is via the PCT/JMT or by pack mule from west side of the range. There is no road to the station. Consequently they charge $65 to handle your resupply bucket, the reason we did not utilize their services. But it is a very popular resupply point because it is only a 2 mile detour off the PCT and is perfectly distanced from Reds Meadow, the previous resupply point. For reasons of pure curiosity we had planned to hike to it, so I packed up and headed that way, trying to time my arrival with their 8 am opening.
I arrived at 7:30 and was prepared to sit outside the corral gate until they opened when a kindly lady named Margarite invited me in and showed me to a bench where I could wait for opening.
MTR is famous for their hiker boxes of food, and I was HUNGRY. At 8 the young girl managing the food resupplies set out the hiker buckets full of food left by previous hikers that had jettisoned excess food they did not need to carry. MTR does not want it, because at the end of the season they have to pack it all out by mule, so they are happy to have hikers take what they can use. The buckets are organized into commercially packaged food, home made bagged foods, oatmeal, fuel and powdered drink mixes. I grabbed some pemmican like energy bars, cliff bars, Ritz crackers and a Mountain House meal. Billy and Silvia arrived and were thrilled to find so much food as they had been short for days and were starving. They soon were eating anything that did not need cooking and stuffing foods into their bear cans for the days ahead. I left shortly after they arrived, expecting to leapfrog them all day up the trail. I never saw them again. Tie Dye never appeared to get his insect repellent, but I was sure he would pass me on the 3800' climb up Selden Pass. I never saw him all day.
In my hunger I downed one of the pemmican bars and was halfway through the next when I noticed my stomach was beginning to hurt. I stopped halfway through the second, but the damage was done. This very rich food was overpowering my stomach which was accustomed to a bland diet. For the next 5 hours I labored and suffered up the hill to the pass with a queazy stomach, expecting Tie Dye, Billy and Silvia to overtake me. They never did. No one did. I met oncoming traffic in the form of JMT hikers, but no PCT hikers.
I think the 23.5 miles of the day before coupled with my 72 miles over the 4 previous days were really taking a toll because I was listless and without energy. Once I cleared the pass it was downhill for the next 9 miles so the pain of moving lessened, but was still a chore. I stopped for a skinny dip in mosquito infested Marie Lake and it's refreshing coolness revived me a little.
One of the big obstacles in the Sierra is Bear Creek. In normal and heavy snow years it can be a waist deep torrent of a ford through very rapid water. Hikers team up to cross it, linking arms in groups of four to support and steady each other as they cross. Today it was knee deep and refreshing rather than terrifying.
A PCT hiker, someone I had not met, passed me at the ford. That was the only PCT hiker I saw all day.
I stopped at the last camping spot on Bear Creek before the trail began climbing Bear Ridge. I cannot remember ever being so exhausted in my life. I set up camp and cooked dinner - chicken, broccoli and mashed potatoes, then with my entire body aching as if run over by a bus I slept. I woke 2 hours later still aching and began to wonder if I would recover. I woke again at 3 am still in agony and began to contemplate having to take a zero day right where I lay because I was still too exhausted to move. When I woke again at 5:30 I finally felt much refreshed and knew I would be able to hike to my next destination, Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) on the shores of Thomas Edison Lake where my resupply box was waiting for me.
Where was everyone? I don't know. With my churning stomach I certainly did not hike fast up to Seldon Pass, nor down the other side. I took quite a few breaks, including my swim and yet no one passed. Tomorrow I take an 8 mile long side trail off the PCT to VVR. Tie Dye, Billy and Silvia have resupply boxes there. I suspect I will cross paths with them there.
I camped last night at the confluence of Paiute Creek and the San Joaquin River. When Sally and I camped here 7 or so years ago there were quite a few hikers so I expected the same again this time. There are lots of campsites. Oddly, I had the entire place to myself.
I awoke at 5:30 and as I was completing breakfast and packing I noticed Dogger on the bridge over the Paiute heading north. I did not see him again all day. I knew Tie Dye was ahead of me, choosing to go on to the Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) 3.6 miles further up a spur trail last night as he was hoping to buy bug spray when they opened in the morning as the mosquitoes are hatching and becoming a nuisance.
MTR is a mule packing station that also caters to hiker resupply needs. The only way to get to MTR is via the PCT/JMT or by pack mule from west side of the range. There is no road to the station. Consequently they charge $65 to handle your resupply bucket, the reason we did not utilize their services. But it is a very popular resupply point because it is only a 2 mile detour off the PCT and is perfectly distanced from Reds Meadow, the previous resupply point. For reasons of pure curiosity we had planned to hike to it, so I packed up and headed that way, trying to time my arrival with their 8 am opening.
I arrived at 7:30 and was prepared to sit outside the corral gate until they opened when a kindly lady named Margarite invited me in and showed me to a bench where I could wait for opening.
MTR is famous for their hiker boxes of food, and I was HUNGRY. At 8 the young girl managing the food resupplies set out the hiker buckets full of food left by previous hikers that had jettisoned excess food they did not need to carry. MTR does not want it, because at the end of the season they have to pack it all out by mule, so they are happy to have hikers take what they can use. The buckets are organized into commercially packaged food, home made bagged foods, oatmeal, fuel and powdered drink mixes. I grabbed some pemmican like energy bars, cliff bars, Ritz crackers and a Mountain House meal. Billy and Silvia arrived and were thrilled to find so much food as they had been short for days and were starving. They soon were eating anything that did not need cooking and stuffing foods into their bear cans for the days ahead. I left shortly after they arrived, expecting to leapfrog them all day up the trail. I never saw them again. Tie Dye never appeared to get his insect repellent, but I was sure he would pass me on the 3800' climb up Selden Pass. I never saw him all day.
In my hunger I downed one of the pemmican bars and was halfway through the next when I noticed my stomach was beginning to hurt. I stopped halfway through the second, but the damage was done. This very rich food was overpowering my stomach which was accustomed to a bland diet. For the next 5 hours I labored and suffered up the hill to the pass with a queazy stomach, expecting Tie Dye, Billy and Silvia to overtake me. They never did. No one did. I met oncoming traffic in the form of JMT hikers, but no PCT hikers.
I think the 23.5 miles of the day before coupled with my 72 miles over the 4 previous days were really taking a toll because I was listless and without energy. Once I cleared the pass it was downhill for the next 9 miles so the pain of moving lessened, but was still a chore. I stopped for a skinny dip in mosquito infested Marie Lake and it's refreshing coolness revived me a little.
One of the big obstacles in the Sierra is Bear Creek. In normal and heavy snow years it can be a waist deep torrent of a ford through very rapid water. Hikers team up to cross it, linking arms in groups of four to support and steady each other as they cross. Today it was knee deep and refreshing rather than terrifying.
A PCT hiker, someone I had not met, passed me at the ford. That was the only PCT hiker I saw all day.
I stopped at the last camping spot on Bear Creek before the trail began climbing Bear Ridge. I cannot remember ever being so exhausted in my life. I set up camp and cooked dinner - chicken, broccoli and mashed potatoes, then with my entire body aching as if run over by a bus I slept. I woke 2 hours later still aching and began to wonder if I would recover. I woke again at 3 am still in agony and began to contemplate having to take a zero day right where I lay because I was still too exhausted to move. When I woke again at 5:30 I finally felt much refreshed and knew I would be able to hike to my next destination, Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) on the shores of Thomas Edison Lake where my resupply box was waiting for me.
Where was everyone? I don't know. With my churning stomach I certainly did not hike fast up to Seldon Pass, nor down the other side. I took quite a few breaks, including my swim and yet no one passed. Tomorrow I take an 8 mile long side trail off the PCT to VVR. Tie Dye, Billy and Silvia have resupply boxes there. I suspect I will cross paths with them there.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Party at the Pass - Monday, June 23
Okay, let's dispel all the myths right now before we go on to describe today's activities. Far Out had it right two months ago when he said this was Tough As Sh*t! Without Sally here to act as a voice of reason I push each day, trying to do my 20 miles. So far I have succeeded. Today I did 23.5 miles up over Muir Pass and down to Piute Creek. When I got to this familiar place (Sally and I were here about 7 years ago) about 6:30 I was physically exhausted. Thank goodness the weather is so pleasant. If I had to endure a rain storm or cold wind after my exertions I would be in trouble. I spread my Tyvek, soak my feet and get water, try to stretch some of the day's soreness out of my back while dinner is cooking and go to bed. The level of overall fatigue is remarkable as I push to do the pace necessary to complete the PCT in a single season. Today, the last 17.5 miles were downhill and level, which is easier aerobically, but murder on the feet. And although my pack is much lighter without Sally it is on my back for 12 hours a day. Sally opted out of this last portion of our planned trip to save me the physical exertion of supporting the two of us, but I am significantly more taxed at the end of each day now than for the two months previous in this adventure. I need her back to save me from myself.
I was on the trail at 5:45 this morning with 2700' to climb over 6 miles to Muir Pass, the gem of all the high passes in the Sierra, in my opinion. The climb transitions from tall timber to stunted Whitebark Pines to heather and low ground flowers to rock and snow fields past a series of benches and cliffs, waterfalls and lakes with majestic granite peaks all around. It is breathtakingly beautiful, especially in the early morning when the suns glancing rays accentuate every snow field, flower, tree, rock and waterfall and imbue each with the rosy colors of sunrise. Stunning.
Tie Dye caught up with me a mile from from the pass, right at the outlet of Helen Lake. Half a mile later I caught up with Dogger, a 60 year old former industrial painter from Michigan. He was having some trouble with the altitude (12,000') which he blamed on paint fumes, silica dust and asbestos. Billy and Silvia had gotten a little off route and ended up at the pass at the same time via a circuitous route out into the southern basin. A few minutes after our arrival Fun Fact, Good Time and Vessel joined us.
We had an excellent time swapping stories, discussing John Muir, climbing in and on the Muir Hut and most important of all, eating and laughing. Fun Fact, Good Tome and Vessel are leaving the trail at Tuolumne and fly out of Reno on July 9, the day after I fly out. We swapped phone numbers and made a date for pizza the night of the seventh. Our party broke up after a half hour, each of us feeling the need to put down some miles. I walked with Billy and Silvia for the next four miles as we traversed Evolution Basin down to Evolution Lake. This is the most magnificent four miles in the Sierra in my opinion.
I stopped for an early lunch at 11:30 at the roaring inlet to Evolution Lake. Billy and Silvia continued on to the outlet, a mile and a half away to eat theirs.
Tie Dye and I leapfrogged each other over the next 12 miles as we descended into lushly wooded and amply meadowed Evolution Valley. After fording the knee deep Evolution Creek we switch backed down to the San Joaquin River, followed it for 5 miles and set up camp where Paiute Creek joins the San Joaquin. Tie Dye went on to Muir Trail Ranch, a packing station and hiker resupply point two miles off the PCT. I had already done 23.5 miles and the additional 3.5 were too much for me. Muir Ranch closed at 5 and did not open until 8 in the morning, so I planned to hike to it in the morning and check it out as it was one of the places I had always heard about, but never been to. I wrote my blog, then prepared each for delivery as rumor has it I will get cell service as I near Vermillion Valley Ranch tomorrow or the next day. It is about 25 trail miles away, but I don't think after today I can pull off another 20+ mile day so soon.
I was on the trail at 5:45 this morning with 2700' to climb over 6 miles to Muir Pass, the gem of all the high passes in the Sierra, in my opinion. The climb transitions from tall timber to stunted Whitebark Pines to heather and low ground flowers to rock and snow fields past a series of benches and cliffs, waterfalls and lakes with majestic granite peaks all around. It is breathtakingly beautiful, especially in the early morning when the suns glancing rays accentuate every snow field, flower, tree, rock and waterfall and imbue each with the rosy colors of sunrise. Stunning.
Tie Dye caught up with me a mile from from the pass, right at the outlet of Helen Lake. Half a mile later I caught up with Dogger, a 60 year old former industrial painter from Michigan. He was having some trouble with the altitude (12,000') which he blamed on paint fumes, silica dust and asbestos. Billy and Silvia had gotten a little off route and ended up at the pass at the same time via a circuitous route out into the southern basin. A few minutes after our arrival Fun Fact, Good Time and Vessel joined us.
We had an excellent time swapping stories, discussing John Muir, climbing in and on the Muir Hut and most important of all, eating and laughing. Fun Fact, Good Tome and Vessel are leaving the trail at Tuolumne and fly out of Reno on July 9, the day after I fly out. We swapped phone numbers and made a date for pizza the night of the seventh. Our party broke up after a half hour, each of us feeling the need to put down some miles. I walked with Billy and Silvia for the next four miles as we traversed Evolution Basin down to Evolution Lake. This is the most magnificent four miles in the Sierra in my opinion.
I stopped for an early lunch at 11:30 at the roaring inlet to Evolution Lake. Billy and Silvia continued on to the outlet, a mile and a half away to eat theirs.
Tie Dye and I leapfrogged each other over the next 12 miles as we descended into lushly wooded and amply meadowed Evolution Valley. After fording the knee deep Evolution Creek we switch backed down to the San Joaquin River, followed it for 5 miles and set up camp where Paiute Creek joins the San Joaquin. Tie Dye went on to Muir Trail Ranch, a packing station and hiker resupply point two miles off the PCT. I had already done 23.5 miles and the additional 3.5 were too much for me. Muir Ranch closed at 5 and did not open until 8 in the morning, so I planned to hike to it in the morning and check it out as it was one of the places I had always heard about, but never been to. I wrote my blog, then prepared each for delivery as rumor has it I will get cell service as I near Vermillion Valley Ranch tomorrow or the next day. It is about 25 trail miles away, but I don't think after today I can pull off another 20+ mile day so soon.
Trail Culture Pt 2 - Sunday, June 22
It is becoming a habit to write my blogs while watching my feet turn red, then blue as I soak them in a snow bank or cold river at the end of a day of hiking. Icing them is supposed to help heal or at least ward off further Planters Fasciitis pain. The offending right foot has not worsened in the 52 miles I have hammered it through in the past three days, which I suppose is a good sign. If my average stride is a short three feet due to favoring that foot as I walk then it has pounded the trail (52 x 5280)/3 = 91,520 times over the past three days. Yikes! Even I am surprised at the size of that number. It's amazing all the bones in my foot aren't shattered! Anyway, to the subject at hand, trail culture.
When I left Sally at Onion Valley Friday at 1:00 I started up the trail alone. Other than Tie Die, a late 20 something kid from the Carolinas I didn't know anyone. I passed many people on the trail, but most were day hikers or weekenders. At Kearsarge Pass I was delighted to see "Any Minute Now" a 50s something woman we had been leap frogging way back at mile 400 in the desert. After a big hug we caught up on events. She was headed out for resupply, I into the trail. 20 minutes later I was on my way. About two hours later, as I started the climb over Glen Pass I saw a 20 something girl setting up camp on a narrow strip of land on the slope. I stopped to say hi. Turns out it was "Pathfinder" whom Sally and I had met on day three just 30 miles from the border. She had taken sick just before Big Bear and in a miss communication with her father he called for help and soon Search and Rescue personnel were rappelling out of a helicopter to assist her. A jeep was then dispatched to drive her to town. A few weeks later she caught bronchitis and had to go off trail for three weeks.
As I climbed the switchbacks to the top of the pass a young man named "Hop" passed me. At the pass we talked some more and there I met Ewok, Shakespeare and Steel Toe.
At Rae Lakes I briefly met Lowland (I will dispense saying a "twenty something-they all are unless otherwise stated) so named for bad decisions made on top of Mt San Jacinto in a snow storm.
On Saturday, Tie Dye and I played leapfrog for 20 miles, all the way to camp at the foot of Mather Pass. Hop caught me again as I neared Pinchot Pass, but spared my ego and let me arrive at the top first. There we chatted with two JMT hiker, one a redheaded girl who proudly and humorously proclaimed her stubbornness as a product of her hair color.
At the bottom of the descent from Pinchot Pass at the Kearns River I met Amy, her brother and boyfriend, all whom I had met before back near Palm Springs.
Today I met Billy from England and his girlfriend Silvia from Italy while descending Mather Pass. We had lunch together 7 miles further on and learned more about each other (they both learned more than they would probably like to know about me when they caught me skinny dipping in Palisades Lake).
On the descent of the Golden Staircase, a particularly tricky bit of trail that descends a cliff, weaving in and out among the faces, I met two delightful girls, "Fun Fact" and "Good Time" and a guy, "Vessel". The girls had gone to college together in St. Louis and I never did find out Vessel's connection to them.
The reason I bring you up to date with my trail acquaintances is the common aspects they all share. They are all excited about life. Their eyes glow with amazement, wonder and happiness. When you look into their faces you see kids that are vibrant, energetic, confident and extremely happy. Also, it is amazing that after a month and a half and 500+ miles we meet again on the trail as old friends. It is remarkable. Perhaps it is the shared hardship, or the common purpose, or the isolation of the trail that brings everyone closer together. No matter what the causes, the result is a community of people that instantly bond, display total trust, are giving and honest to a fault and respect the wilderness and sanctity of the trail. No litter. No garbage. No theft. I can see why some we have met return to thru hiking summer after summer. The trail is a great place to live.
Events of the day:
I was on the trail before everyone else at 6:15 and climbed the 1500' over 4 miles to 12,000' Mather Pass and had it all to myself. On the descent I met a few parties of JMT hikers ascending. At Palisades Lake, 4 miles and 2000' below the pass is skinny dipped in the lake to clean off. While "swimming" I laid out my sleeping quilt to dry in the hot morning sun. It had thick frost on it from the night before. Then I hiked down the "Golden Staircase" for 2 miles and followed Palisades Creek for 4 miles to its confluence with the King River. Here the trail turns north and ascends toward Muir Pass, 12 miles away and 4000' up. I hiked 6 of the 12 miles and camped at Big Pete Meadow, in tall timber.
This is my second twenty mile day on the Sierra. They are exhausting with all the elevation gains and losses and the high altitude of the terrain. It takes me about 12-13 hours of continuous walking to cover the miles. My sore foot slows my pace a bit. I roll into camp and soak my foot. Then I lay out my Tyvek ground tarp, blow up my sleeping pad, sprawl out and cook dinner. By the time I am done eating it is getting dark, so I roll over, write my blog and go to sleep. I wake at 5:15 the next morning and repeat the process. Of course many events happen during each day tied to the scenery, terrain and the people I meet along the way. Thankfully I have not had sore muscles, just sore feet which recover remarkably after a nights sleep.
Mile 813.4 to Mile 832.2
When I left Sally at Onion Valley Friday at 1:00 I started up the trail alone. Other than Tie Die, a late 20 something kid from the Carolinas I didn't know anyone. I passed many people on the trail, but most were day hikers or weekenders. At Kearsarge Pass I was delighted to see "Any Minute Now" a 50s something woman we had been leap frogging way back at mile 400 in the desert. After a big hug we caught up on events. She was headed out for resupply, I into the trail. 20 minutes later I was on my way. About two hours later, as I started the climb over Glen Pass I saw a 20 something girl setting up camp on a narrow strip of land on the slope. I stopped to say hi. Turns out it was "Pathfinder" whom Sally and I had met on day three just 30 miles from the border. She had taken sick just before Big Bear and in a miss communication with her father he called for help and soon Search and Rescue personnel were rappelling out of a helicopter to assist her. A jeep was then dispatched to drive her to town. A few weeks later she caught bronchitis and had to go off trail for three weeks.
As I climbed the switchbacks to the top of the pass a young man named "Hop" passed me. At the pass we talked some more and there I met Ewok, Shakespeare and Steel Toe.
At Rae Lakes I briefly met Lowland (I will dispense saying a "twenty something-they all are unless otherwise stated) so named for bad decisions made on top of Mt San Jacinto in a snow storm.
On Saturday, Tie Dye and I played leapfrog for 20 miles, all the way to camp at the foot of Mather Pass. Hop caught me again as I neared Pinchot Pass, but spared my ego and let me arrive at the top first. There we chatted with two JMT hiker, one a redheaded girl who proudly and humorously proclaimed her stubbornness as a product of her hair color.
At the bottom of the descent from Pinchot Pass at the Kearns River I met Amy, her brother and boyfriend, all whom I had met before back near Palm Springs.
Today I met Billy from England and his girlfriend Silvia from Italy while descending Mather Pass. We had lunch together 7 miles further on and learned more about each other (they both learned more than they would probably like to know about me when they caught me skinny dipping in Palisades Lake).
On the descent of the Golden Staircase, a particularly tricky bit of trail that descends a cliff, weaving in and out among the faces, I met two delightful girls, "Fun Fact" and "Good Time" and a guy, "Vessel". The girls had gone to college together in St. Louis and I never did find out Vessel's connection to them.
The reason I bring you up to date with my trail acquaintances is the common aspects they all share. They are all excited about life. Their eyes glow with amazement, wonder and happiness. When you look into their faces you see kids that are vibrant, energetic, confident and extremely happy. Also, it is amazing that after a month and a half and 500+ miles we meet again on the trail as old friends. It is remarkable. Perhaps it is the shared hardship, or the common purpose, or the isolation of the trail that brings everyone closer together. No matter what the causes, the result is a community of people that instantly bond, display total trust, are giving and honest to a fault and respect the wilderness and sanctity of the trail. No litter. No garbage. No theft. I can see why some we have met return to thru hiking summer after summer. The trail is a great place to live.
Events of the day:
I was on the trail before everyone else at 6:15 and climbed the 1500' over 4 miles to 12,000' Mather Pass and had it all to myself. On the descent I met a few parties of JMT hikers ascending. At Palisades Lake, 4 miles and 2000' below the pass is skinny dipped in the lake to clean off. While "swimming" I laid out my sleeping quilt to dry in the hot morning sun. It had thick frost on it from the night before. Then I hiked down the "Golden Staircase" for 2 miles and followed Palisades Creek for 4 miles to its confluence with the King River. Here the trail turns north and ascends toward Muir Pass, 12 miles away and 4000' up. I hiked 6 of the 12 miles and camped at Big Pete Meadow, in tall timber.
This is my second twenty mile day on the Sierra. They are exhausting with all the elevation gains and losses and the high altitude of the terrain. It takes me about 12-13 hours of continuous walking to cover the miles. My sore foot slows my pace a bit. I roll into camp and soak my foot. Then I lay out my Tyvek ground tarp, blow up my sleeping pad, sprawl out and cook dinner. By the time I am done eating it is getting dark, so I roll over, write my blog and go to sleep. I wake at 5:15 the next morning and repeat the process. Of course many events happen during each day tied to the scenery, terrain and the people I meet along the way. Thankfully I have not had sore muscles, just sore feet which recover remarkably after a nights sleep.
Mile 813.4 to Mile 832.2
Solstice - Saturday, June 21
A point of view (POV) can make all the difference in how we perceive the world. Warning! Nerdy Science Talk Approaching! Proceed with caution.
The ancients perceived the earth as standing still (A valid observation. Anytime I am in motion, no matter the vehicle I ride in, I can detect a vibration or movement, yet I detect no such sensations riding on the earth) and the sun and stars rotating around us. From this POV, that the earth is stationary, we would say that today the sun reached it's highest point of the year as it moved across the sky, causing the longest day of the year.
Galileo pointed the new technology of his age, the telescope, at Jupiter and noticed moons orbiting it. This simple observation destroyed the accepted hypothesis that all celestial bodies, sun, moon and stars, orbit the earth. It lent credence to the upstart hypothesis that the earth actually moves around the sun once every year and rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. From the sun as the center of the solar system POV this means the earth, tilted on its axis at 23.5°, has moved around the sun to a position such that the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun at its maximum angle, causing the sun to appear at its highest in the sky. But, no matter the POV taken, and both have validity when observing the universe, it means it is the longest day of the year.
I slept last night on a huge rock outcrop positioned right between upper and middle Rae Lakes. I picked that position so the light breeze blowing would maximize mosquito removal. It must have worked because all the kids I talked to that camped down near the lakes complained of clouds of mosquitos where I experienced none.
I was hoping to make 20 miles today, although I was not sure I could accomplish that distance through the Sierra. My day started with 7 miles of downhill from the magnificent Rae Lakes basin to Woods Creek 2500' below. Then a 3500' climb over 7.5 miles to Pinchot Pass followed by 4 miles and 2200' down to the Kerns River and then 2 miles of gradual uphill and 700' of gain to a campsite of my choosing in the meadows.
I woke at 5:30 and was moving by 6:10 after a granola breakfast. I reached Woods Creek by 9:30 and stopped to ice my foot in the river as prescribed by the foot doctor.
There are not many bridges in the Sierra, but Woods Creek merited a suspension bridge, the deck of which oscillated wildly as I walked across it.
The climb up to Pinchot Pass took 4 1/2 hours. Along the way Tie Dye and I leap frogged each other multiple times before he left me behind. I did not see him again until later in the day at the Kern River crossing where he had stopped to eat dinner.
Hop caught up with me just before the pass and we sat and talked on top with a couple doing the JMT southbound. I favored my foot on the downhill so Hop left me in the dust.
At the Kern River crossing I met Amy, her brother and her boy friend (can't recall their names). We had met them way back at the end of April when Sally and I were backtracking out the Whitewater with her hurt foot. All three are really nice kids with bright eyes full of the fun of life. Like most kids we have met they pulled out their pipes to smoke some grass for desert but Amy impressed me by asking if I minded if they did. I responded of course not, and meant it.
I found a lovely patch of ground in the meadow by the river to camp. It was now 6:30, so I had been walking for over 12 hours and had done my 20 miles. I laid out my Tyvek and set up my camp. I am not carrying a tent, so there isn't a lot to set up. I soaked my feet until they were quite blue, cooked dinner and crawled beneath my giant quilt for the night.
The earth had spun sufficiently to cause the sun to disappear below the horizon and the constellations were soon shining brightly as they too made their east to west migration as the earth turned. It was fun to see how low on the northern horizon the North Star, Polaris lay
compared to back home in Washington. A wonderful end to the longest day of the year.
Mile 793.2 to Mile 812.6
The ancients perceived the earth as standing still (A valid observation. Anytime I am in motion, no matter the vehicle I ride in, I can detect a vibration or movement, yet I detect no such sensations riding on the earth) and the sun and stars rotating around us. From this POV, that the earth is stationary, we would say that today the sun reached it's highest point of the year as it moved across the sky, causing the longest day of the year.
Galileo pointed the new technology of his age, the telescope, at Jupiter and noticed moons orbiting it. This simple observation destroyed the accepted hypothesis that all celestial bodies, sun, moon and stars, orbit the earth. It lent credence to the upstart hypothesis that the earth actually moves around the sun once every year and rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. From the sun as the center of the solar system POV this means the earth, tilted on its axis at 23.5°, has moved around the sun to a position such that the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun at its maximum angle, causing the sun to appear at its highest in the sky. But, no matter the POV taken, and both have validity when observing the universe, it means it is the longest day of the year.
I slept last night on a huge rock outcrop positioned right between upper and middle Rae Lakes. I picked that position so the light breeze blowing would maximize mosquito removal. It must have worked because all the kids I talked to that camped down near the lakes complained of clouds of mosquitos where I experienced none.
I was hoping to make 20 miles today, although I was not sure I could accomplish that distance through the Sierra. My day started with 7 miles of downhill from the magnificent Rae Lakes basin to Woods Creek 2500' below. Then a 3500' climb over 7.5 miles to Pinchot Pass followed by 4 miles and 2200' down to the Kerns River and then 2 miles of gradual uphill and 700' of gain to a campsite of my choosing in the meadows.
I woke at 5:30 and was moving by 6:10 after a granola breakfast. I reached Woods Creek by 9:30 and stopped to ice my foot in the river as prescribed by the foot doctor.
There are not many bridges in the Sierra, but Woods Creek merited a suspension bridge, the deck of which oscillated wildly as I walked across it.
The climb up to Pinchot Pass took 4 1/2 hours. Along the way Tie Dye and I leap frogged each other multiple times before he left me behind. I did not see him again until later in the day at the Kern River crossing where he had stopped to eat dinner.
Hop caught up with me just before the pass and we sat and talked on top with a couple doing the JMT southbound. I favored my foot on the downhill so Hop left me in the dust.
At the Kern River crossing I met Amy, her brother and her boy friend (can't recall their names). We had met them way back at the end of April when Sally and I were backtracking out the Whitewater with her hurt foot. All three are really nice kids with bright eyes full of the fun of life. Like most kids we have met they pulled out their pipes to smoke some grass for desert but Amy impressed me by asking if I minded if they did. I responded of course not, and meant it.
I found a lovely patch of ground in the meadow by the river to camp. It was now 6:30, so I had been walking for over 12 hours and had done my 20 miles. I laid out my Tyvek and set up my camp. I am not carrying a tent, so there isn't a lot to set up. I soaked my feet until they were quite blue, cooked dinner and crawled beneath my giant quilt for the night.
The earth had spun sufficiently to cause the sun to disappear below the horizon and the constellations were soon shining brightly as they too made their east to west migration as the earth turned. It was fun to see how low on the northern horizon the North Star, Polaris lay
compared to back home in Washington. A wonderful end to the longest day of the year.
Mile 793.2 to Mile 812.6
Decision Making - Friday, June 20
How did I get here? I don't mean the mechanical sperm and egg or stork in the cabbage patch how did I get here question. And I don't mean the existential formation of the universe, stellar nuclear reactions, creation vs evolution question. What I mean is, how did I end up on the PCT in the middle of the glorious Sierra all by myself? The answer to that question lies in the art or science of decision making. We arrive at a course of action by combining our experiences, knowledge and research along with our negotiations with all involved to form a course of action. That is decision making. So I ask the question again, "How did I get here?" A very kind red head must be involved.
Last thing I knew it was Thursday and we were riding the bus from The Valley to Tuolumne Meadows where we would spend the night. Friday morning our new friend and trail angel Big Red (who we had trail angeled at Big Bear a month ago) would pick us up, drive us to Independence where we would get our food resupply from the post office, drive us to the trail head at Onion Valley and we would be back on the trail together, Sally and I.
As I walked from the bus to our newly acquired campsite at Tuolumne Meadows campground I mentioned to Sally that my arch on my Planters Fasciitis suspect right foot was sore this morning. Somehow that statement initiated a cascade of decisions that finds me 19 miles in icing my foot in Woods Creek on a beautiful Sierra morning by myself.
Let's see if we can trace the anatomy of this decision. With my declaration of an aggravated arch Sally could not allow herself to hike the next section because of the loads I must carry to support the two of us. She saw those loads as the cause of my PF flair up and did not want to be responsible for my further injury. I reiterated that I did not think the weight was the cause and that we should continue forward with the plan. She would not have it. She explained she knew how much I wanted to do this next section of the PCT because it is the only section of the JMT I have not done and I was excited about it. I admitted to the truth of that statement, but again pressed for it to be a "we" adventure, not a "me" adventure. She softened the blow by saying she could rent a car and trail angel while I was in, including trail angeling me. We spent a few minutes checking week long rentals of cars. Our internet was abysmal, so we texted Jeff and had him check prices. At $330 a week plus gas and time to and from Reno the price seemed too high for a week. We discussed Sally volunteering in the Valley, but clothes, housing and commitment were all an issue. We had already been hanging around for ten days waiting on my foot, so another ten days were out of the question. Finally, Sally suggested she just fly home. This seemed appalling to me. What about "our" trip? She again reiterated how much she wanted me to get a chance to do the section of trail and how she couldn't bear to have me pack the weight on a suspect foot. We decided the order of operation was to first change her flight home, second to strip all the gear I did not have to carry from my pack and all the gear she did not need for the flight home from her pack, box it up and mail it home. Next, we would make reservation for her to stay at the hostel in Bishop for three nights ($15 a night) until her flight Monday morning. She could catch the bus to the airport from Bishop.
Before I knew it the gear needed for her to complete the trip was boxed and mailed, her airline ticket changed and her bed reserved. Our adventure of "we" for 91 days was shortened to 73 and I inherited an adventure of "me" for 18 days.
I hiked back over Kearsarge Pass 7 & 1/2 miles to reconnect with the PCT, then 3 miles up over Glen Pass and two miles down to Rae Lakes, an incredibly gorgeous set of large alpine lakes nestled between massive peaks.
I suspect I will adjust to this change, although I am about as nimble as a super tanker when it comes to course changes. I found myself missing Sally terribly these past 20 hours as I hiked through stunning country without my partner to share it with. Although I will miss her company for the duration I know from experience the emptiness will diminish as the days pass and I adjust to my new reality. It is beautiful. I am glad to be here. I am excited about covering new ground, connecting with some new people and finding how I do by myself as I am not a solo hiker. But I still find myself wondering how I got here.
A quick note: As Big Red drove us south to Independence we had to pass through Bishop and right by Schat's Bakery. I texted Crotalus and Far Out because I thought they were in Bishop, and they were. I told them we would be at the bakery at 10:30. When we walked in the door, there they both were. It was so good to see them after over a month of separation! Unfortunately, because we were on Big Red's dime we couldn't hang and talk for hours as the occasion demanded. But, both were staying at the hostel in Bishop and Sally was returning there after she dropped me off, so at least one of us got to spend hours catching up. Far Out would be a day behind me on the trail and Crotalus two days behind, so chances are our paths will cross.
Mile 789 to mile 793.2 plus 7.5 entry miles over Kearsarge Pass.
Last thing I knew it was Thursday and we were riding the bus from The Valley to Tuolumne Meadows where we would spend the night. Friday morning our new friend and trail angel Big Red (who we had trail angeled at Big Bear a month ago) would pick us up, drive us to Independence where we would get our food resupply from the post office, drive us to the trail head at Onion Valley and we would be back on the trail together, Sally and I.
As I walked from the bus to our newly acquired campsite at Tuolumne Meadows campground I mentioned to Sally that my arch on my Planters Fasciitis suspect right foot was sore this morning. Somehow that statement initiated a cascade of decisions that finds me 19 miles in icing my foot in Woods Creek on a beautiful Sierra morning by myself.
Let's see if we can trace the anatomy of this decision. With my declaration of an aggravated arch Sally could not allow herself to hike the next section because of the loads I must carry to support the two of us. She saw those loads as the cause of my PF flair up and did not want to be responsible for my further injury. I reiterated that I did not think the weight was the cause and that we should continue forward with the plan. She would not have it. She explained she knew how much I wanted to do this next section of the PCT because it is the only section of the JMT I have not done and I was excited about it. I admitted to the truth of that statement, but again pressed for it to be a "we" adventure, not a "me" adventure. She softened the blow by saying she could rent a car and trail angel while I was in, including trail angeling me. We spent a few minutes checking week long rentals of cars. Our internet was abysmal, so we texted Jeff and had him check prices. At $330 a week plus gas and time to and from Reno the price seemed too high for a week. We discussed Sally volunteering in the Valley, but clothes, housing and commitment were all an issue. We had already been hanging around for ten days waiting on my foot, so another ten days were out of the question. Finally, Sally suggested she just fly home. This seemed appalling to me. What about "our" trip? She again reiterated how much she wanted me to get a chance to do the section of trail and how she couldn't bear to have me pack the weight on a suspect foot. We decided the order of operation was to first change her flight home, second to strip all the gear I did not have to carry from my pack and all the gear she did not need for the flight home from her pack, box it up and mail it home. Next, we would make reservation for her to stay at the hostel in Bishop for three nights ($15 a night) until her flight Monday morning. She could catch the bus to the airport from Bishop.
Before I knew it the gear needed for her to complete the trip was boxed and mailed, her airline ticket changed and her bed reserved. Our adventure of "we" for 91 days was shortened to 73 and I inherited an adventure of "me" for 18 days.
I hiked back over Kearsarge Pass 7 & 1/2 miles to reconnect with the PCT, then 3 miles up over Glen Pass and two miles down to Rae Lakes, an incredibly gorgeous set of large alpine lakes nestled between massive peaks.
I suspect I will adjust to this change, although I am about as nimble as a super tanker when it comes to course changes. I found myself missing Sally terribly these past 20 hours as I hiked through stunning country without my partner to share it with. Although I will miss her company for the duration I know from experience the emptiness will diminish as the days pass and I adjust to my new reality. It is beautiful. I am glad to be here. I am excited about covering new ground, connecting with some new people and finding how I do by myself as I am not a solo hiker. But I still find myself wondering how I got here.
A quick note: As Big Red drove us south to Independence we had to pass through Bishop and right by Schat's Bakery. I texted Crotalus and Far Out because I thought they were in Bishop, and they were. I told them we would be at the bakery at 10:30. When we walked in the door, there they both were. It was so good to see them after over a month of separation! Unfortunately, because we were on Big Red's dime we couldn't hang and talk for hours as the occasion demanded. But, both were staying at the hostel in Bishop and Sally was returning there after she dropped me off, so at least one of us got to spend hours catching up. Far Out would be a day behind me on the trail and Crotalus two days behind, so chances are our paths will cross.
Mile 789 to mile 793.2 plus 7.5 entry miles over Kearsarge Pass.
Monday, June 23, 2014
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