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
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