Hawaii Fast
@montessoriwalker
Hiking Record
Recent activity
Big Bear Lake -> Wrightwood
Tuesday A. 2.5 access trail @ 7:15 AM B. 26 on trail done by 4:00 PMish Getting back on trail I knew that to make my Friday 5:00 PM Wrightwood deadline (post office) walking 22 to 25 miles per day would be minimum, with probably a bit more to provide cushion and time to enjoy town. With my friend Peter coming up from Los Angeles on Saturday morning to spend some time, I had a firm commitment. Most of the day was downhill and that was pretty good for my body although my quads were often burning. The IT bands were okay, although the aforementioned tendinitis from my previous post was definitely flared in both legs. The new insoles helped, so I am thankful. All of us on this beautiful stretch of trail today saw an amazing array of scenery from big boulders hugging steep cliffs to meadows and marshes to canyons to gentle hills peppered with scrub to pine forests and some seriously massive pinecones that were at least the length of my forearm. Most of the day I was trying to catch up with Halo, Chief and QC, three ladies whom I met a couple of days ago and camped/hiked with into BBL. They hit the trail yesterday while I was taking that additional day in town, and it was not until they passed me this afternoon when I was in my pitched tent eating dinner that we traded tails of the day. They actually ended up going to a malt shop some distance away because a kind Trail Angel gave a lift. I was camped four miles from the infamous Hot Springs and they were two, so at first light if slightly before, I turned on the headlamp and broke camp so I could catch up with them to share breakfast at the pools. They also had re-supply boxes to pick up at the post office so we had the same timeline of urgency met with enjoyment of the trail. Following up on my earlier post about changing plans with the full PCT, I just have to be realistic that my body is not built at this moment for a hard-core sustained fast effort of getting it done so I can return to Maui not too many weeks late into the new school year. When I get into Wrightwood, I’ll contact my Yogananda volunteer opportunity that is building a meditation retreat center in Northern California. Wednesday A. 28 done by 6:00 PM This was just simply a beautiful day of hiking. Yes, another long day of miles, which is my modus operandi no matter what I try to do to lessen them, but hiking with the crew was simply lovely. It was soft trail but not beachy, contours of high valleys with sweeping views, hot pools and lakes, gentle breezes, and good temperature. Really, one could not have asked for just a lovely day of walking. Late in the day I asked the crew if at this moment what food they could have, a variety of answers emerge. Something with ice cream, mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce (me), Dr Pepper, and some sort of breakfast toast. As it turned out, after QC and I were camped atop a ridge at sunset, Halo and Chief arrived at camp with...you guessed it, mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce! I had already brushed and flossed, so this time I just flossed. Thursday A. 9.5 done by 9:00 AM B. Nero in Wrightwood Blazing the trail today with the ladies, I had to seriously ask myself the question I was already pondering yesterday: Am I being premature in changing plans to move from a full PCT walk to other stuff? Essentially, I’m stepping off trail. Essentially, I’m ending the hike. On the one hand, I feel like I could pursue another couple of town and go so far as Kennedy Meadows without too much difficulty in the legs. At the present moment, the IT bands are tight but not beyond discomfort, and the tendons are sensitive but not in dire pain like previously. On the other hand, I have really come to favor the idea of using this gift of time before the next school year, and again, returning to the next school year on time rather than a month late, by exploring a handful of other meaningful experiences that would be equally rewarding in their own right. I am going to go with the latter, as plans are in motion and my situation has been announced. What I have learned, been reminded of in all of this of late is that one can predict, plan, anticipate, and even expect a certain actualization of reality (as a practice I try to never harbor expectations, although anticipations are okay), only to welcome something along the way that offers an equally valuable opportunity for change. It’s easy to be a side liner and couch disappointment in not having walked 2660 miles or to express disappointment in the fact that someone is injured/possibly even taken as a challenge of authenticity. But you know what: get out there and do it yourself. Walk almost a thousand miles in less than two months with 20-25 pounds on your back and live all the joy and challenge thru-hiking demands to be able to have the conversation. Friends and family who appreciate, care, and love you will congratulate that which you rocked rather than latch onto that which you didn’t. I’ve received supportive and wise counsel. I am thankful. I sit here in my Wrightwood Airbnb fortified with food and drink, warm and very relaxed. I am totally at ease with what’s about to come for the rest of these next few months. I have a bit more of exploring and random hiking in California by renting a vehicle and driving around, volunteering at a retreat, wwoofing a farm ir two, staying with friends whom I deeply appreciate and love in Montana, North Carolina, and Ohio, visiting my parents in Florida, and returning to Maui with a renewed admiration and value for the gifts I have been given as well as cultivated across all aspects of my life. The upcoming school year will benefit from this time away. Recall, I hiked the majority of the Arizona Trail before the PCT, and that was a great experience with those fellows. Friday A. Zero in Wrightwood Saturday A. p/u by buddy Peter...
Update
A bump in the road, as my good buddy Michael put in a note to me. A great newborn Trail Angel, Jessica, drove me down to Rancho Cucamonga and at the local Fleet Feet it was determined the easiest course of corrective action without a whole shoe system paradigm change would be to step up the Super Feet insole I use from blue to green: deeper heel cup. There are still fundamental body issues, but if a simple orthodic fix is the answer...great. I’ve also made decisions to push into Wrightwood and TBD to Acton ... stop by stop ... to Tehachapi. See how it all goes. I’ve also made the decision to at least end the PCT before KMS. Visit friends in Montana, North Carolina, and Ohio. Family in Florida. Wwoof in Upstate New York. Possibly stop in Fort Collins. Might as well do it all. Maybe rent that car and do a bit of scenic driving and short day hikes. Okay. More logistics to plan and prep before tomorrow’s out.
Hmmm.
Disclaimer: This post is a lot of me thinking out loud, so if you read this you’re tapping into my processing. I left Idyllwild on Friday daybreak armed with hot cider and a gluten free lemon blueberry loaf care of a generous ride from the great Rick Carlton (sevachild.org). He brought me down from town to 207. Yes, effectively I bypassed 151-207 in the name of giving three days relief to the IT bands and not immediately shocking the system with insane thousands of feet elevation climb/decent. I’m not a purist hiker. That’s me hiking my own hike. The time off did wonders for my right side, but the chronic left—rooted to a 2006 Honolulu Marathon—that has occasionally flared throughout the years, was much abated albeit not fully released. I did a “gentle” 22 on Friday followed by 27 on Saturday, in part because I didn’t want to dry camp and the idea of a truly low 10 miles rolling into Big Bear Lake today/Sunday was quite appealing. Sure, I expected some consequence of such a long walk, but it was not what the it-just-so-happens-foot-and-ankle-professional specialist/side-hustle-Uber-driver from the trail head at 266.1 who gave me a ride into town was able to assess and relay to me today: “You have peroneal tendonitis due to decreased ankle dorsiflexion because your talus is not positioned properly because you over pronate. You should consider getting a shoe that is more supportive that helps to eliminate over pronation.” Read: “new” injury where I can’t flex my left foot up past the horizontal axis; all is still interconnected with the IT. Hmmm. Where’s that analysis been from my Maui training support team...in all of the training two years ago and especially this past year? Sure, at some point the passing comments of a supportive shoe were made, but not deeply pushed and explained in detail related to the effect of over pronation. And yes, upon reflection I have felt this before, but not to such searing pain and limitation. Those instances I merely tossed it off to overwork or stress. And part of that is also on me for not researching more deeply. Okay. Now I’ve got a whole external side systems issue stretching from hip/butt to toes. I was grateful and perturbed getting this news from a complete stranger who was immediately able to assess my situation and kindly offer on the spot adjustment to temporarily relieve some of the discomfort. No blame to the good Hawaii people, but there are lessons to learn in this experience and that is what the trail does well. What to do? These words of assessment came late in the day by text when I didn’t have the language to understand what she told me during the morning car ride because hiker hunger was on my mind. In the morning they were self-summarized as: Hey, do I want to create a worse situation in the short run and possibly something worse for the long run of decades ahead if I keep hiking? And how much on again off again hiking/hole up and rest is sustainable? But when couched that the right shoe might be the simple answer and allowing for some time of adjustment to figure that out, maybe the situation is not soooo dire. But these are maybes and I’m out in the field on a First World extended playtime of indulgence designed to offer personal growth in many ways...it’s not singularly about walking all the 2660 miles. Plus, even if I get the new shoe there is a recovery time to let the inflammation in all tendons up and down the left side to subside. Guess where the one shoe I’m willing to entertain, more of a low cut hiking shoes than trail runner, which is fine, happens to be? Almost two hours away, west, midway between Big Bear Lake and Los Angeles. This means after picking up my hopefully arrived resupply box at the post office first thing in the morning, I would have to rent a vehicle and drive to a particular REI mid-morning and try on three different sizes of shoe. There might also be snow overnight. There is no provider of well-designed, supportive hiker footwear in Big Bear. What then, I must ask, is the opportunity cost of reappropriating this arranged time away from teaching/next school year to pursue a variety of enriching experiences rather than just the PCT? After all, at this point I have done 3/4 of the Arizona Trail (that was awesome) and an acknowledged 10%, or so, of the PCT. I fully understand and appreciate life of a thru hiker, even if it has not been for several months on end. Bottom line, I need a better shoe. So somehow that has to happen. After that, it can be the PCT, slower, differently than planned. Or maybe gentle day hikes unrelated to the PCT in other great spots of Americana. Or maybe I jump around and do select snippets of the PCT as my permit allows. Maybe I visit important places and monuments that I may never get the chance to see just in the normal flow of life. Maybe (certainly) I c/should visit with family and friends as well. I guess the next day or so will shape up the plans. For whatever it’s worth, the nature of these past two and a half days has been truly among the best on the PCT. Canyons with creeks. Lush forests with tons of birds. Gentle and gusts of wind. Rolling hills and healthy climbs. Multiple sets of nice people to hike with. Good times.
My Breaking Camp System
Forrest Gump designed this app for hikers to hikers and hikers + homer’s to family/friends, and I’m using it largely for family and friends; yes, a few fellow hikers I’ve met and traveled with along the way as well. So let’s depart from what I have been writing about to dip into something different: my breaking camp system. A typical day means I am already awake when it’s dark. But that’s just me. Usually by 5:00 I am stirring by having finished reviewing app notes on the day’s work ahead. I leisurely start to organize the inside of my pack, leading to breaking down the tent, so that by roughly 6:00 or first light—increasingly closer to 5:45—I am on trail. Breaking camp means while laying down I deflate the air mattress, hoiste myself up, turn on the red light of my headlamp if necessary, rearrange some contents of my bag that may or may not be affected by what layers I’m wearing at night versus want to wear in the morning, i.e.: puffy or rain jacket/windbreaker, hat or beanie, dance pants on top of my shorts, thick or thin gloves, etc. I always pop my multivitamin with a sip of water and then start the process of packing up the sleeping bag and inflatable air pillow, folding and pressing out all the air of the mattress then putting it into the pack along the backside as additional padding, rearranging my food bag to stack accordingly with all the other items in the pack that were taken out or need to be moved around which includes my toiletries and not to be confused with my poop kit that lives on the outside, and inserting the electronics bag, cork ball and vitamin/supplements. Items that I don’t need but want to keep dry all go into the dry liner inside my pack. At that point I toss the bag outside the tent. I usually keep the water bottles outside to get a little extra chill overnight. Tent. There’s a system for everything so needless to say I remove the pole, remove the stakes, dust off any dirt or sand and fold up/roll of all items into the compression sack. I tidy up final organization on the outside of my pack, do a dummy check, and head off on trail. While setting up camp the night before, I select all the snacks I want for the next day and place them in the bottom compression pouch of my pack. I also presoak my breakfast after I eat dinner, and depending on lunch will place that meal easily accessible inside or on the outside mesh of the pack if it’s a prepackaged hiker meal vs. load up my cold soak container with the dried goods and water depending on when I eat the aforementioned cold soak breakfast, which sometimes might be on trail after hiking for a little while and not eating a bar. Or eating a bar too. There’s no exactly the same everyday. Sometimes I have a bar within the first 15 to 20 minutes of walking. Sometimes I eat breakfast while sitting in the tent before organizing. It’s really just a matter of how I feel, how hungry I am, temperature inside/outside, and what lies ahead. But I can say, however, is that my special mix of oatmeal, mulberries, Goji berries, Chia seeds, hemp seeds, coconut powder, and honey…(HT: DeLisas) better not get boring for the next few months! Adding in nuts and raisins is already helping after the weeks spent on the AZT. IT Update: Idyllwild rest for three days and back on trail Friday.
Day 1
Yup.
Sedona Walks
Monday: Sedona. A town I’ve never visited but many a folk have said I would enjoy, It’s Day 1 of 3 and while I’m not impressed by the town, I’m not dissspointed. It’s what I’ve anticipated. Read: Lahaina. Tourists. Sprawling. After finding my ride from Flagstaff to the Manzanita Campground, I walked about 12 miles into town. It was pleasant walking with great canyons and lovely trail. I did have a “HELLO, your Flagstaff rest and consumption is over!” immediate few hundred foot climb that after a few days off was...a huff and a puff ?. It was nice to be under a canopy of trees as well as have a wide, often chalky footpath. I meandered my way through town and am now at my accommodation for the next three days. No camping, but a bed. Same will be true for two nights in Tempe and then three nights in Phoenix. Tomorrow my goal is to get out early and do a lot of hiking up until about 1:30 PM at which point I have a two o’clock hot tub reservation. Same deal for Wednesday, but the hot tub for three o’clock. This is the Covid era people: hot tub reservations. Tuesday: I hit a lot of trails today. While listing off names is certainly entertainment, it’s enough to say that I stitched together at least a dozen to loop from Hyatt (where I am staying on points) to Airport Mesa Vortex (nice), Red Rock (nice, busy), Bell Vortex (fine and a hella lot of bikers), Baby Bell (same), Cathedral Vortex and east of Route 179 back home. A lot more trail today than yesterday that is multi-use between bikers and hikers. Again, the trails were like a fine chalk red dust, well-impacted from seasoned use, and wide was the pathway. I thought I would pull close to 20 miles, but it ended at about 17 and, well, that was fine. Tomorrow I am taking off early at 6 AM to do the Boynton Canyon Trail, the last of the four holy vortex of Sedona. Admission: I am taking a cab to the trail head because I don’t want to meander and piecemeal trails together for the first three hours just to get to the start of the actual trail. However, after doing the 6-mile loop I will zigzag my way back down into town. That will require sewing together about half a dozen trails. And yes, I will do three days in a row of the hot tub. This afternoon with some extra time I visited a nearby wine shop for a tasting of Arizona’s finest reds. I was happily amused. I also stopped by a local café for food and was sourly disappointed because of the absurd wait for a simple order. Needless to say, I bailed on that and found comfort elsewhere. Sleeping in a bed for several days past and several days to come after a few weeks of tent, sleeping pad, inflatable pillow, and sleeping bag is a jarring juxtaposition of diametric worlds. Real-time access to non-trail food/drink is also part of this confluence of crazy. It is a good foreshadow for how the reconciliation of returning to everyday life might take place come after summer. For sure: exercise, eat less and drink less alcohol, relax, take life in stride, have meals outside, savior ice. Wednesday: I am super happy to have taken that cab ride and arrive at the trail head by 6:15/6:20. From trail head to terminus it’s about a 6.2 out and back and for the first mile or so it was a pleasant if not unremarkable lead in. Roughly at the 2-mile marker is when the canyon really took on character. Coupled with some incredible music by Ashana and a recently shared new rendition of “Door of My Heart”, the gentle morning light breaking through the dense forest was an ethereal splatter on the soft dirt trail, on the canyon walls, understory brush, and myself. The brisk temperature only added to the tone. The canyon endpoint was magical. Heck, the whole trail was magical. If you have ever seen Pan’s Labyrinth and found delight in the notion of mysterious meets animated spirit of rock, then you have a sense of what I felt at nearly every turn and along stretches with oncoming formations that shifted from personality to frozen to frozen with emotion as I passed by. For anybody dialed into higher vibrations, the walk was completely impossible to miss those frequencies. It was a perfect culmination of intentional visits to the vortexes these days. The way back was a bit more conventional with a few very well-developed bike trails that because I was slack packing made for some jogging. I tell you, it is a world of difference to hike with 4.4 pounds of water and a 1-pound backpack plus a few super light snacks thrown in than a 20-pound carry, elevation or not. Included are a few pictures from today and two sunrise shots from the (four) Pile of Dudes who were at the Grand Canyon’s southern edge this morning. I was there in spirit and will be one day in actuality. This wraps my AZT HikerFeed. Cya on the PCT feed.
AZT->PCT
Getting there soon.
Pivoting in Flagstaff
Racing into town on Wednesday night to be sure and arrive before dark plus refuel after the better part of a 20-mile stretch without water (for a few of the fellows; I had a liter) was an exhilarating experience. We certainly did not do it for accolades, but most people with whom we have shared this little tale were respectfully impressed. Turning our previously planned Thursday nero into a zero, that added to our Friday planned zero resulting in two very fine Flagstaff days of local casual walking, chilling, and mostly enjoying several of Flagstaff’s finest eating and drinking establishments. Shower’s wife, Maggie, drove in for the weekend so we were able to meet her and spend time seeing the happy couple together. “Cowtank Katie” is a fellow hiker we met about a week ago and volleyed with a bit. Katie has refused to accept that trail name we affectionately offered, but you can figure out it has to do with Katie and cowtank water. We met up with Katie and her family last night. This morning the four other Gaggle of Guys are picking up at the Flagstaff town passage we veered off from a few nights ago to head onward and upward toward the Grand Canyon South Rim followed by the terminus a few days thereafter. Their goal is to finish April 14, which is the day I launch from Campo on the border with Mexico to walk the 2660 miles of the PCT. It’s time to say a hui hou. I knew this moment will would come as early as shortly after the snowstorm on Mount Lemmon. By the second storm when we were approaching Tonto National Forest it was clear I would have to make a decision about arriving in Pine on the same day as departure or zero with them. That would mean going solo and racing a bit to stick to my original on paper schedule or stick with the crew and let that guide the weeks ahead. Since this entire AZT+PCT journey is not singularly about reaching the end of any one trail, but rather, well, yes: the journey itself, not finishing between Flagstaff and the border is merely an opportunity to return and experience the closure in a different fashion than right now. This is a commitment I am making to myself whether it happens immediately after the PCT at the end of August before returning to Hawaii (not likely) or as some future gettaway from the islands, happen it will. It is a bit weird to be splintering from the group and re-focusing solely on myself. It’s not that I’ve become codependent on the others, as much as my thinking and actions have been reshaped by the whole group experience. I’m glad to have had time at the start on my own to acclimate and the bulk of the AZT to know what a tramily is like. I’ve learned quite a bit that will carry me through the next early experiences on the PCT. The trail really has been lovely. The change in geography, geology, flora, fauna, people, elevation and everything that has bound the trail together are powerful memories I won’t soon forget. I have a new understanding of Arizona weather and Arizonians. The trail has also shed light on particular lifestyle arrangements and values I’ve placed on them for life in Hawaii. In short, the trail is doing what the trail is supposed to do: Bring us closer to nature, bring us closer to people, bring us closer to our individual truth. This weekend I have decided to take an extra moment in Flagstaff before heading out to Sedona and spend several days casually hiking and exploring the area. I might need to rent a car, I may need to rent a bike, I might need to hike to where I’m going to hike, but I do want to downshift and take in a little bit of the area on my own before connecting with two great friends about a week from now in Phoenix. At that point we will spend a few days and on Tuesday, April 13 I fly to San Diego, beginning that leg of this 5 to 6 month adventure. To that, this is the last formal entry of my AZT Thru 2021: Border to Flagstaff, a respectable ~570 miles. I’ll put a post-script Sedona hiking entry together in about a week. Mahalo to all who have followed along. Those of you who have shared lovely comments, thank you! If you want to read about the PCT long trail walk: https://hikerfeed.com/hikes/303
36+2=38
We aimed for 25 last night. Stretched that to 31 at mid-morning snack ~11am. Clinched town at 36 at lunch ~1:00 PM. Added the extra 2.1 to Mother Road Brewery upon arrival in Flagstaff. So...a 38 mile day. Holy cow! My longest day of walking ever on my life! I had three beers and a flight (yup, Koa Class and SRF friends) and two orders of sliders plus noshing on sides. Yes, water too. We are currently at the Radisson Downtown thanks to 44K points I was happy to burn for the four of us (Swede is taking a solo night). During the last four days we have had snow, mud, dry, great forests and yucky, spectacular views and so so, cold morning temps and warm daytimes, passed a couple of hikers and wandered solo as a tribe, and have I mentioned the mud?!! Mañana we will reconnect with Swede for a two day zero at the Hilton care of his points. All of us have REI visits planned, a good couple of breakfasts and more breweries planned (yup, Koa Class and SRF friends), will likely walk the Passage 33 town route on Friday so we can uber to the northern trailhead, and I’m intending to book a massage sometime in this double zero. I also have to decide what I’m going to do for post Flagstaff. If the conditions headed up to the southern rim are mushy and muddy and just not fun, I might pass and use the time to see a few of Arizona’s other trophies. If good, however, I’ll only have to find a way from southern rim to Phoenix/Tempe by Thursday, because I’ve given myself the gift of two days and nights at a Hyatt on points before my Cincinnati friend friends arrive and then head to the PCT for five months! Enjoy the pics.
Payson/Pine to Flagstaff
From Tuesday: It’s 7:00 on Tuesday night and we’re tucked into our tents for what us supposed to be a 25 degree night. My Nunatek quilt will be put to the true test. We plan to arrive in Flagstaff on Thursday morning after a mere ten miles and in time for a healthy dose of unhealthy breakfast. I’m hoping for Eggs Benedict with a double side order of bacon and bottomless coffee, the latter of which I will only do in town. The trail these few days has been quite nice and that we are on the Mogollon Rim, is an entirely different landscape than southern Arizona and central as well. So much forest, wild elk, colder daytime and evening temperatures with plenty of prescription left on the ground from recent systems that passed through. Other than occasional planes, the soundscape has been silent of human development. Crushing pine needles under feet. Pine cones dropping from tree limbs. Birds, of course. And the wind. Different dances of the wind through dense forest, thin forest and burned forest.