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...