Bullfrog Lake Trail.. to Kearsage Pass Trail to Onion Valley Trailhead… miles 8ish? I woke up early today… of course.. when all I have to do is 8 miles… I was out of camp by 7. Well the fact that I woke up early, to winter inside my tent complete with frost and wet everything…. May have contributed to my early exit… As much as I dislike the idea of side trails and extra mountain passes to get resupply… I have to say Kearsage Pass was one of the most beautiful sections thus far and I am glad I did it. The climb was steep - but again seemed easier than my first high altitude days… the switchbacks going down were skipworthy ;) with no snow and mostly smooth dirt… oh how I love regularly used day hiking trails. Still unsure of exactly how I was getting home… I was thrilled to receive a cell signal halfway down… I was able to book a rental car from Bishop to pick up later in the afternoon… hopefully getting a ride wouldn’t be too hard. On my way down, I passed a bunch of hiker friends headed back up… Jedi..Summer… Deep Dive… stopping and talking to each one was really nice. They are all still so supportive of my old legs and really uplift my self doubt. At the very bottom though was Scout and WingIt… they were headed back up too… but I got to spend a few minutes with one of my original tramily members and that is always priceless. A campervan was pulling around the parking lot and Scout said I should jump Out for the ride… so I did… and a very nice lady from the Joshua Tree area agreed to bring me to Independence…. She dropped me off at a gas station… and I hopped out of the car a little too quickly… realizing after she pulled away that I left my trekking poles in the van… oh well… I went into the gas station to get a soda and asked the clerk where would be the best place to stand on road and hitch to Bishop…. He said right out front… so, I did… for the first time on the trail… I stood on the side of a major hwy.. thumb out and left it to chance… Within 20 minutes an older man in a pickup hauling a horse trailer pulled over and offered me a ride… I felt bad because he immediately rolled down the truck windows as I got in… it had to be close to 100 degrees outside…so that decision meant the smell coming off Amy was real… we talked the entire 42 miles to Bishop… turns out he was the former superintendent of Inyo County Schools… and I really enjoyed learning about his life as I apologized for the stench over and over again… He dropped me off right at Enterprise… it’s weird on trail you don’t think about the dirt and smell and how you look… but entering a business in a town and back in the real world you immediately begin to feel self conscious … I did my best to keep my distance as the clerk went over the car details and took my payment… before heading out I grabbed some grub… and then drove in 4.5 hours basically the route that had taken me a month to walk! Arriving home… I realized I did not have any keys to my house… and apparently unlike me Charlie likes to lock the doors when heading out of town… luckily our friend Toni had been checking our mail and had a key… once inside and showered, I realized Charlie also doesn’t believe in grocery shopping when I am away… so I texted Toni and we went out for cocktails and yummy food. Looking forward to having a few days at home and spending time with Charlie when he returns… because of reaction to first vaccine shot… I will probably spend the next week at home just to make sure it doesn’t happen again, will let you all know when I head back out.
Miles 775.8 to 788.5 Plus a few miles on the side trail exit I got started around 7:30 am this morning… having given up on ever getting up in the wee hours like the other hikers… I was proud of leaving before 8:30! I knew today was a big climb… I would be passing over the highest point on the PCT - Forester Pass… I was a little in my head about it being difficult and struggling again with the climbing at the altitude… however, my body must of finally acclimated because, while I was huffing at the top… the climb seemed easier than everything the past week… and the snow approaching the ascent was minimal… I have been carrying around this ice axe and spikes for a week now and still haven’t taken them out of my bag (although I probably should of used spikes for the last 10 steps over a snow cornice at the top). Even the infamous “ice chute” was mostly melted and snow free… mental note to text my friend Wes, who is doing the JMT in August that he will have some big water carries. Looking at the photos above - you can see me pointing from where I was to where the pass was with my trekking pole… it seemed so high and far away when I started out… but it really seemed to take no time before I was standing at the top and looking down at miles of snowfields on the descent. The snow was slow going… follow footsteps… then find the actual PCT… step… step… sink to my hip… step step sink to my hip… going down, usually my 4 mile an hour part of the day… took longer than climbing back up… below 11,000 the snow fields started to get smaller but then it was walking in a trail covered with streams of snowmelt and if it happened to be dry… rocks, rocks, rocks… I thought of Hound everytime I stumbled trying to walk and look at the views… he would always say “damn ants always trying to trip us up”. I finally reached the bottom of the canyon and looked up at the next climb up Glenn Pass… the trail to Kearsage was about halfway up the pass… i was mentally tired from the long descent… but it was early… talk about a climb… it made the Forester switchbacks seem like a flat plateau… mental note.. tell Wes I hope he is going southbound :). I reached the Bullfrog Lake Trail junction leading to Kearsage early afternoon … legs spent and lungs going overtime… my decision was made … I texted Jeff… I was going home for a few days… I also realized I was not getting over another pass today and making it to the road before dark… and I was not going to look for a ride in the dark… the area around the lake was closed to camping … but there was a tentsite above the lake and the views were spectacular… I decided to stop and have a great last night camping… I fell asleep before 6pm… to the sound of a chorus of croaking bullfrogs (one even had quite the solo) and F16s flying overhead… (this entire section has been filled with F16s … you can hear them… but by the time you spot them they are long gone… some of the flyovers have been really cool, some just interrupt the peacefulness of the trail.)
A mile or so back to PCT Miles 767.0 to 775.8 I had set my alarm for 4:30am, with the plan to get over Forester in the morning… while Whitney had been snow free - the north side of Forester had been reported as “posthole hell” in the afternoon… I woke up from a deep sleep groggy at 10am… whoops… my body obviously needed to reset because I can’t remember the last time I slept that late. I decided right away to make it an easy day and save Forester for the next day… I looked again and again at the map trying to figure out how to work things out with Jeff… not having a cell signal made it hard…looking at the miles and guessing on days made it hard… my insecurities of being slow in this section began to drown out the joy of having someone join me… the idea of two side trails and two extra mountain passes annoyed me… I marveled at all the negative thoughts my inner voice was laying on me… and it hit me… I needed a reset… the plan became clear.. I would have to cancel on Jeff… I would make it to Kearsage and head down and head home. Immediately, pressure off on making it to Bishop Pass… and if not having to push big miles… I felt relieved. I also felt relieved at the idea of not having my second vaccine shot hanging over my head… I started thinking of surprising Charlie when he returned from Connor’s graduation from Emory… and the answer seemed clear… my spirits were immediately lifted, but I still let the decision and logistics muddle around in my head for the entire day. Leaving at 11 and not being able to just hike into the night because of the terrain that was ahead of me… I set off knowing it would be a low mileage day. It was another gorgeous day of hiking and another day of what seemed like endless ascending and little descending…. I was able to really soak in the views and take breaks… which was nice because some of the creek crossings and rock hopping left my shoes soaking wet… I reached the last noted campsite on the approach to Forester fairly early and set up camp in one of the most beautiful campsites yet - questioning how I could be so lucky to have this entire place to myself. I pondered again on options and decided before falling asleep that if I made it to Kearsage the next day I would go home… if I struggled and didn’t make it there… I would wait it out and hike a few days with Jeff and then go home… a win win for me.
No PCT Miles… 16ish side trail miles… Most of the time… in a normal year…especially in midMay.. a sunrise summit of Whitney is the go to - mainly because the snow is easier to walk on before it starts to melt. This wasn’t a normal year… the reports from the summiters at camp that had gone the day before were as follows: Jedi/Summer/Deep Dive, ET al… had left camp at 12:30am… they were miserable… it was cold… their water filters froze along the way… don’t do it! And there is no snow! Scout/WingIt had left camp a little after 5am… it was amazing… beautiful… Puppy and his crew were at camp and summiting the same day as me… but I knew they were faster and to be honest I was starting to get a little self conscious again about how freaking slow and hard these high altitude climbs were for me… I had set my alarm to leave with them around 5… but the snooze button prevailed as an answer to hide my insecurities. (Sidenote: Mt Whitney is technically not on the PCT, we are allowed to hike to the summit as a side trip with camping restrictions - we can’t camp any closer than Crabtree and we can only spend two nights at Crabtree total… this has us entering from the west and merging with the Whitney Portal day hikers with only About two miles left to the summit… we do not have to climb the Infamous “99 switchbacks” up… our trip is only about 7.6 miles and we started at around 10,500 in elevation from camp… ) I set out around 7 instead…. the hike was beautiful and the ability to leave most of my stuff at camp greatly reducing the weight of my pack down to about 4 lbs tot (since I had to come back this way after summiting to get back to PCT) definitely made the climbing somewhat easier… alpine lake after alpine lake were passed … marmot after marmot scurried around me in the early morning… the sun cast an amazing glow over the high peaks around me… it seriously could not have been more perfect. Still struggling slightly with the climbing… I was feeling 100% better than the two days before… I guess there is something to acclimating… I took 5 minute breaks every 500 ft in gain starting at 12,500… which I think helped too. My mind was still circling around wanting to share this with someone… and as if the trail knew what I needed… a simple, song shuffled onto my playlist just as I started the biggest part of the climb…. not even one of my favorite songs… but one that let me know someone was with me. The song was “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten… in all the hours I have hiked the PCT with this one playlist… I don’t recall hearing it once… but here in this moment of self doubt… of feeling all alone in an amazing experience… it was poignant… it let me know I was not alone at all… and that a dear friend lost a few years ago was still cheering me on courtside per say… her memory drove me up that hill… her memory also dug up thoughts of others that had moved on from this world… I thought of my grandfather and what he must be thinking watching me in this moment from above… And then for the rest of the climb… I thought long and hard about my late brother… lost in a combination of daydream memories… conversations with spirits from my past… i reached the summit without even realizing it… and a mixture of tears of joy, tears of amazement, and tears of comfort were falling down my face. I spent hours at the summit… soaking it in.. the views were amazing… but the feeling inside of me from the emotional hike and accomplishment were more than anything I could feast my eyes on. I had a signal for the first time in days and called Charlie and my cousin, Ashley, and of course Hound (still recovering from his back)… I sent some texts…but mostly just sat at the highest point of the continental US thinking about the people, living and not, that had influenced my life. I struggle with accepting the love of others greatly or feeling worthy of support… and somewhere on the top of that mountain, I was able to recognize how so many different people do indeed care for me and the ways that they show it. I started to walk down writing mental notes to myself hoping to remember what I had learned today, when I returned to the real world. Right as I passed the shelter at the top… my phone dinged one last time… my old mixed captain and a friend from Marin…Jeff, the Sierra expert, that he wanted to come hike with me in this section. Still unsure of my plan… I wobbled on committing… but then feeling like it was an answer to the loneliness that had been plaguing me… I hastily agreed. The best view of the day was of The aptly named Guitar Lake on the way down… When I got to camp… everyone else had packed up to get a few more miles in before attempting Forester Pass the next day. I was tired and drained from the day… and decided I could draw out Forester into two days… since Jeff was meeting me at Kearsage on Friday… pressure off - I began looking at the map to figure out the logistics of Jeff himing with me as I fell asleep.
Miles 759.2 to 767.0 Plus.. 1.1 side trail to Crabtree Ranger Station The say started immediately with a creek crossing, followed by a steep incline (at least by PCT) standards…I had slept in since I only had about 8 miles I could go today and I took my time… catching my breath every couple of yards…trying to wake my legs up… again, they were protesting the climb and the altitude… I grew frustrated with them at every step… how was I going to make it up Whitney and the other passes, when I had to stop what seems like every 40 yards… I was mad at myself for feeling weak… I struggled up the hill… and again immediately felt accomplished (albeit slow and old) and motivated… slow and steady I told myself… it’s not a race… I repeated the words of a friend trying to qualm the natural competitor inside of me… The day continued with some heavy climbing… and little descent… about 4 miles in… I saw my first hiker on this stretch… he was huffing and puffing up the hill behind me… maybe not as slow as me, but for some reason it made me feel better, probably because he looked to be in his early 20s, by the way he walked i could tell this wasn’t his first rodeo…happy to rest under the guise of moving out of his way… I introduced myself as he got in earshot… his name: Puppy the Dragon Slayer… yes he had hiked the AT and he was from just north of Birmingham, Alabama… and he came out with the truth right away… “this is hard”… relieved that it wasn’t just me… I followed him up the hill… each of us taking breaks to catch our breath as we needed it… when the trail began to level out… his speed gave him a big lead… but I was joyous in the fact that it was hard even for a youngin’. I reached Crabtree Meadows… and there was Scout and Wingit, just finishing their Whitney Summit and soaking their feet. They stayed for dinner at camp before getting in a couple of extra miles to set themselves up better for the next day. We talked plans… they were getting off at Kearsage in two days… I was still unsure… I considered skipping Whitney so I could just stick with them… it was so nice to laugh and joke with the two of them… my ego protested loudly… “skip Whitney? What is wrong with you? no way!” it resounded, burying the thought. They left shortly after eating.. and as the sun was headed down… I finally placed the feeling that had been following me since leaving Lone Pine… I was lonely and to be honest with myself… for the first time in my life I was a little homesick. It wasn’t homesick in that I wanted to be home… it was homesick and that I wanted someone to share this part of the experience with… anyone would do I pondered, but in reality I wanted to share this with someone named Charlie… it had been almost a month since I had seen him… different ideas started formulating in my head about my “Sierra” plan.
Extra Miles: 9 (gate at horseshoe meadows back to PCT) Miles: 750.2 to 759.2 This morning started out with a little kerfuffle… the amazing staff at Elevation gear shop in Lone Pine had got me in touch with a shuttle driver, who was already bringing up an older couple staying at my hotel at 8am… all had been confirmed and set via text. So imagine my surprise when at 6:50am… I walk out to get some coffee from the Alabama Hills Cafe and see said older couple getting into the shuttle… confused I approached the driver. Apparently he had forgotten to text me about a time change… I wasn’t packed or organized to leave… he said he could come back later, when he had another rider going up to bicycle… so my 8:45am start moved to 11:30am… not ideal… but it was what it was. I spent the extra morning hours rearranging my bag and seeing the best way to fit my bear can and ice axe… by the time 11:30 rolled around I must of packed and repacked my bag 40+ times. Horseshoe Meadows campground still closed … the closest I could get dropped off was at the gate…a 9 mile walk back to the PCT… I know, I know… 9 miles isn’t a big deal considering I am hiking everyday… but this was 9 miles I had just done two days ago… 9 miles of non PCT miles… 9 miles all uphill… for some reason it left me irritated… I realized about halfway up - I was being impatient for getting to Whitney… I was feeling the urge to be with Scout and Wingit, who were about a day ahead of me… I basically got in my own head… I reached the trail junction with the PCT…. And I could immediately feel the impacts of it being harder to breathe… I needed to acclimate again… I decided to give up on reaching Scout and summiting Whitney with him the next day… I knew my body wasn’t ready to go that high… and set up camp about 9 miles down the PCT next to Rock Creek… even though the day started off with a negative vibe and a little questioning of why am I doing this again… I was excited to pass into Sequoia National Park… and really enjoyed having lunch with a view of Chicken Spring Lake… once I got through the long climbs for the day… and reached my little descent… I realized even though I was being a little negative nellie about Climbing… it felt like an accomplishment once I got over the top… and reminder myself it was all physically preparing me for the two giants that laid ahead. Maybe I wouldn’t catch Scout to climb Whitney with him… but I would catch him to celebrate his climb the next day at Crabtree Meadows… which was only a few miles ahead for me. As I tried to fall asleep at the appointed hiker bedtime of 7pm… a feeling was nagging at me that I couldn’t quite place… I shifted my focus to my “Sierra” plan… which I have been pretty shifty on… this part of the trail requires long side trails over mountain passes to reach roads to get rides to towns… the main one was Kearsage Pass (only 7.6 miles and only 11,700 elevation at the highest point, and a popular trailhead so better chance of finding a ride), which for me would mean a quick few days on trail… I had packed enough food to get me to Bishop Pass Trail…(13-14 miles, a much steeper grade, and a much less used trail head)… Bishop Pass made sense with the calendar but wasn’t sitting too well in the motivation department… I fell asleep still trying to make a commitment on my plan…
Miles 733.0 to 750.2 (plus 3.6 down Cottonwood Pass) I woke up this morning and got going around 8am because the sun was shining and creating warmth in my tent (early for me... how am I ever going to get up and going in the wee cold hours to clear these mountain passes ahead???).... still no hound :(....and still no service... I think sleeping at 10,000 feet... helped my body acclimate a little better ... because my legs felt good from the get go this morning and the climb up to 10,900 took way less time than I had planned... after that it was pretty level trail... some descent... some ascent... but I was cruising... I had planned to get to Cottonwood Pass and down to Horseshoe Meadows (a campground a couple of miles off trail that serves as access to the town of Lone Pine) tonight and get a ride the 18 miles into town in the morning.... but as the day went on, I realized I was going to make it around 3pm... and could get to town tonight and get cell service in town.. it had been over a week since I had actually spoken to Charlie and I wanted to reach Nathan somehow... Motivated and legs feeling strong... I made it to the campground at Horseshoe Meadows and started down the road... not a single car... this was supposed to be an easier place to hitch... after walking down the road a little over a mile ... I set up shop in a turn out... practicing my friendliest thumb out maneuvers.... an hour goes by... not a single car... (in hindsight: you would think I would of noticed that none of the parking lots in this huge campground nor the equestrian camp had cars either...). I give in and try to use my garmin to satellite message a guy named Lone Pine Kurt that offers shuttles for hikers.... not sure if it went through... and knowing Charlie was in a big budget meeting... I reached out to Rebecca in Georgia to try and call him as well... (thanks Bex!) ... for $60 bucks I had a ride down the mountain that was on his way ... sitting in my little turn about on the side of the road...finally a day hiker comes trouncing down the road... she asks if I am injured... nope just waiting on a ride... I answer... and that is when she tells me the road is closed by a gate about 250 feet up around the bend that I am sitting at.. I walk with her to the gate... and there are all the cars... three people immediately offered me rides... darn it... I had already scheduled the shuttle... I sat there a little miffed at myself to be out $60 because I didn’t walk 250 feet further.... However... that $60 bucks turned out to be worth it... Kurt was a wealth of local knowledge... giving me a history lesson of how the Alabama Hills (where were driving to) got its name... you can Google it... but it was from Confederare sympathizing miners rebelling against the Union troops naming the area Kearsage... the USS Kearsage sunk the CSS Alabama... he told me stories of his wife growing up in Lone Pine during its heyday of being the set of western films... and said I had to stay at the Dow Villa Motel... just because of the history... it was a really enjoyable ride... I checked into the motel... the dirtiest I have been ... and immediately began the first of three consecutive showers.... went to grab some Mexican food... and while waiting for my entree... Hound called... he had thrown out his back early the second day of us leaving Kennedy Meadows... he had not been able to move at all... he was able to get a message to his dad... who hiked to him without his pack and carried Hound’s pack back to Kennedy Meadows as Hound limped in pain the 14 miles back... so glad he was able to get help... and to know what happened....and yet, my next dilemma arrives.. Hound was getting off trail for at least a week... he and I had planned to go through the High Sierra together... because of snow and dangerous river crossings... people usually group up to cross this section... Scout and his group weren’t coming into Lone Pine... and everyone else I know was taking a few days off... and I am so slow up climbs...I wouldn’t want to hold anyone up... it is a really low snow year (they are saying it is the equivalent of July conditions for an average year)... I know about a dozen people have already crossed Forester the highest pass and have a good sense of what I will find there... after weighing everything out... I have decided to push forward... hoping it will all work out and I will meet someone I can hike with at least up Whitney and over Forester Pass...if not, I am smart enough to turn around and I need to trust my abilities and limits. So a day off in Lone Pine today... staring at the giant of Whitney that lays ahead of me on trail (and man it looks really tall from here)... then i venture into the real majestic section of the Sierra starting tomorrow... I won’t have service until I come back down - depending on conditions and how I am doing that will be in four days or eight (still undecided on whether I will take Kearsage Pass down or if i am feeling good go all the way to Bishop Pass)... will update when I can.
Miles 716.5 to 733.0 I remember clearly the first time I saw the Grand Canyon in person... Rebecca and I were driving Charlie’s car cross-country on a Thelma and Louise roadtrip... we arrived before the sun rose... and as the light came up on the sky to reveal the vastness of what photos could of never prepared me for... I firmly felt the presence of a higher being... I was moved... That same feeling came a year later... when Reed and I having just driven cross country to move me to California... pulled up to tunnel view in Yosemite... nothing in my wildest imagination could of prepared me for that site... since living in California - I have been able to explore the fruits of the Sierra ... enjoy the backcountry of three of our amazing national parks... revel in her beauty and mystery...today was different, I am not sure if it was because I have walked here... if because it was entering it deep in the backcountry and putting the sweat and tears in to earn the views... but i was moved to tears and nearly brought to my knees at the vastness of wonder and miracle before me. If you ever need an affirmation of faith in whatever it is you believe... you can find it here... Back to the play by play... I woke up around 8... no Hound... I was starting to get a little worried... two section hikers heading southbound came to the river and before they left, I asked them if they passed him to let him know I was aiming for camp at 730.8 tonight .... I sat around until 10:30... waiting for him to show up... he never did... I decided to move forward.... While yesterday was easy for me... today... even with less grade on the climbs... my legs were protesting... they didn’t want to get going... as I passed over 10,000 feet... this became more evident... as well as the increasing difficulty it was to catch my breath... I slowed down... took more breaks... I was hoping Hound was catch up anyway... I am in no hurry... I kept telling myself... I followed the wrong set of footprints away from a creek crossing... a two mile detour and more bushwhacking to find my way back to trail... crap... now I didn’t know of Hound was ahead of or behind me... I walked up to 10,800 and down to 8900... then wash lather and repeat... I reached my intended camp spot... it was about 6:00.... looking ahead at the climb back up... I decided I should knock out a few more miles to make the next day less strenuous... I was back to being slow on the climbs... Hound would get way ahead of me... I left a note for him in the sand... and pushed another 1000 feet up... I was standing there taking in the views...feeling the presence I was talking about in the beginning of this post and JRod (one of the bubble that had caught us in the last section) came up... he stopped and stood for a moment with me in silence... then spoke about how today had stirred something in him as well... the magic of this place is tangible and we are only scratching the surface... like entering the first steps from the wardrobe to Narnia... I asked if he had passed Hound and he said no... I was officially worried now... he went on trying to catch up to Pilot and Packmule.... I got my garmin out and tried to message Hound...which was kind of useless since I didn’t have his garmin address and knew neither of us had service... but it made me feel a little better. It was a restless night... I don’t know if it was worry about Hound... sleeping at 10,000 ft... or just one of those things... but I had some strange and vivid dreams that kept waking me up.... and I can’t remember the last time I had dreams that I could recall in the morning... but when I woke up the next morning ... my dreams seemed as if they were tangible events in real life...
Miles 702.2 to 716.5 We woke up around 8... and the calling of a hot breakfast was too hard to pass up ... so Hound and I got a ride back to Grumpy’s for some eggs and sausage.... and then a ride back to trail... it was after 11:30, when we started hiking... after a few miles a we came to Kennedy Meadows Campground and the fanciest of trail registers we have seen yet... Hound was feeling the effects of having eaten too much and the two bloody Mary’s he regretted downing and wanted to take a long break... he is faster on climbs than me... and we had a big one ahead... so I left with a flippant comment about him passing me soon, but if not, intended camp for the night was 716.5. I set off to tackle the climb... the hiking was beautiful... the scenery was constantly changing from desert to rocky vistas... and then it totally changed... trees!!! Oh, how I have missed trees... shade... ever growing rock formations... and my first bear sighting - about a quarter of a mile ahead of me... a cub darted across the trail toward the river... debating on following it to get close enough for a picture and knowing momma bear had to be near by... i skipped the photo op and picked up my pace to put some distance between myself and them....A view of Whitney every so often growing closer.... I was either so distracted by the beauty around me and amazed by the subtle changes... or a hearty breakfast had fueled me better than my usual trail breakfast of a kind bar... but before I knew it, I was over the climb and headed downhill to camp... and it was way early.... about 4:30... Hound hadn’t caught me I thought giddily... I was going to rub it in at camp tonight for sure. I set up camp on the banks of the Kern River.... and enjoyed the peacefulness of getting to camp with hours of daylight.... 5:00 came... no hound... 6:00... no hound... at 6:30, I made dinner and decided he had probably stopped early... still regretting those bloody Mary’s and would catch me in the morning... As the sun set... I got in my tent with my fly rolled back and just listened to the river... I reflected on good today felt... the past few climbs from Tehachapi had been hard for me and had me doubting the strength I was feeling prior... today had been easy... I was feeling more confident about the giants that laid ahead of me... and that is when I heard the birds... a flock of swallows had come out as if they were waiting for the sun to set... and for an hour they put on the most amazing show for me - swooping this way and that... chirping away.... I watched as if it were a movie playing in front of me... (tried to get some video... but it doesn’t do it justice).... I fell asleep under a vast blanket of stars... just me, the river, the swallows sleeping nearby in their nests... I woke up startled by a rustle around my food bag (kept right outside my tent)... assuming it was a mouse or kangaroo rat... I shined my headlamp in the area and shooed whatever it was away... usually they just scurry at the sound... nothing moved... I sat up for a better look - still on a small alert from the cub I had seen earlier... and noticed it was a frog... nestled up between my food bag and tent... I poked at him and he kind of eyed me sleepily refusing to hop away.... I picked him up and set him a foot away towards the river... he came right back to his spot... as if to say this was his home for the night... still half asleep... I decided sleeping with the frogs was better than sleeping with the fishes...;)
Miles 693.5 to 702.2 (Kennedy Meadows) When I started this journey ... I honestly didn’t know how far my old legs would carry me... if i could mentally fight through the days I wanted to quit... the PCTA permit is for 500 miles are more... a lot of people say once you have reached 500 you have earned you permit... for me that juncture was 700 miles - through the desert - Kennedy Meadows... if I reached there I could quit and feel proud of myself... if i reached there I could conquer the rest of the trail... Kennedy Meadows was my goal... my magical line of success I had drawn for myself. I woke up this morning less than 9 miles from that goal... well first, I woke up this morning to Scout announcing everything in his tent was soaked... I felt around and yep... everything in my tent was soaked too... it had been so long since we had seen flowing water... we all excitedly set up camp by Manter Creek... quickly forgetting the dew and condensation consequences of camping so close to water. Oh well, I thought ... it’s an easy day... I will just bask in the sun, while everything dries... one by one my camp mates left - eager for a beer... a burger... a shower... whatever was driving them. I spent an hour by myself reflecting on how far I had come and what it felt like to be reaching this first milestone... then packed up and set out for a lazy hike to town. The past few sections a lot of days have turned into just getting from point a to point b without running out of water or melting in the heat... today I wanted to bask in the last remnants of desert and the very beginnings of the Sierra.... to be present... I reached the south fork of the Kern River and decided to jump in and take a quick swim... I sat on a rock for a half hour listening to the birds serenade one another.... I hiked slow and with no intention... deep in my meditation... it was a really nice morning.... As I hiked up the last .2 of a mile on Sherman Pass road toward the general store... the giant bubble of twenty year olds that had all left earlier that morning... began whooping and hollering and cheering... already emotional unsteady...the tears began to fall ... they cheered me all the way in... I had arrived ... I could finally call myself a backpacker... and i had made it in the same time as a number of people half my age and much fitter... many of them have made comments to me after learning that I have son their exact age about how they can’t imagine their mom out here and how much more that puts them in awe of me... I’ll take the old lady backhanded compliments any day. Also sitting on the deck was Apple Pie, who I hadn’t seen since he got off trail at Paradise Valley Cafe... he has such a calming presence and I really enjoyed having lunch with him. Later that afternoon, we headed in the back of a pickup to the other side of town to visit the outfitter, Triple Crown, and Grumpy Bears bar and restaurant. So many hikers were hanging out... some had been just hanging out for a few weeks... remember before I left for the trail angeling I did for two guys who had started in February? Well, I caught up (and now have passed) to Grizzly Gramp... At the outfitter, I got my class bandana.. a gift each year from former thru-hikers to current ones... I got some new shoes... my feet have grown a whole size! And I got some sound advice about the Sierra’s from Yogi - a double triple crowner!!! (A triple crowner is someone that has completed all three of the US’s long trails... PCT, AT and CDT... and she has done each twice... talk about badassery!) Hound and I set up camp at the General Store, which is much more my speed - quiet and less crowded - we made our plans to leave the next day and continue on to Lone Pine for our snow gear pickups... everyone else was sticking around Grumpy’s for another day or so... Oh and I made a new friend, Buddy, at the General Store... he seemed to really enjoy the straps on my smelly pack as he curled up and took up home in my hip belt!
Miles 652.1 - 693.5 (with a detour) For those of you not in California...let me preface this post by explaining that California is in a major major drought situation this year. The Sierra Snowpack, which dictates the annual water situation for most of the southern part of the state is way below average... this means it is probably going to be another active fire season... and it seems fire season is starting early. Hound and I are were ready to set out early Sunday morning from Walker Pass... when we got word on social media that there was a wildfire near Owen’s Peak - about four miles north from where we were getting back on trail. We couldn’t find any trail information concerning the active fire... so, I did what any smart, resourceful human would do... and messaged the one and only, Jim Topeleski... Redlands fire chief extraordinaire... and let me give a quick shout out because not only is Jim a modern day Macgyver and expert on all things PCT and wilderness in Southern California... he has been on call this entire journey for me to help me navigate established fire closures and has been an amazing cheerleader - I keep telling his boss he should get a raise... but apparently being a member of Amy’s PCT support team only earns you a cocktail and Thai dinner. Jim quickly jumped on his super secret firefighter network and confirmed that the PCT ran through the established perimeter lines even though the fire was still a little east of the PCT itself... high winds and hot temps... he advised we go around and even mapped the easiest options to do so. The next morning a Cleveland National forest service fire team that had been fighting the fire was checking into our hotel and confirmed Jim’s assessment. Hound and I called our trail angel, Val, and she agreed to bring us to a different drop off point a few miles north of the fire and outside of the perimeter. Sounds like a responsible solid plan, right? Well you know what they say about the best laid plans.... The set drop off point was supposed to be on a dirt road a few miles south of a BLM campground that would lead us back to trail pretty easily... our trail angel was pretty sure she knew where it was... so we drove forward without gps... the dirt road we were on was closed by a gate a little ways up... no worries I said looking at the map... it looks like we can walk from here to the dirt road we were supposed to be getting dropped off on and get to the campground (what’s a few extra miles among hundreds?)... we hopped out of the car and extended our gratitude for the ride as she drove away. As we were getting organized to start walking, I notice the signs.... not one but 12... twelve signs all reading something along the lines of “no trespassing” or “private property”. Hound seemed a tad concerned... I was thinking well at this point we have no choice... so I hopped the gate and now facing the backs of the signs...started singing the fourth verse of Woody Guthrie’s classic... “As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there And that sign said "No trespassin'" But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin! Now that side was made for you and me!” So we walked up the “private” dirt road in the middle of nowhere, past numerous additional signs... we came upon a really nice cottage with a giant man made lake behind it... and realized thankfully... it didn’t appear anyone was home... we kept walking... now this is where things turned weird... a mile up was a storage container... then another... then another... I said I am pretty sure those contain the bodies of past hikers.... all in all these very adamant no trespassing people had about 17 full size storage containers sprinkled on their property that we could see...if you have ever seen the show Snapped...you know where my mind was going... we kept walking... the signs disappearing and slowly the dirt road was almost like a trail rambling through the hillsides... then it stopped... I mean just ended... crap... we looked at each other... this is where I am going to tell you readers... if you are ever in the wilderness... in the desert on a hot day... with no guide to water sources... walking along a dirt road and it just ends... the responsible thing to do is to walk the six miles back down the dirt road... and keep walking until you can find help or the way back to where you need to be... the irresponsible thing to do is to look at the map and say “if we just bushwhack up and down those two mountains there and pave our own way... it looks like maybe we can get back to the right dirt road and follow that to the trail...” So we charged forward and upward and downward and carved a new path from the cabin of horrors to the PCT.... over boulders... over trees... through miles and miles of thorny brush... my legs and arms have a wonderful geometric pattern of cuts and scrapes... we conserved our water... we marveled at how even though we were both bleeding ... it was kind of fun in a puzzle like way... and what do you know.. we found the dirt road... we found the trail... and we hiked another few miles to find some water... After a day of bushwhacking and a few miles on trail we turned a corner on a ridge... and in front of us was an amazing meadow and Manter Creek... we took it in then ran for the water... as we approached the creek... I heard Clutch! ... and there was Scout! (and Megaphone) chilling in camp. I ran to give him a hug... forgetting my sunglassss hanging around my neck... and crack... there went the second pair of glasses on trail so far... and I was reminded that I am not a hugger for a reason...;). Shortly after, Lady and Swiftie arrived. We all caught up on our past few days and had a great evening laughing and socializing at camp...
Zero miles in Ridgecrest... I have gotten a lot of questions about backpacking, the trail, what I am doing from friends - so I thought I would try and answer some today in a post... feel free to text or message me with any questions you may have. Most asked questions.... where do you - you know- go to the bathroom? While it may not be the most pleasant to think about- for number 1 it’s a squat and go situation... and for number 2 it’s a dig a hole, squat and go situation. Sometimes there are campgrounds with pit toilets - which is a luxury on trail. At first digging a cat hole seems a little awkward.... but it’s one of those things you just don’t think about after a while... everyone else is doing it... one thing I would like to note if you are backcountry camping and dig a hole... pack out your tp- even if it says biodegradable- animals dig up human catholes... leaving the soiled tp blowing I t he wind... no one wants to see that when they are in nature. What about your trash? Yeah pack that out too... I get so angry when I see people’s wrappers and trash just left in a fire ring or on trail - use a ziploc bag so you don’t have to deal with the smell... but the rule of thumb if you brought it into nature take it out with you... leave no trace... What’s the one thing you crave the most on trail? It changes... I think depending on what your body is needing... sometimes I am getting j to town and really want a salad or some fresh fruit... sometimes I want carbs like Pizza or a burger.... sometimes simple sugars like a soda.... sometimes I just want all the things...;) How much weight have you lost? I lost close to 20 lbs last time I was home and weighed myself since starting the trail - and I think that I have leveled out at that... I am not a nutritionist or doctor... but I had about 20 lbs to lose when starting and I think my body has a natural low weight that it reaches as long as I am taking care of it. I had lost 16 before starting the trail when I started training... but I have noticed the last few weeks rather than feeling skinnier like I did the first few weeks - I feel leaner and stronger. I am burning close 4-5k calories a day... it is impossible to eat that much at least for me... so there is a deficit... but I feel I have adapted in terms of losing weight... I do have that “hiker Hunger” where I am always hungry on trail... town days I tend to splurge on calories in every way I can just to try and fill full. You are wearing the same clothes in all the pictures... do you ever change them? Ha! No. I have one pair of hiking clothes and that is it... they get nasty and dirty and I smell- but so does everyone around me. I have a pair of pants that I sometimes put on when I know the trail is overgrown. I do carry two pairs of hiking socks and two pairs of underwear that I switch in and out. I have one pair of sleeping clothes and one pair of sleeping socks. So far the longest I have had to go without being able to do laundry or a real shower is 8 nights / 7 days... I know it sounds gross... but you get used to the dirt... I do use baby wipes to try and stay as clean as possible before going to sleep. How many hours a day do you hike? Between 8-10- including breaks... a few times 12. It really depends on terrain and planning around water sources how many miles I do a day. My personal daily schedule seems different than most people I have met .... I leave camp later (mainly because I hate packing up in the cold)... I make myself take at least 5-10 minute break without my pack every hour to hour and 15.... even if I don’t feel I need one at the moment - it seems to help me go further and longer for the day.... every 3-4 four hours that break includes taking my shoes off to air out my feet and let my socks dry a bit. I also tend to get my best mileage from 4-7 in the evening... most hikers get it in the morning... I was wondering if they is because that is typically when I play tennis and my body is used to exercising at that time... What do you eat on trail? As my friend Scout said... bars, bars and more bars... all I eat is bars. ;) bars are easy, proteins and nutrient and calorie packed... so for my breakfast and snacks I typically eat a bar. If I take a long lunch I make a sandwich out of Hawaiian rolls and either pb&j or salami and hard cheese with some chips. For dinner... when I am lazy more sandwiches and chips or cold soaked ramen or rice with a tuna or chicken packet... it’s not five star, but it is fuel and works.
Miles 628.4 to 652.1 I woke up this morning to the most amazing sunrise yet on trail... and bonus the air was warm! The comment on our tentsite from Juice read “gnarly sunrise”... and he was 100% dead on. Photos will never do it justice... but the colors painted across the sky were a masterpiece. Up from watching the sunrise and packed up early thanks to the warm air - we headed out - we had altered our plan to get to town on Saturday, instead of Friday because of our ice storm fiasco on Monday.... but as the day went on and the temps were again nearing 100... I began formulating a plan to make it to town tonight. I think the lure of a shower and bed always calls me to do bigger miles and push myself a little further. I arrived at McIver’s cabin around 3:30 to find Hound... I told him I was going to make it to Walker Pass for a 23.7 day... he got on board with the idea ... by my calculations after a long break in the shade during the high afternoon heat... we could make it by 8:30... We made it by 7:35 and amazing trail angel pancakes came to pick us up and brought us to our hotel and to the grocery store for some nibbles. The shower may have been the most amazing of my life.
Miles 608.9 to 628.4 A late exit from camp this morning at 10:00 am.... we knew it was going to be a hot one with temps reaching the 90s.... I wanted to pull a big day because we were still behind the schedule I had made for myself for the week... but we left it open to decide as the day wore on. It was hot... and water was miles and miles between each other... and it was more desert... some days it’s easy to spot something new - others it is a bit of a grind when you feel you have been looking at sand and sage and cacti everyday. I was just thinking about this while walking and how I (and everyone around me) can feel the urge to put a close to this section and move on to the next.... the sierras had been calling us for the past week... and as these thoughts were going through my mind with the rhythm of my footfalls... I turn the corner and bam.... there- in the distance... clear as day... was Mt. Whitney... our first view of it from trail - it seems like just a few weeks ago we were looking at San Jacinto in the distance as a major milestone... but this milestone is bigger... most people quit the trail in the first 700 miles... making it from Campo to Kennedy Meadows South is an accomplishment - the reward is entering the Sierra Nevada - the pinnacle of the entire trail... and here it was in my sights. Conversations have all turned that direction too... entering the Sierra, snow pack, bear canisters... plans through the big food carries... I guess we all feel done with the desert and ready for snow... giant peaks...river crossings... and just playing around one of the most beautiful places on earth. Sorry for the digressing. I hiked on through some very pleasant trail... alternating between pine forest and desert as straddled the elevation lines... I met up with Hound around 4 and took a little siesta in the shade of a Joshua Tree. We decided to night hike together and pushed on into the evening - getting an amazing sunset... deciding to stop about 2 miles short of the next water source (knowing the big group was ahead of us and camping there and not wanting to wake everyone up getting to camp at 10pm)... and for the first time In a while had a warm enough night to sleep under the stars without a fly on. With the recent full moon... and being far from the city ... the stars and the silhouettes of the joshua trees made for a spectacular night... we each counted a number of shooting stars as a bonus...
Miles 592.9 to 608.9 Hound and I left camp around 8am this morning.... we made plans to check in at the first water source and went on our separate ways - we have both realized we hike better and longer separately. The morning was cool and crisp and really quite pleasant, but started to heat up quickly. Around mile 596, I passed Hound and he mentioned he was running low on water already... we still had until 602 for the next water and the sun was starting to beat down. I went on ahead and at around mile 598.5, I sat down for a little break and in my view was metal cabin in the woods.... I walked over to check it out and saw the sign on the property said “casa de oso” and noticed a giant water tank in the back... then I remember reading on guthooks about someone that Macgyvered water out of the tank. I ran back a little to let Hound know I had found water... but we would have to figure out how to get it. With his ingenuity and my water bladder and paracord and a trekking pole we made it work. Now I do not know whether this was legal or not... but I justified it as surely the “Oso” family is some long lost Spanish relative... and quite frankly, believe if anyone had been staying at the cabin and we had knocked on the door desperate for water in the heat they would have offered.... and I have to say it was cold and refreshing... and the best water we had in this entire section. Feeling proud of myself for solving the Hound’s water issue - I pushed on to cross the 600 mile mark! It was in this stretch of trail that I started meeting some new hikers... a lot of new hikers... a large tramily of young, long legged, fast hikers that had caught up to us- Jedi, Summer, Deep Dive, JRod, Packmule, Pilot, and others I can’t recall... it was the most hikers I had seen in an entire day... we all gathered at the water source, but I quickly moved on to try and get a head start to camp, it was the first time on trail I was worried about having room at my goal tentsite for the night. The next water source was across from a BLM campground and everyone had said that was their goal for the day. About an eighth of a mile from camp the new hikers passed me.... darn their youth, fitness and long legs! As Hound, Rum Runner and I turned into the campground deciding we all could just get water later, I noticed some car in the distance. Car campers! Maybe they will sell us a hotdog and a beer we thought... I was nominated to approach them (being a girl) And to try and yogi for some goods - (yogi as in yogi bear)... turns out I didn’t have to... as soon as I walked up I was greeted with an entire stuffed Cornish hen and veggies- what!?!? They also had cold beer and sparkling sodas to share. And talk about timing, the hoard of hikers had all gone to get water first before camp...good thing for me because they only had five extra hens on them. SCORE!!! We called the others over with the wilderness cry of “free beer”. The car campers were the most amazing group of men out for a guys trip... former and current PCTA board members. I got the chance to speak with each of them individually for a long time - and loved hearing their stories... from struggles with Parkinson’s to section hiking the whole trail. One showed me his monument plaque from recently getting off the board - which was super cool. It was the most people I have camped with on trail and it felt like a party with old friends.
Miles 572.8 to 592.9 Today was another surprisingly cold day in the Mojave... how could we be so lucky with the weather I wondered... a little breezy, but no crazy storms like yesterday expected... I was the first one to leave camp... that was certainly a first... a ways up I met a new hiker, The Dude, who like us had sheltered from the storm cloud in some trees. It was a beautiful morning to walk... I saw quite a few black tailed deer...and took a long second breakfast break so the Hound could catch up... once he did we set off... and the drizzle started... then even though the air wasn’t that cold... giant snowflakes were falling on us.... melting before they hit the ground ... it was such a weird weather instance... I tried to take video but it didn’t turn out well...:( Trying to make up for the lost miles yesterday and get to a camp spot at least close to a water source and with shelter from the wind ... was our main goal ... It was a pretty routine day without much to report....
Miles 558.5 to 572.8 After a few days off in tehachapi to let my body totally adjust to new medicine and let my arm heal as best as it could... we were off on Monday morning. Ted, an amazing local trail angel, picked Rumrunner, Hound and I up around 10:00am and got us back to trail. It was a surprisingly cold, windy, drizzly day to start our section through the Mojave Desert (for my wild fan readers, this would be where Cheryl started her journey on the trail). We were all bundled up... and my rain jacket was being used for the second time on trail... shortly into the climb out of town... HotRocks and Chuckwagon caught up to us... HotRocks quickly gained a lead on the rest of us with his determined motivation and RumRunner had fallen a little behind... at one point I reached the top of a switchback stopped to catch my breath... Hound came up behind me stopping about 5 feet below me to catch his... and Chuckwagon stopping about 5 feet behind him.... standing there for a second... a giant creature jumped from the scrub bush next to Hound.... startling us all...at first I thought it was a chicken... but quickly realized it was a rabbit- now Hound is about 6’2 and this rabbit was about even with his face... when an 80-85 mph gust blew and contorted it all matrix style... from my angle it looked like it was about to ninja kick Hound in the face.... but the wind propelled it over his shoulder just in time... the rabbit landed on the ground and hopped away like nothing happened... Chuckwagon and I were laughing and exclaiming awe... Hound was a little punch drunk from the fear and proximity... I wish I had gotten a video... Continuing on... Hound and I found some sun breaking through the clouds on a ridge side sheltered a bit from the wind... and decided to stop and eat the pizza I had packed out for lunch ... Chuckwagon pushed on.... after lunch we felt the weather was improving... until 5 seconds later when we turned to the other side of the ridge we had eaten on... right into a stormcloud - we were literally walking through the storm cloud... the wind picked up to about 40-50 sustained with much larger gusts and the drizzle was pelting us... we were both being blown around this ridge line like feathers... and the temparature had dropped to below freezing... we were trying to push through to find some sort of shelter... but it was hard to move with any speed because of the wind...then shards of ice started blowing around us- I saw a handful of trees and made a beeline... in the grove of trees... sheltered a bit from the wind.. I turn and see Chuckwagon curled up and shivering ...”what was that” he said?? - I screamed to Hound, so he could find us - and he immediately set up his tent for us to shelter from the elements... we had planned to go much further for the day to be closer to water... but given the windstorm and chill and the fact that tents were set up... we wound up sheltering out for the afternoon and night in our little tree grove...
Mile 527.3 to Mile 546.6 I woke up along the side of the dirt road following the aquaduct to the sounds of Swiftie (Leilani) and Lady Liberty hiking by... they had left around 2:30 am from hikertown to hike the aquaduct and at 8:30 am said they were already dragging ... after packing up I passed them pretty quickly... they said they were camping at the next water source... since that would only be a 7 mile day for me... I knew I had to push on further... It was a long, flat, walk and unlike the night before the miles were passing quickly... as I was approaching the water source I could see a hiker a small ways before me... she was jamming out and dancing down the trail... then stopped all of a sudden... then continued on dancing away...curious behavior I thought... a minute later I realized why she stopped a long snake covered the trail... not a rattler... and I was pretty sure it was dead as it didn’t budge... but I turned around after walking over it and saw it’s head kind of lazily glance my way... apparently he didn’t care one way or the other... I got to the water source and met Racecar for the first time... we had lunch under the shade of a bridge... and I learned she was 20... Reed’s age... and only hiking for two months before taking a coop job on an organic farm in Hawaii... I really enjoyed chatting with her and am constantly amazed at the confidence young women have these days.... We hiked around each other and leapfrogged all the way to the next water source... through a wind farm... and then up into the wind... it was blowing strong... knocking me off balance again and again... I was walking sideways at some points... seriously, I looked like Jim Cantore on the gulf coast in late august as a hurricane approaches... the next water source sat in a little canyon.. with trees...protected from the wind... it was 4pm...Racecar was setting up camp there... a little while later Rover came up... he was going to camp There too... (Trail Lesson #25795... when an experienced thru hiker says camping here because of the wind... always listen)... I was feeling good and wanted to do at least 20 For the day... I decided to move forward...and get at least halfway up the climb ahead... The trail changed and sandy steep ridge lines with lots of washed out spots required sure footing especially with the strong wind gusts... I made it into the next canyon around 5:30... again protected a bit from wind... but I felt good and decided to keep going... the ridgeline got more sketchy and deeper sand.. the wind got stronger and I was losing light... deciding I was not going to risk hiking at night I set my sights on a tentsite 2 miles ahead... exposed the comments said... mice broke into our foodsaks... the comments read... I told myself it won’t be that bad... and when I arrived it wasn’t. The winds had died down... my tent went up with ease... I unpacked, changed to warmer, dry clothes... changing I realized that throb on my arm from the night before was now a sizeable hard lump the size of a lime... wth?!?... I texted Charlie that I was a little worried about it... and got in to eat dinner.... famished... I bring the spoon to my lips for my first bite... whoosh went the wind...pop went a guyline... bam went the head of my tent into my back... crap... seal my food back up and go out to check... the wind was blowing and howling all of a sudden like nothing I had ever seen... I rigged my now ripped In half guyline the best I could in the wind...desert sand flying everywhere giving my face a free exfoliating scrub and drying out my eyes, nose and mouth... I scrambled back in my tent... it’s going to be a long night... Back to dinner... ahh... first bite almost To lips.... pop went a second guyline.... repeat rigging and sand storm bath... back to dinner... two bites down... the wind gets even stronger...flipping my trekking poles supporting my tent every direction... I consider packing up and moving forward... but was worried about trail conditions at night... worried my trekking poles would snap in half... I collapsed my tent...with me and all my stuff Inside... gave up on dinner and scarfed down a bar..and tried to sleep...tent like a bivy... The wind continued... sleep was not coming... the spreader bar of my tent would fly up with the wind and back down on my face with a natural rhythm... I laid there as the hours Passed... finally around 1am the wind quieted down to at least a reasonable level. I reinserted my trekking poles for a pitch... and by the light of my headlamp could see the inch of sand now covering the entirety of my belongings... and myself... bug netting keeps out bugs ... but not dirt...but at least I could finally sleep...but first I had to get the mouse out of my tent... who apparently was also seeking shelter from the windstorm...and trying to gnaw his way into my food bag, which is why friends and neighbors... I know to leave my food outside of my tent...that is when I noticed my lime sized lump on my arm was now an orange... can’t be good, I thought... I was 12 miles from Tehachapi by trail and made the decision I needed to get there early to find a doctor.
Mile 517.6 to Mile 527.3 Richard knocked on the door of my “cabin” at 6am sharp... the urgent care opened at 7 and I wanted to be first in line... on the drive I learned Richard used to produce shorts for Disney back in the day and was now in the oil additive business... at 80, he talked about the golden days of Hollywood and man did he have some stories... arriving at the urgent care... the sign had “covid hours of 9am-7pm” instead of the 7am-9pm that Kaiser had told me over the phone the night before... I was just going to wait and told Richard I would find a ride back via Uber (Lancaster, CA is the first place I have been big enough to even have Uber... and yes to my childhood friend readers... I found the irony in being in Lancaster, CA for help). Richard insisted on waiting with me and we went to Starbucks... I finally convinced him I would be okay and who knows how long this would take and would call him if I found myself stranded. He really was like a surrogate grandfather... I got in to see the doctor...(side note: when being checked in the nurse in training took my blood pressure... she was amazed that it was perfect textbook and called in other nurses... they were like even with a mask on... amazing... then she asked me routine doctor office questions... do you exercise... yes... how many hours a day on average... well right now about 12...12 hours a day? She doubted.... when i finally explained i was trying to walk from Mexico to Canada... she about fell on the floor... apparently Lancaster is a little far off the trail to get a lot of injured hikers as routine).... ... the doctor decided to treat it as a uti and start antibiotics... but because of the amount of blood in my sample... she also wanted to do some labs and a ct scan... thank goodness Richard didn’t wait... and thank goodness all of the things ordered were available at this large medical center.... blood drawn... insides photographed and multiple pee in a cups later... I was in an Uber back to hikertown... with instructions I could hike... but listen to my body and don’t push.... drink lots of water... and a promise if they called with lab results that warranted more medical attention that I would stop in the next town near trail and get treated.... yay! I could still hike out with Scout that night... Arriving back at HikerTown, I found Scout (with my resupply (food) for next section... what a great friend!) and Jenny and Eric! We were all going to leave in the evening and nighthike the LA Aquaduct... this is a 15ish mile waterless section that follows the LA aquaduct along a dirt road... most people nighthike it because there is no water and no shade and it is usually hot... we had a bit of a cold snap, yet the idea of night hiking sounded fun and a tradition - so decided to do it anyway. Around 2pm - Eric, Jenny and Scout were getting antsy... I was waiting on a box with new (already broken in by me a little before my hike) shoes to arrive from ups and i was hoping to wait for Hound to thank him in person for his help the day before... so told them to head on and I would catch up at camp. My box arrived and I sadly said goodbye to my first pair of shoes... over 500 miles on them.. they had come to feel like a part of me... I thought about Forrest Gump... “My mama always said you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes, where they going, where they been.”.... 500 miles across desert and mountains headed to the trash can... I packed up and left hikertown alone around 5:30pm... with every intention of making it to camp with Scout, Jenny and Eric.. 17 miles ahead ... at a pace of 3mph I figured I would make it by 11:30pm or midnight... I don’t know if it was the early morning start to the day with doctors appts... the antibiotic I had started... just my body being sick... or that it was evening and quite boring hiking... but I just couldn’t get going... having to stop to wee every 30 minutes didn’t help for sure... by 7pm i was dragging ... by 9pm... the voice of the doctor... listen to my body won out... I set up camp and texted Scout... not going to make it... I may have to do some short days the next few days... go on without me. a little saddened that we had just met back up and now I was falling behind... but deciding getting healthy was the priority... I felt a slight throb on my left arm around where I had gotten my vaccine the week before... i touched it and it was a little tender but nothing out of the ordinary...weird... but chalked it up to there being a little residual bruising... and fell asleep....
460.0-517.6 HikerTown (Lake fire closure/hitch) Hound and I set off pretty early from camp trying to beat the heat... we knew most of the day was gradual climbing and I was trying to make it as close to HikerTown that I could get ... so I could meet Scout the next day, who was kindly bringing me a resupply back from his trip to Palm Springs for second vaccine... I was booking it... so much so that our climbing roles were reversed... my line became “almost to the top” and Hound’s became the cursing... we were also trying to decide a plan because we were approaching another fire closure around Lake Hughes.... another long road walk was an option, but narrow shoulders and passing cars... most people were hitching... we went back and forth on options... Around noon... I stopped to “powder my nose” and thought I noticed some blood in my urine... it was really hard to tell because well dirt doesn’t show color as much as a porcelain bowl... a little while later I had to go again and checked with some tp... yep definitely blood.... I was still quite a ways from anywhere to get help.... and anxiety took over... worried that what may be a simple uti... could turn into kidney infection with the stress I was putting on my body and 10 more miles in the heat with very little water.... I caught up to Hound... he helped talk me down by stating the obvious... all I can do is move forward toward help... right around the trail closure area, he met up with a dayhiker and negotiated a ride for me to Hikertown.... I really didn’t want to miss 8 miles of my continuous footpath that the ride was cause me to skip... but I knew it was the right call for my health and by the time I caught up to the dayhiker 14 miles from where the issue started .... anxiety and exhaustion were taking over... And I still had quite a few miles to go and felt like I had to keep up... dayhiker with a tiny pack holding a water bottle vs Amy loaded down... keeping up was hard... and he didn’t take a single break... finally we made it to the car.... not sure if the tears now falling gave it away... but he could sense I was not okay and was amazing... assuring me it would be okay... his wife gets uti’s all the time... surely that is what it was and he would stop on the way for some cranberry juice (recommended by his wife). I arrived at Hikertown and found Warp Drive there (first time I had seen her since she and Scout skipped the snow around Idyllwyld)... a familiar face was all I needed... there were some other hikers there and Rover, an AT thru hike veteran, went in, spoke to the owner, Richard, for me and arranged a ride for first thing in the morning 40 miles away to the nearest urgent care. HikerTown.... I can’t possibly do it justice with words... but it is a story I feel I need to try and share. Nestled between two interstates, not far from Tejon Ranch... near the one horse town of Neenatch.... right on trail sits a property. A property that Richard and his wife bought a few decades ago (before apps made hiking the trail and stops and info easily exchanged... and hikers relied on trail journals and books) as an investment and place to escape from city life occasionally.... the first night they stayed on their new property... his wife woke him up the next morning and said “honey, there is a homeless guy camped on the lawn”.... Richard went out to shew him away.... and the guy said he just needed some water and his guidebook said the owner of this house provided it to hikers.... Richard offered him water.... explained he was the new owner and asked for the hiker to spread the word that it was not a stop anymore.... the next morning there were more tents... more hikers in need of water... When they explained the trail went from Mexico to Canada... Richard thought surely these people are mental... and he built a fence and set up some spickets outside the perimeter - surely this will stop the madness.... a week later grilling out some hamburgers and eyeing the tents now outside the fence - a brave hiker approached his wife and begged for a hotdog.... she obliged and the other hikers followed lead... after realizing the hikers were harmless and learning of the trail... they started to build hikertown.... which today looks like an old western movie set... storage buildings converted to shelters for campers to sleep In surround a communal courtyard... Martha and the groundskeeper keep hikers fed with yummy meals, fresh towels for outside showers, rides to the market, a delivery system for resupply boxes... all for free or donations... it was quite an interesting experience....and will continue into my day tomorrow.... The only room available when I arrived was ironically the “doctor’s office” it seemed fitting as I downed over a gallon of cranberry juice....
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