Well in case you haven't noticed I am still alive and kicking. Today I rolled into Mammoth another ski town about nine miles off trail. Granted I had to hike in four of those miles, but I am here and I am fed. You may have also noticed that it's been a while since I updated. Well there was no way I was going to allow myself to be contacted by the outside world while I was in the sierras.
The stretch from VVR to Mammoth was a challenging one but absolutely beautiful. During my 25 mile day yesterday there was about 10,000ft of elevation change, three passes climbed and many trees across the trail.
For those of you who don't know there was a huge windstorm in the sierras last winter. I'm talking about 180mph wind storms. This has led to large sections of forest to be blown down. The worst of it is at Reds Meadow where 2/3 of the trees went down. Granted the forest looked like it went through a bad burn in that section, but that's not the point the point is trail crews kick ass. Yes I had to navigate around some tree fall and yes it got exciting. But where the trees are the worst (like ten feet high of blow down) the trail has been cleared by the hard working trail crews.
Of course the cleanup is a work in progress which means I had to hike into town vs take a bus, but it is worth it. The trail is wonderful, resting feels fabulous, and someday I will upload a butt load of photos. For now I will keep waiting for the trolley.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The high Sierras part two: Muir Pass
How to describe Muir pass, it's hard. Well to start, La Conte valley that leads to Muir pass is nothing short of amazing.
As I said before the high Sierras is a series of climbing one pass, walking through a glorious valley and then climbing the next pass. Well La Conte valley is by far the most beautiful section of trail I have hiked thus far. It starts at two very beautiful lakes after Mather pass. Just when you think the morning can't get any better you come to the top of Bishop Pass. Walking north bound you don't have to climb Bishop, just descend. However the view from Bishop into La Conte valley is astounding. To either side of you is granite cliffs where you can see water cascading down to the valley floor. In the middle is clear evidence of glaciation because the valley is U shaped. As you come into La Conte you are greeted by old growth forests that are alive with birds and mammals. Your hike moves parallel a creek that tumbles over rocks creating fantastic waterfalls. The water is always clear, cold and delicious. It is difficult to walk because the sights are so impressive. Then when you come to the climb up Muir pass you are struck with an odd combination of feelings. On e one hand it is clearly the best sights of the trip. On the other hand you are climbing 3,500 plus feet over seven miles on what feels like a never ending ascent. False peak after false peak the trail never seems to come to a summit. Then after one last ice covered lake there it is, Muir hut. Built in honor of John Muir this hut is at the very top and a welcome sight for any hiker. I know for fact that words and photos are incapable of capturing how truly amazing this section of trail was, but trust me when I say this will be one of the top highlights of the trail and the the John Muir Trail is worth hiking just for this valley.
Right now I am at Vermillion Valley Resort. This completes the long stint in the backwoods...sort of. I can't post until Mammoth in 30 miles but here is where civilization is and my resupply. The plan was to take this section slow and only do 15 mile days...but Jugs and I have averaged close to 20+, so life goes. I know all to soon I will be in Northern Cali and I will be missing the sights here. Before that happens though I will get to see Yosemite and I know that will be amazing.
As I said before the high Sierras is a series of climbing one pass, walking through a glorious valley and then climbing the next pass. Well La Conte valley is by far the most beautiful section of trail I have hiked thus far. It starts at two very beautiful lakes after Mather pass. Just when you think the morning can't get any better you come to the top of Bishop Pass. Walking north bound you don't have to climb Bishop, just descend. However the view from Bishop into La Conte valley is astounding. To either side of you is granite cliffs where you can see water cascading down to the valley floor. In the middle is clear evidence of glaciation because the valley is U shaped. As you come into La Conte you are greeted by old growth forests that are alive with birds and mammals. Your hike moves parallel a creek that tumbles over rocks creating fantastic waterfalls. The water is always clear, cold and delicious. It is difficult to walk because the sights are so impressive. Then when you come to the climb up Muir pass you are struck with an odd combination of feelings. On e one hand it is clearly the best sights of the trip. On the other hand you are climbing 3,500 plus feet over seven miles on what feels like a never ending ascent. False peak after false peak the trail never seems to come to a summit. Then after one last ice covered lake there it is, Muir hut. Built in honor of John Muir this hut is at the very top and a welcome sight for any hiker. I know for fact that words and photos are incapable of capturing how truly amazing this section of trail was, but trust me when I say this will be one of the top highlights of the trail and the the John Muir Trail is worth hiking just for this valley.
Right now I am at Vermillion Valley Resort. This completes the long stint in the backwoods...sort of. I can't post until Mammoth in 30 miles but here is where civilization is and my resupply. The plan was to take this section slow and only do 15 mile days...but Jugs and I have averaged close to 20+, so life goes. I know all to soon I will be in Northern Cali and I will be missing the sights here. Before that happens though I will get to see Yosemite and I know that will be amazing.
The high Sierras: part 1
Holy cow...just holy cow. It is really hard to describe how amazing the high sierras are. Every day since I left Kennedy Meadows I have been blown away with spectacular views. Each morning I wake up to some magnificent cliff overhead and in a pristine alpine forest. I have attempted to take photos to share but I already know that A) my dinky little camera won't do them justice and B) photos can't capture feeling of being out here.
Well for this leg of the journey hikers have one of two options. They can either spend five-six days in the back country, hike/hitch to a town and then spend another five-six days in the back country. The other option is to do one big strait shot of 11 days to Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) and resupply there. Since I have never done a super long stint in the back country before I opted for option two. Not to mention that there isn't a better place to hang out in the wilderness than when hiking through a national park.
As of right now I am in Kings Canyon National Park just after Mather pass. In the sierras you basically hike through one valley climb over a pass, and then hike through the next. Thus far I have done four, Forester (the highest part of the PCT at 13,200ft), Glenn pass, Pincho pass, and Mather. Each one is a heck of a climb and the elevation isn't helping, but the views are in incredible. My favorite part is each time you come to a pass all you see is cliff face all around you. It always seems like the trail is impassable right until you arrive at the start of the climb. Forester was my favorite because it really looked like a dead end.
Lastly I have to admit that I am now apart of the 14,000ft high club. I took a zero day at Crab Tree meadows so that I could summit Mt. Whitney. At about 14,500ft it is the highest peak in the lower 48. Jugs and I left at 12:30 am in order to see the sunrise and man was it worth it. I will upload photos and the video I took when I can. Banana Pants (another hiker) also took photos and his camera is way better than mine, so I will try to get those as well.
Well I have more pressing needs right now like enjoying some epic scenery, so until next time.
Well for this leg of the journey hikers have one of two options. They can either spend five-six days in the back country, hike/hitch to a town and then spend another five-six days in the back country. The other option is to do one big strait shot of 11 days to Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) and resupply there. Since I have never done a super long stint in the back country before I opted for option two. Not to mention that there isn't a better place to hang out in the wilderness than when hiking through a national park.
As of right now I am in Kings Canyon National Park just after Mather pass. In the sierras you basically hike through one valley climb over a pass, and then hike through the next. Thus far I have done four, Forester (the highest part of the PCT at 13,200ft), Glenn pass, Pincho pass, and Mather. Each one is a heck of a climb and the elevation isn't helping, but the views are in incredible. My favorite part is each time you come to a pass all you see is cliff face all around you. It always seems like the trail is impassable right until you arrive at the start of the climb. Forester was my favorite because it really looked like a dead end.
Lastly I have to admit that I am now apart of the 14,000ft high club. I took a zero day at Crab Tree meadows so that I could summit Mt. Whitney. At about 14,500ft it is the highest peak in the lower 48. Jugs and I left at 12:30 am in order to see the sunrise and man was it worth it. I will upload photos and the video I took when I can. Banana Pants (another hiker) also took photos and his camera is way better than mine, so I will try to get those as well.
Well I have more pressing needs right now like enjoying some epic scenery, so until next time.
Well that certainly shows the diversity of the word
KEN-NE-DY MEADOWS!!!
Here I am at mile 702 yet again chilling at a trail angels place who is to nice to us hiker trash. This leg of the journey not only marks the start of the sierras, but the end of Southern California. We have completed 25% of our journey to Canada and it feels like time has flown by. This leg involved the most intensive hiking thus far with an average day of 27 miles. The new pace is rigorous, but it has been fun catching up to people I have not seen since kick off.
One of my favorite parts of this trip is that no matter how well you plan your journey mother nature has a way of telling you what your schedule really looks like. We started this leg in continuation of the night hike schedule. The first ten miles out of Mojave went great, however when climbing out of highway 58 we were bombarded with 80 plus mph winds. Around midnight I decided that hiking was stupid and dove into a juniper bush to sleep out the wind. The rest of my companions kept the good fight and hiked all night, however even with a three hour nap I still rolled into camp only an hour after them...so I think I win.
Since I am officially done with Southern California I think it's time for highlights and challenge moments on trail.
Top five trail highlights:
Here I am at mile 702 yet again chilling at a trail angels place who is to nice to us hiker trash. This leg of the journey not only marks the start of the sierras, but the end of Southern California. We have completed 25% of our journey to Canada and it feels like time has flown by. This leg involved the most intensive hiking thus far with an average day of 27 miles. The new pace is rigorous, but it has been fun catching up to people I have not seen since kick off.
One of my favorite parts of this trip is that no matter how well you plan your journey mother nature has a way of telling you what your schedule really looks like. We started this leg in continuation of the night hike schedule. The first ten miles out of Mojave went great, however when climbing out of highway 58 we were bombarded with 80 plus mph winds. Around midnight I decided that hiking was stupid and dove into a juniper bush to sleep out the wind. The rest of my companions kept the good fight and hiked all night, however even with a three hour nap I still rolled into camp only an hour after them...so I think I win.
Since I am officially done with Southern California I think it's time for highlights and challenge moments on trail.
Top five trail highlights:
- The San Jacinto wilderness. This section of trail was absolutely beautiful and worth all the work. It was also a nice change from the desert
- Hiking into the dawn. There have been a few nights where I have gotten up early and hiked as the sun comes up. The transition from night to day is lovely and makes the desert worth while to hike.
- Big Bear City. That town was so much fun. The hostel was lively with hikers and joint cooking, not to mention the best restaurant on trail thus far.
- Casa de Luna. The people, the chilling, I can already tell the memories from that place will last a life time.
- The first day in the sierras. This happened this last leg. On June 4th I woke up at 3am and started hiking. I was immediately treated to a partial lunar eclipse that led to a fantastic sunrise. Lastly the alpine forest I was hiking in was breath taking. It was also a day that ended with a moon rise. I think it was the first time I have seen a moon set and rise In the same day.
- Hiking down to Cajon pass with the biggest blisters yet. I had two blisters on my right foot that made it so I could not walk. I had to push and had little water on a hot day, but at least I got McDonald's.
- Poodle dogbush. I am not a fan of the plant and doing the poodle limbo was pretty stressful.
- June 5th. The whole night Jugs and I were shivering in our bags unable to sleep due to 80-100mph winds slapping against my tent. At 6am we got out into that wind was fought it for the next four hours during a 29 mile day. We were exhausted all day but had to push. Luckily 12 hours later, at 7pm we rolled into camp and were treated to some serious trail magic of food and beer. I also was able to catch the tail end of the Venuses transit across the sun. If you missed it to bad it won't happen again in our life times.
Trail Thoughts: Trail Family
One question I was asked by many people before I started my journey was "will you be hiking alone or with others?" I told everyone who asked that I was starting with the girls from Team Broad Adventure (who are now referred to as the Rough Riders FYI) but I very well may make friends of trail. Well as it turned out the Rough Riders wanted to spend some time alone back at Big Bear and I started hiking "solo."
Hiking solo on the PCT means you are hiking among a group of friends from 2-20 in number. Yes if you truly want to spend time alone you can but if you want company to hike with or at least camp with, just hang out near water. Some hikers like to travel with a group and make group decisions and etc. Others like myself like to ride solo and form new blobs of friends from town to town. I personally have been hiking with a new group of people pretty much every week. Some people I see most days others I only catch in town. But no matter what, friends are all around.
A trail family is like a slinky in many ways. There are people on the edges who you only see every once in a while in places like town, and there are others who you see most everyday. You may hike with a person for a month, not see them for 500 miles and then they pop up in the next town. It's a very cool experience because you always feel welcome no matter where you are.
It is very possible that my experience on trial is due to the high number of hikers this year, because I have yet to feel lonely on trail, there are too many people. If anything it is hard to get some time to your own. I guess what I am trying to say is people out here are awesome and in the words of a fellow hiker Sunday Stroll, "I guess douche bags don't like to through hike."
Hiking solo on the PCT means you are hiking among a group of friends from 2-20 in number. Yes if you truly want to spend time alone you can but if you want company to hike with or at least camp with, just hang out near water. Some hikers like to travel with a group and make group decisions and etc. Others like myself like to ride solo and form new blobs of friends from town to town. I personally have been hiking with a new group of people pretty much every week. Some people I see most days others I only catch in town. But no matter what, friends are all around.
A trail family is like a slinky in many ways. There are people on the edges who you only see every once in a while in places like town, and there are others who you see most everyday. You may hike with a person for a month, not see them for 500 miles and then they pop up in the next town. It's a very cool experience because you always feel welcome no matter where you are.
It is very possible that my experience on trial is due to the high number of hikers this year, because I have yet to feel lonely on trail, there are too many people. If anything it is hard to get some time to your own. I guess what I am trying to say is people out here are awesome and in the words of a fellow hiker Sunday Stroll, "I guess douche bags don't like to through hike."
Saturday, June 2, 2012
When did we end up in Disneyland?
Progress update:
Hiking through the intense desert part one complete. This involves lots of night hiking, doing 28-35 mile days and sleeping for close to 12 hours when you finally get into town. I am currently in Mojave a little east of the trail but basically mile 558. Even though the sun has been murderous in this leg of the journey, I must admit that it has been one of my favorite legs of the trip so far.
This leg started off with me being able to be an ULDB (Ultra Light Douche Bag) followed by the Anderson's who are also known as Casa de Luna. There I did some of the most intense chilling in my life. Casa de Luna is often referred to as a hiker black hole , where you come in and end up staying a week to a month. Everyday is very relaxed with good people, beer, painting rocks, food, Frisbee golf, and more. I was able to hang out with old friends on trail and meet many new ones. I ended up leaving Casa de Luna after three days and two nights which is considered quick by most hikers, but when the trail calls you listen.
I am also hiking with a completely different group of people this leg of my journey. My old crew did not want to convert to the midnight marauder strategy of hiking like myself. So a new friend on trail, (Jugs...it's about as dirty as Bladder Pillow) who is probably one of the coolest people I have met thus far, and I started hiking the night.
This strategy of hiking can be a tough one. at night you want to sleep and it's difficult to do so during the day. The big plus side is no sun. Our first night from Casa de Luna we did about 16 miles (1 am) to camp. We then tried to do a "short" stretch in the cool morning and ended up doing 10ish miles for water. Exhausted and hot we took a siesta until it cooled and did another 10 miles to water. Here at a place called Hiker Town we met up with other hikers, took a small break and pushed onwards into the night. This time we were accompanied with Candy Man and Woodey two of Jug's hiker family. We ended up pushing till midnight and let exhaustion take over and called our day done at 28ish miles...big mistake.
Where we were was the valley floor and the sun was brutal by 7am and murderous by 10am. After getting to shade where it was a cool 97.5 degrees we sat down drank, slept, and ate only moving if needed. During that time we all decided that pulling a 35 mile day (hiking for another 25 miles after the 10 we just did) was preferable to the sun we just experienced. So at 7pm we pushed, and finally by 4:30 in the pre dawn morning we arrive at Oak Spring road for a hitch.
As I said, even then, the sun was amazingly hot, doing that section at night was gorgeous, and made this section very enjoyable.
Hiking through the intense desert part one complete. This involves lots of night hiking, doing 28-35 mile days and sleeping for close to 12 hours when you finally get into town. I am currently in Mojave a little east of the trail but basically mile 558. Even though the sun has been murderous in this leg of the journey, I must admit that it has been one of my favorite legs of the trip so far.
This leg started off with me being able to be an ULDB (Ultra Light Douche Bag) followed by the Anderson's who are also known as Casa de Luna. There I did some of the most intense chilling in my life. Casa de Luna is often referred to as a hiker black hole , where you come in and end up staying a week to a month. Everyday is very relaxed with good people, beer, painting rocks, food, Frisbee golf, and more. I was able to hang out with old friends on trail and meet many new ones. I ended up leaving Casa de Luna after three days and two nights which is considered quick by most hikers, but when the trail calls you listen.
I am also hiking with a completely different group of people this leg of my journey. My old crew did not want to convert to the midnight marauder strategy of hiking like myself. So a new friend on trail, (Jugs...it's about as dirty as Bladder Pillow) who is probably one of the coolest people I have met thus far, and I started hiking the night.
This strategy of hiking can be a tough one. at night you want to sleep and it's difficult to do so during the day. The big plus side is no sun. Our first night from Casa de Luna we did about 16 miles (1 am) to camp. We then tried to do a "short" stretch in the cool morning and ended up doing 10ish miles for water. Exhausted and hot we took a siesta until it cooled and did another 10 miles to water. Here at a place called Hiker Town we met up with other hikers, took a small break and pushed onwards into the night. This time we were accompanied with Candy Man and Woodey two of Jug's hiker family. We ended up pushing till midnight and let exhaustion take over and called our day done at 28ish miles...big mistake.
Where we were was the valley floor and the sun was brutal by 7am and murderous by 10am. After getting to shade where it was a cool 97.5 degrees we sat down drank, slept, and ate only moving if needed. During that time we all decided that pulling a 35 mile day (hiking for another 25 miles after the 10 we just did) was preferable to the sun we just experienced. So at 7pm we pushed, and finally by 4:30 in the pre dawn morning we arrive at Oak Spring road for a hitch.
As I said, even then, the sun was amazingly hot, doing that section at night was gorgeous, and made this section very enjoyable.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Trail Thoughts: UL vs. Regular packs
This day and age with all of the fun goodies and technology hiking in a pair of jeans with a 70 pound backpack is pretty much a thing of the past. However a growing trend among backpackers is to become ultra light (UL). What UL means is that your base wait on your pack is 10 pounds or less. The base weight on a pack are all things that will not change from town to town...basically everything except for food and water. The idea behind UL is that less weight on your back the happier you are and the further you can hike. The down side to this strategy is at night or when you take a break you are often cold. On the flip side a regular pack can have a 25 pound base weight but when you get to camp you have luxuries like fleece pants. So the question is UL or regular?
Well for me I decided on regular. My thought is I am living out of my backpack for five plus months so I want those small comforts. The down side of this is when I put in 25 pounds of food into my pack for the Sierras I will be hating life.
I did recently get to do a stint as an UL packer on the way to one of the trail angels in the area. From the Soufley's to the Anderson's is about 25 miles and I was lucky enough to be able to make that trek UL when a fellow hiker had his car move his stuff from one house to the next. Seeing an opportunity I asked if I could have my stuff transported as well and lucky for me, I could. So for that 25 mile stretch I got my taste of UL and I am not going to lie it was pretty sweet. The only things I carried was a water bottle, a jacket to hold the bottle and my trekking polls. It didn't matter what the trail threw at me, I demolished it. Even though I only had a liter of water on me, I was moving so fast that reaching the next water source took no time at all. I definitely felt a bit smug as I flew past fellow hikers, but that bliss was only for a day. I am now back to my sturdy pack and all the joys of comfort and...weight.
Well for me I decided on regular. My thought is I am living out of my backpack for five plus months so I want those small comforts. The down side of this is when I put in 25 pounds of food into my pack for the Sierras I will be hating life.
I did recently get to do a stint as an UL packer on the way to one of the trail angels in the area. From the Soufley's to the Anderson's is about 25 miles and I was lucky enough to be able to make that trek UL when a fellow hiker had his car move his stuff from one house to the next. Seeing an opportunity I asked if I could have my stuff transported as well and lucky for me, I could. So for that 25 mile stretch I got my taste of UL and I am not going to lie it was pretty sweet. The only things I carried was a water bottle, a jacket to hold the bottle and my trekking polls. It didn't matter what the trail threw at me, I demolished it. Even though I only had a liter of water on me, I was moving so fast that reaching the next water source took no time at all. I definitely felt a bit smug as I flew past fellow hikers, but that bliss was only for a day. I am now back to my sturdy pack and all the joys of comfort and...weight.
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