Trail Thoughts: Reflections

My last Trail Thought for the PCT. I originally had many of these planned, however I was too bogged down by trivial things like hiking to sit and write them up. BUT I have my last one.

It has been over a month since I was on trail and I am happy to report that many of my friends of old made it off trail and were in Canada when they finished. My love and congratulations go out to all of them. I am also glad to report that Gourmet is safe and sound.  During my time back home I have had plenty of opportunities to think and process my trail experience. For me trail was not a grand life changing experience. Much of trail life was living in the moment which is something I am accustomed to. However trail life was something I did enjoy immensely. Not all of it but much of it.

Things I like about Trail:

• The people the people and did I mention the people.
• Walking into a grocery store and thinking "I could eat everything."
• Waking up in a new beautiful location every day. 
• How in tune I became with my body and understanding my ebbs and flows.
• The confidence I gained in myself in setting a monumental goal and completing it.
• My new found appreciation for sitting.  
• Trail Magic
• Scenic deuces/urine extraction
• Ending every day feeling accomplished
• Dance parties on trail
• getting away from the masses of humanity and social taboos

Things I enjoyed less

• The lack of time enjoying nature considering I spent 4.5 months out of doors.
• The pressure from hiker instinct that made me feel the need to push on day after day.
• Mosquitoes, poison oak and poodle dogbush
• having my hips, feet and knees ache
• having to pass up side trails or fabulous camping due to the need for miles. 
• Tripping over every single possible root or rock my toes could find. 

In the words of Macho Taco, through hiking is very similar to a marathon for hikers. There is great distance and you push yourself to the limits. The tradeoff for all of this is you get a limited experience of the wilderness you are in. I know that there is much of the Trinity Alps that I did not see that are supposedly fabulous. I also have seen parts of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River George that the PCT never looks at and it makes me think "how much did I miss?" I know I will someday hike the JMT (John Muir Trail) because I want to spend more time in the High Sierras exploring it. 

I have struggled with the question of "do I want to go on another through hike?" And the answer is I am not sure. I was thinking "no" when I originally got off trail, but after talking to some old PCT friends I began to miss that lifestyle and now the thought of hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) is gaining appeal. On the other hand I want to do things like make money, pay off student loans and what not. I know my days of adventuring are far from over. I still have New Zealand and many places in India, Asia, south America and Europe I need to explore. So will I hike again? Probably. Will it be similar as my PCT experience? I have no idea.

What I do know is that being at Outdoor Science School is keeping me outside and adding my passion for teaching. I'm not going to lie, walking around in the woods looking for the remains of a deer carcass I put out there is pretty amazing. I also know I have spent the last six months of the year 2012 outside and I need to make sure 2013 is just as good if not better. What lies in my future is unknown, but if I smell adventure in the wind I will go where the it takes me.

Before I end my final PCT post (for I will start anew with my next exploit) I want to give thanks to all of my supporters during my adventure:

• Everyone at the SCC, you guys gave me a chance and I can't thank you enough
• Mom and Papi. Who supported me every step of the way
• Other friends and family for your encouragement
• Every single trail angle. The work you do, giving me food, rides, shelter if not for you I would not have made it. 
•  Everyone else who I am probably forgetting. Thank you all 

Well until my next big adventure...

Party on Garth

Canada, yup Canada. Thousands of miles traveled. Four and a half months of climbing, blisters, illness, joint pain, and walking (so much walking) and here I was...where I promptly left the damn country in less than 24 hours. Wait what?

Yeah the ending of this journey really turned out to be rather anticlimactic. Honestly somehow I seemed to take a page from Monty Python's Holy Grail. But before I get into that, let's step back to Staheken. First of all a little side note: I am positive I have spelt every town in Washington incorrectly. More importantly I don't care. So if you care...tough.

In retrospect I think a more apt name for me on this trail would have been Space Cadet. The amount of crap I have forgotten, lost, or almost lost is astounding and Staheken was no exception. What seems to happen to me every time I go into town is I break my routine. When I break my routine I use items but don't put them away right after use. For example I put my phone on the charger in the bathroom and then packed my bag...then walked to the bakery two miles away, got on the shuttle up to the trail head an hour from the bakery and remembered my phone was on the charger only when a fellow passenger asked me the question, "how do you keep that charged (referring to my ipod)?" and I responded, "OH F$*K!!!" For the word "charged" released a flood of memories that reminded me of that routine I broke when I charged my phone. Luckily the driver of the shuttle was super awesome and grabbed my phone for me when he went back and brought it back to me on the next run. So all in all I was just delayed three hours, definitely could have been worse.

This leg of my journey was a special one. My party of seven (Fairway, Malarkey, John Wane, Analog, Texas Chill, Gourmet and myself) hiked nice and slow to enjoy our last bit on trail and to finish with other hikers. For all of Washington the weather has been phenomenal, hell for this whole trip it was AMAZING. I was "weathered" upon only five times the whole trail. I say weathered because it was not only rain, I was hailed and snowed on. and only twice did the weather come down when I was hiking. Washington is known for its crappy wet weather and all I had seen was beautiful sunny days. PCT class of 2012 was spoiled rotten this year and I am the last one to complain. Well before I keep going I do have to admit the fifth and final time I got weather was the second to last day on trail. A front blew in and we got a little taste of the fall weather to come. 30 degrees F windy, snowy, and you can't feel your feet. Long story short, hurray for finishing before October!

When hiking, as I have mentioned before, you get to think...a lot. One thing in particular I thought about was what it would look like when I reached the monument in Canada. The thing I had been pushing for all this time on the PCT. Well in Staheken I packed out a bottle of champagne (and by champagne I mean Cook's extra dry Brute. Classy I know.) because I wanted to pop the cork and have a proper cheers in Canada. This thought filled my mind for many miles, how it would look, what would we all cheers? Well as often happens on this trail, things end differently than expected. Instead of a happy we all made it cheers in Canada, one of our number broke his ankle four miles from the end. Four miles! weak sauce! The worst part this hiker (Gourmet) has been working on this goal for many years. I feel that out of all of us finishing that day, he was the one who wanted it most and this happened.

Well we couldn't leave him there alone (Fairway, John Wane and I, everyone else was ahead) So on my last day of the PCT I sat on the trail for four hours waiting for the damn helicopter to come and pick up Gourmet. Four hours....really!?! I felt really bad for him and we all did our best to comfort him. In my opinion at four miles, the monument is just a technicality and if he want photos it becomes a day hike in Canada when his ankle isn't busted. But as I said, this was crushing for Gourmet and it really sucked. I am still trying to find a way to contact him. Like a fool, I forgot to grab his info when I left and I am not sure how he is. But we didn't leave until we were sure the copter saw us and that Gourmet was in safe hands. Well that four hour delay started a chain reaction.

Because of the ankle Fairway, John Wane and I didn't get to Manning Park, BC until past 8:00pm. Well that's when the restaurant closes. That meant that the six of us remaining didn't get to have a proper final meal to celebrate. Also the restaurant didn't open until 11:00am the next day and that is the time the bus for Vancouver comes, so no proper breakfast either. So we made a plan B: spend the night in Vancouver before Fairway catches his flight to Georgia and have a proper sendoff there. Well as it turns out, the hostel we were planning to stay in was full...soooo plan C: eat at McDonald's (weak) because it is in the train station, say bye to Fairway, and the rest of us go to Seattle, stay at that hostel and have the proper meal...nope. Analog and Texas Chill bounced right off the bus in Seattle which meant Malarkey, John Wane and I were left to celebrate in what turned out to be a pretty awesome Chinese joint near the hostel. In summation, because of a broken ankle what was suppose to be a ritualized ending to our journey became a huge mess. Bummer.

I am not disappointed, nor mad, for that is how it works on the trail and you just have to accept that. I did get to pop my cork at the monument, I hiked with some truly amazing people and I hope that all my friend of old are able to reach Canada and feel the same elation I felt. This journey was everything I hoped for and so much more and no matter how it ended I doubt it would have felt like it was enough for all the work we hikers put into making it happen.

Well for the last time as Bladder Pillow I say adieu. Stay posted for when Caboose is on the loose in the future somewhere new and exciting...and my final Trail Thoughts that I am going to write very shortly. 

Blame Canada

Staheken, the final frontier. Where I will boldly hike where many hikers have gone before...

My very last town stop. How cool is that? Staheken is a town in the same sense that Beldon was...so a resort. However it is much prettier here and not nearly as hot. Today I am taking my very last zero before I make the final push to Canada. It feels strange to know that this next leg of my journey will actually end in Canada. Technically speaking I am no longer on a through hike for I no longer need to resupply to keep hiking. Once I get to Manning park I am simply done.

Talking with my fellow hikers (Macho Taco, Fairway and Malarkey) I have done quite a bit of reflection this last week. Realizations of things like, yes I will miss hiking after two weeks when my body actually has time to recover. Maybe it would better the section hike trails in the future. For when through hiking all to often you have to push to make miles. Sitting here I realize that I am going to have a hard time adjusting back to "domesticated" life and I thank my lucky stars that I'll have Outdoor School to ease me back into the "real world."

Washington has done an awesome job reminding me that I am a tiny human being in a big ass world during the last 100 miles. As charged and ready to hike as I was in Skykomish, I was beaten down to a pulp out here. The sad part is I was taking it "easy" compared to other parts of my journey. I honestly feel that certain parts of my body have been worn down so much that I am physically weaker now than I was at mile 1,000. The good news is that my hardest days are behind me and I am still being spoiled rotten with amazing weather and breath taking views...and pikas, so many pikas (the things I do for science).

EXTREME!!!

Here I am. Chilling at the last well established trail angels house on the PCT, the Dinsmore's. The original plan was to spend no more than one night here and then push on to Staheken....but the call of comfortable couches, movies, and scenery was to much to pass up. We all knew our motivation to hike was destroyed after about half way through Office Space. Seriously all I did yesterday was eat and watch movies. It was glorious.

The Dinsmore's have a pretty spectacular fire pit that we hikers have used both nights to reflect on our journey, and I must say some of the conclusions we have reached were pretty cool. For instance, I don't know if I'll ever through hike again. Maybe I will maybe not, it's one of those things where I need to see how I feel in six months-ten years. One thing I do know is I miss hanging out in beautiful places. There is always a pressure when through hiking because you need to make the miles if you want to get to journeys end, in my case Canada.This means that I have passed countless lakes, campsites and side trails that I would normally have loved to do, but I just don't have the time. It is the reason why I will hike the John Muir Trail in the future, I want to take my time on it.

In other news, I did watch an unintentionally hilarious documentary by National Geographic about the PCT. Seriously according to this thing I am a bad ass ninja walking on dangerous geologically active terrain, while defending myself against evil doing bears. We also counted that in the 30 minute film the word "extreme" was used about 20 times.So watch out because I am pretty sure I am a black belt in some martial art if National Geographic can be trusted.

Speaking of bad ass, these last 76 miles really have been extreme. there was close to 30,000 ft of elevation change filled with some of the best sights I have seen on trail. It is actually really comforting to be able and still enjoy a lovely sight even after four months on trail. As much as I hate to admit it, Washington has been the best part of the PCT. I like it even more than the high sierras and it is only suppose to get more wild from here. The best wildlife on trail is, according to everyone I have talked to, in the last 200 miles. Needless to say I am excited. The only thing I am getting terribly sick of is kicking/tripping on half submerged rocks and roots. This happens all the time here and I can't describe how infuriating it is.

Well I should get breakfast because I plan on hiking soon. T-190 miles and 8 or 9 days.

 OH! on a side note, the pika research has been going well. The number of observations before Washington was four (and that was in the high sierras). Now I am at around 50 observations. It is actually slowing me down and making miles hard to do.

I am trapped in a glass cage of emotion!

On the road again. I am here at Snoqualmie rested from my zero and eating breakfast before I hit trail. My goal of hiking at Rock Stove's and Medium Pace's pace to catch old friends proved to be successful. I made it to the Summit Inn and my hiker family from northern Cali and Oregon were here.

I am still a little behind some of them because I took a zero the day they left, but I needed the rest. Something about hiking 250 miles in boots that are not wide enough for your feet in nine days causes some pain. Now that I am all rested up and after cutting up my boots even more to make space for my toes I am ready to bust out another 250 miles to the Canadian terminus. It still trips me out to think that in less than two weeks I will have finished the trail.

This section of Washington is considered to be "ugly" and there is a fair amount of clear cut I traveled through, but the sunshine and beautiful sights continue. The part I am getting excited about is supposedly from here on out the trail gets very scenic. Even if I do have to climb 6,000 feet and drop 3,000 feet later on today...

Dude I broke your dad's window.

I need glow sticks and possibly ecstasy...

Holy crap Washington thus far is AMAZING. I didn't think anything could top the high sierras for beauty, but the Mt. Adams and Goat Rocks wilderness are doing a pretty damn good job in making me think otherwise. Not only have the sights been outrageous but I have been eating thimble berries and huckleberries left and right. AND trail magic every day. Honestly Oregon, I love you but we're slacking on the magic. But back to my original statement about glow sticks and ecstasy.

I did a massive audio reformat when I was home. I downloaded all of the available episodes of "We're Alive" my zombie podcast (still amazing) and bought a new ipod. As much as I hated dropping money on the pod I do have to admit that the new iPod nano is sweet. It's touch screen, has a clip (super useful), and a great battery life. It is about four-five times more battery life than my old pod. But I digress. My reason for needing glow sticks and drugs is because of a new podcast I found. It's the David Guettea podcast and it's an hour long trans techno mix. Hiking at five in the morning to thumping techno would definitely be enhanced with the addition of rave paraphernalia.

This leg was breathtaking, both metaphorically and literally. In these last 150ish miles I have climbed up 29,000+ ft and dropped 27,000+ ft. As wonderful as the sights were, I definitely had to earn them. Not to mention my shoe curse continues. My new boots, though super supportive, are not wide enough for my feet. The pain has gotten so unbearable that I have cut pieces off the boot here at White Pass in order to keep hiking. So no more waterproof boot...sad face.

Well I am taking a break at Kracker Berral store before I continue and try to catch Fairway and Macho Taco or possibly the Beards, some hiker friends who are ahead by a couple of days. This feat proves to be very hard because they hike my pace. Also being so close to the end of the trail, playing catch up is even trickier. I am currently hiking with other hikers who pull 32 mile days. So I figure I'll hike with them and either catch up or finish early on trail. Regardless of what happens T-350 miles (ish).

It's been emotional

Home sweet home!

I have walked from Mexico back to the Portland area. Talk about a feeling of accomplishment, sore tired legs aside I am starting to get antsy to get back on trail. I love using my own computer and love being among loving friends and family. However my journey is not done, in fact I am on the final approach with three-four weeks to go. There is no way I would feel OK if I stayed too long. Tomorrow I will get myself ready to move north, say hi/goodbye to friends and on the 20th keep trekking.

In my last post I mentioned attempting to pull my first 40 mile day on trail. Well I can finally and happily say I knocked 40 miles out of the park with my 45 mile day. I walked from Timberline Lodge all the way to Cascade Locks. Yes most of this leg was down hill, but I did have to climb up around 3,000 feet as well as descend close to 6,000. The day took me 18 hours with only an hour or two of breaks. I am not the fastest hiker (consistently about three miles an hour) but at this stage of the game I can just keep going.

This is not the first time I have attempted to walk a 40. Each time I have done an attempt I stop around 33-36 saying, "I hurt....why am I doing this?" and then quit. I just didn't have the motivation to walk the extra 1-3 hours. I think yesterday was different because of my time hiking with Poulo. Taking it slow for those five days built up almost an anxiety to move further distances. It's that classic hiker instinct I have. So between that and my natural competitiveness to hike a much greater distance than Poulo (for he did hike a 30 with me) I knocked out my old record of a 35 mile day for a 45.

I feel this was a great leg to do it on for I have hiked all this terrain before and by hiking these long hours I was able to see parts of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River George in ways I have never seen them before. Well now it is the fourth quarter and Canada is just around the bend. I see success and I am excited to reach my goal, however not journeys end. Being in town today made me realize how much I will miss the through hiker lifestyle. But if nothing else, the camp world has taught me that all things have an end. Canada is my end. I am at least lucky enough to have ODS to turn to right after I get off of trail and I feel that will help me adjust back to "normal" life.

Well onwards and northwards away from home and towards monolith 78.

I am the bat

What a beautiful leg!

I have enjoyed this leg of the PCT much more than any I have in a long time. As much as I hate to admit this (for I don't want to inflate his ego), much of that enjoyment  came from hiking with Poulo. The reason for this is because a) it's always nice to hike with a good friend b) it has been a while since I have hiked next to someone (I'll explain that in more detail in a second) and c) I hiked less miles and thus was able to enjoy more sights and sleep in. What I mean about hiking next to someone is to have company while hiking. For the last 1100 miles I have hiked with people in the sense that I see them in camp or at brakes, but we all hike different paces and thus hike alone during the day. Which is fine in my opinion, but it is nice to have someone there. When you see a sight or animal or even do something dumb, it is enjoyable to share that experience vs. talking about it at camp. It also leads to more photos being taken and assuming my camera didn't corrupt them I will have a good upload when I get to Portland in a couple of days.

Poulo also joined me for a very special part of the PCT: the part i have already hiked. Timothy lake, Little Creator Lake, and Mt. Hood are all parts of trail I have done before. So in many ways I finally feel like I am home in the Pacific Northwest. It also helps that I finally saw a western red cedar (my favorite tree) which makes me happy.

This leg went from Big Lake Youth camp to Mt. Hood. My favorite part was the views. Back in winter I was able to see from my office "window" (the lineup line for snowboard lessons a Timberline lodge) Mt. Jefferson, Three Finger Jack and North Sister. Then on trail while standing on a pass next to North Sister see all the way to Mt. Hood. Now I have hiked that 100 miles of trail and I feel accomplished.

This leg has also started a trend that is not scary as in the sense of danger but fear of trail closures for I have now out ran seven forest fires on the PCT this year. The most recent of which was when Poulo and I passed the wilderness boundary between Mt. Hood and Jefferson. There was a fire that we didn't see until we were at the top of the pass (and consequently next to the fire) that was probably less that a mile away as the crow flies. Let us just say that it made for interesting camping. Poulo was dead tired (almost as if he had only been on trail for a day instead of three plus months) so we stopped early...right where we could see the smoke about two-three miles away. I only stopped because we could see in the trees and feel on our skin that the prevailing winds were driving the fire away from us. That didn't however stop me from double checking multiple times during the night that we were safe. Hopefully this trend continues in that the forest fires happen after I hike through a section. Though I would prefer that they didn't happen at all for my time in the B and B complex burnout was not very enjoyable...at all.

Well my next stop is Portland for R&R and a much needed shower. I may also pull my first 40 mile day on trial. That will depend on motivation and five hour energy drinks.

You shot the invisable man!

When the trail goes up I go up, when the trail goes down I go down. Not only is that a mantra I constantly repeat to myself to keep me hiking, but it is also a metaphor moods. I just came off a low point of my hike that essentially lasted from Ashland to Shelter Cove. The illness I was battling and my worst mistake on trail (hiking in Chaco's) made the first half of Oregon really challenging.

Thankfully and somewhat ironically this was also the easiest part of the PCT terrain wise. I am very glad the terrain was what it was for I don't know if I could have hiked if it was like the Sierras. On the flip side, I could have hiked so far so fast in good shoes and illness free!
Well now I am waiting for Poulo at Big Lake Youth Camp and I can happily report that I am in amazing spirits. Luckily in Shelter Cove I ran into trail magic. Which always improves ones mood. Especially when it involves a wonderful person named Roadrunner and his lovely wife making us hikers burgers, pancakes, eggs, coffee, and most importantly brownies. They also helped me to treat my feet and gave me enough ibuprofen so that I could hike. My feet were actually swelling pretty badly.

On the next day I slowed my pace and saw many beautiful lakes that I wished I could have swam in though I had no time and well mosquitoes. But the day after things started to really get nice. My health had improved and spirits lifted as I made a last minute decision to go Elk Lake resort where I got a tasty beer and a delicious (though expensive) burger. The best part was they had great internet so I was able to download a ton of podcasts. I now have more than enough episodes for Science Friday, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, All Songs Considered, and We're Alive (zombie apocalypse radio drama...amazing!) to keep me entertained until Portland.

After leaving Elk Lake this leg really became fun. I had great entertainment which helps pass the time. I was hiking in the Three Sisters wilderness so I had views again, and hiking with a hiker (Andrew) so I had great conversation as well. The lava fields by sisters are out of control and I highly recommend checking them out.

Well now I am at Big Lake Youth Camp and the staff have been nothing but charitable to me. I will later eat dinner and lunch and have high hopes for both, but for now I will take a shower and clean my clothes while I wait for Poulo.

Who is bringing me back my Keens thank god.

Milk was a bad choice on a hot day.

I have the crummies in my tummy.

I am not sure what happened to me in Ashland but ever since that town I have been in poor health and thus a sour mood more often than not. I do my best yo not let my spirits down but it is hard when you are being molested by mosquitoes worse than the sierras, have debilitating stomach cramps (from illness) and took a gamble on hiking in Chacos and lost. Not to mention the salt in the wound of loosing my iPod on the trail...that happened when bush whacking near creator lake and a tree yanked out my headphones. I thought the iPod was secure...I was wrong.

I move on though! Luckily this issue coincides with me hiking with Poulo for the next week or so. This means I have to slow down for his virgin feet, but hopefully it will give my body some much needed recovery time. As ill of a mood I find myself in at times I know it is only temporary and if nothing else pride will keep me moving until the end.

On happier notes:

Creator Lake was beautiful. Granted I knew this from when I was there last fall, but this time I was able to sleep on the rim and watch the sunrise. My only regret was that there is a 27 mile dry stretch after the lake so I was not able to hang out as long as I would have liked. Luckily the 27 mile dry stretch had cloud cover most of the way making it a much more enjoyable experience and those clouds became a very exciting thunder/hail/crazy hail storm that evening. Apparently my tent is capable of handling 1/2 golf ball sized prices of hail.

Well as I write this I am waiting for laundry at Shelter Cove resort. Pretty much the half way point for Oregon...that was quick.

Are your ears pierced?

OR-E-GON!

Home sweet home, I am back in Oregon. Myself and the party I am currently hiking in (Macho Taco, Fairway, Half Point, Milarky and myself) crossed the border on the 29th and are finishing our zero today. It is nice to be out of California...finally. It only took three months and 2/3 of the trail to complete it but it has been conquered. It is very possible that I have now camped in Cali more than any other state. My current plan is to be in Portland by August 18th for a quick rest/resupply and then off to Washington. The reason for the quick stop is because I plan to be finished with trail no later than Sept 15th. Why? Outdoor school starts on the 17th of September, and I plan to be working as a field instructor. The transition will be quick from trail and could be interesting but I will be going from one thing I love to another, and I'll be living on the beach...so crying shame.

Any-who this leg has been fantastic. We were able to get a ride out of Etna by simply eating breakfast, that's right Macho and I didn't even ask. A trail angel following his wife by road named White Jeep likes to hook hikers up with magic and rides when he can and we had good timing. Then we entered the Marbled Mountains wilderness. This wilderness was filled with some of the best sights since the high sierras. It also had large amounts of thimble berries (yum) and I saw my first pacific madrone of this trip, which I may or may not have hugged.

This leg also contained Seiad Valley, which is a very steep poison oak infested climb down and a hot steep long climb out. The oak was really stressful to be honest, but I made it through and took a bath to relax afterwards...which broke my watch. On other news, I got a new watch in Ashland...the climb out of Seiad was about 5,000 feet in eight miles, and the climbing continued all day. Some times the trail makers are very literal about the crest part of the Pacific Crest Trail.

All said snd done the company has been great, the views unending and moral high for we made it to Oregon!!!!

On a side note Moonrise Kingdom is an amazing movie.

Trail Thoughts: Seriously, why so you hike?

Seriously for the chicks.

Answering the question of why I hike is more difficult to answer then you might think. In many ways you can describe this journey as a self imposed death march. If I were to go up to someone and say "hey, would you like to be unemployed for four to five months so that you can hike in the scorching sun, constantly avoid poisonous plants and animals, walk until you are exhausted almost daily, have your feet blister and callus until it is one solid piece of leather, be attacked by hoards of mosquitoes and  chafe in places you didn't possible?" I am sure their response would be a sarcastic "sounds great..."

Hiking however is more then what I mentioned above. I could just as easily pitch it as, "Hey, how would you like to leave the pressures of society, push your body in ways you never thought you could, see some of the most beautiful sights this country has to offer, climb this highest peak in the lower 48, meet some of the most amazing people and to wake up every day in some new and spectacular place?" This time I believe the response would be more along the lines of "When do we start?"

The matter of fact truth is hiking is both of these things. There are days that I have to use all of my will to keep going, but in general I am seldom this happy and content with life. Every day I go to bed satisfied with what I have accomplished. Even when it is a challenging and exhausting day, the moment I sit down a eat dinner chatting with friends, I feel happy again. Not to mention that my stress level is almost non existent out here.

There is something very primal about walking in the wilderness. It feels good to move even though I may hurt and all I want to do is sit. Plus I also get to eat as much ice cream as I want (so much Ben and Jerry's consumed on trail). Hiking also has the added benefit of making for some great stories...which can be used to impress the lady's. So I guess I really do hike for the chicks...

Wane's World, party time, excelent

Well here I am in Etna about 100 miles away from the California/Oregon border. I guess I wont have to many posts tagged with "Northern California." I said I would post a long blog so here I go.

Well it all started when I was a poor black child...

Northern Cali has been wonderful. Not as buggy as the Sierras and more trees then the desert. After leaving Sierra City I finally started to find other hikers. The weird hiker bubble I was in must have been due to the fourth of July holiday because all these people started to appear on trail after it. Coming out of Sierra City I did spend some time alone, but this was due to my difficulty in finding hikers hiking at my own pace. Many of these groups ahead like to hike around 20 miles a day and I have been averaging closer to 25. At first when leaving town I continued my pace and more then once attempted to hike a 40 mile day for no other reason than to say I did. Though each time I began these days I was inspired by my beautiful cup of french press coffee and each time around mile 33-35 I realized I am tired and hiking further was dumb. Not to mention that this pace counteracted my intent of slowing down for old friends to catch up with me. Finally after a 3,000 foot climb out of middle fork river I came across a trail angel sign. This was for Honker Pass by Buck's Lake.

These trail angels (Nancy and Terry) had put a sign on trail. They are not listed in the guide books because though they love to host hikers, they want the freedom to come and go as they please. When I first came across their sign it said to call them at a spot called "lookout rock" a few hundred feet up trail. My first thought was "I can't do that, it would mean I only did a 15 mile day" and then I thought "who cares it's trail magic." So I went to the rock and turned on my phone, no reception. Well I guess fate is telling me to hike on. I figured that if an opportunity arose I would take advantage otherwise I would move on. As it happened when I came to the road in question for the pick up there was a SUV sitting on the side of the road. As I approached the vehicle a lady comes out and says, "Hey I am Nancy the trail angel. would you like to come over?" I believe my response was something along the lines of "hell yes!" As it turns out two hikers who were ahead of me (Copernicus and his brother Straps) did get reception and made the call and I just had impeccable timing. Nancy took us to her cabin where we had a wonderful afternoon, evening, and morning involving food, fire, and conversation. This was the first of four 15 mile days to come.

The following day when we were dropped off back at the trail head I had to choose between two hiking strategies. I could A) hike 25ish miles into the "town" of Beldon (I use the term town loosely for this "town" is merely a resort that has raves almost every weekend) or I could hike another 15 mile day and camp at Three Lakes where I could go for a swim. Guess which one I chose. The swimming was some of the best on trail for the water was warm and the bugs few. I also was lucky enough to bump into a trail crew finishing their day and who were camping near the lakes as well. Chatting them up I found out what their program was about (apparently it was a youth program that takes kids into the woods and works on a trail for a month). At on point they offered me the left overs of their dinner...score! Thus that night I feasted on steamed broccoli, chicken, and bread. It's a tough life.

The next morning, after coffee and chicken (for there was more chicken then I could eat the night before), I walked down to Beldon. It was about 9-10am when I got there and the forecast was to be in the high 90's. Well considering that getting out of Beldon involves a climb of 5,000 ft I had little and no incentive to keep hiking until the temperature dropped. And with a restaurant/convenience store so close by I stayed fat and happy all day...and spent way to much money. Other hikers rolled into the resort as the day progressed and I was finally able to catch up on where people were at behind me. Finally around 7pm the temperature finally cooled enough to move out without getting heatstroke. Copernicus and I (for his brother was only hiking for two weeks with him) packed up and moved out trying to get as far on trail before it was completely dark. Normally with a 5,000 ft climb I would have just pushed up in the night...but this section of the PCT is infested with poison oak. We didn't make it far, only about five-six miles, and decided that we would wake up early for the rest of the climb. Thus ending nero number three.

One thing I have not mentioned yet is how much I freaking love hiking with my french press. It really makes the world a better place to hike with coffee. The morning after Beldon I was the last one to leave camp because I take time to brew my cup of joe. But I also passed about a dozen hikers as I screamed up 4,000ish feet in 10-12 miles for I was jacked up on so much caffeine. The one down side to this strategy is I always crash in the afternoon due to the coffee and heat. Still worth it though. Nothing of note happened that day, just your average hiking 25 miles, walking through burn sections, seeing amazing views and avoiding poison oak. But the next day was one for celebration.

Chester is the closest town on the PCT to the half way point on trail. Hikers either celebrate here or 20 miles north in Drakesbad Guest Ranch in the Mount Lassin National Park. I chose to do both...Originally my plan was to hike the 15 miles into town, shop, eat a real lunch, and pull another 10 miles on trail. However shopping ended up taking longer than expected and I knew my hiking day was done when I visited a couple of hikers (Sesame and Beaver Cheeks) and I was given a beer from Beaver Cheeks. Luckily my mental inertia that kept me in Chester didn't cost me much for the motel room was paid for by Sesame's dad and was thus free. This evening of relaxation that involved doing things like eating pizza and watching Twister did make me hike another (and my final) nero day of 15 miles.

Coming into Drakesbad was another fun experience for I don't think I have ever been that high off of coffee. I had five-eight cups of very strong coffee that morning between the motel and breakfast. But it did make the morning go by quickly and I was hiking close to four miles a hour. Drakesbad itself is a cool place for a half way celebration for they let you have free showers, they clean your laundry, and provide cheep food. All of which I took advantage of. Durning dinner while conversing with other hikers a couple of girls rolled into the ranch and low and behold it's no other than the Rough Riders. Apparently Cornut and Sniper took about a week off trail around the time I went into Mammoth. When I finally discovered this back in Sierra City I figured that I would never see them on trail. What I didn't account for at the time was me taking four neros in a row and them averaging 30 miles a day since South Lake Tahoe with little town stops in between. Apparently they are planing on getting off trail by September 11th, an interest that I do not share.

It was, however, nice to see the girls and to hike with them for a few days. The stretch out of Drakesbad led to a 30 mile dry stretch known as Hat Creek Rim and to do anything less than two 30's in a row just didn't make sense. While chatting with the girls I found out that there are near 30 hikers behind me and as much as I would like to see old friends, I like getting into town and having food available for me. So my days of low miles are over and I have been hiking between 25 and 30 continuously ever since. I also finally found a couple of hikers who hike my pace. Macho Taco and Fairway are a couple of hikers I met back at Crabtree Meadows the day I summited Mt. Whitney. I had not seen them since, nor did I expect to see them again. But they started hiking big miles and I did enough slow ones that we met at Drakesbad.

Together we have been kicking ass and taking names in Northern California as we hike in the Trinity Alps (which are beautiful by the way), beat up cows (who are everywhere around here), and do fun things like hike south for ten miles, or hike 13 mile dry stretches even though there are lakes 200 feet below all because the trail makers really wanted to keep the trail on the crest. So here I am in Etna 400 miles since Sierra City ridiculously close to Oregon, but it will take close to a 100 miles because we hike east instead of north...

See you in Ashland!

my lame blog update

Sorry world of the interwebs. I know I have been away for long and your life is less enriched without my ramblings. I am alive and doing well. I have been lacking on the updates due to good books, long miles and better company. I also have not taken a proper zero since South Lake Tahoe. I will have a rich update in Etna in about four to five days but for now this is all you get.

I have competed over half of the trail and will finish around September 15th-20th.

Before I go I will leave you with this Trail Thought: Why do you hike?

My answer? For the chicks.

I don't trust horses, they wear one shoe for life. I mean seriously who makes that kind of commitment to a shoe!

Hello world!

For once I am actually writing a blog at a computer! who knew that it is easier to write thing on a full sized keyboard. I am currently in Sierra City taking a nearo. I am not sure if I every explained what that is. A nearo is when you role into a town after hiking very few miles. So today I did about four miles into town. I am taking a break, resupplying and will be back on trail in the morning...after coffee. Speaking of coffee I should be getting my french press in my mail drop! (thank you papi) I decided that since I don't have to lug around that damned 2.5 lbs bear box I might as well carry the weight in something I will find useful.

Well I finally have uploaded photos!!! I am at Red Moose Cafe where a couple of trail angels have accommodations set up including internet that is worth something. It's nice to finally back up all of my photos from the Sierras. I don't remember if I mentioned this, but I forgot my camera way back at the Anderson's. Thus I have no photos From there to Kennedy Meadows witch is a bit over 300 miles. However when I did get my camera back it came with all kinds of photos from Casa de Luna that I was not there for, including the infamous "chocolate wrestling" event. So enjoy them, there are a couple of movies that I threw up on Facebook to rub in how spectacular my trip is.

This leg has been interesting for me. I have somehow managed to blow past pretty much everyone I know. I am way in the front of the pack with only like 30 PCT hikers ahead. I still meet new groups and they are fun, but they are not hiking a pace I want to hike. Jugs and the boys were hiking that pace however they staid in Mammoth longer and I have not heard from them since...sad days. The strange thing is I really don't feel like I am hiking all that fast. I am averaging around 25 miles a day which doesn't seem like all that much to me. The irony is that since I am rolling solo I hike more because well what else do I have to do? Thus I get further and further ahead of the people I know. Eventually I'll have to make a choice: do I hike alone or wait  for people I know and slow my pace? Right now I am doing it alone in hopes I'll bump into a person who has a similar hiking style, but we'll see how long I will keep that up.

The 4th was a riveting experience on trail. I was in bed by 8:30 woot! I was in the Peter Grub hut which is a Sierra Club ski hut built back in the 1930's. I rolled in there by myself, however a number hikers came in who were about 300 miles ahead of me back at kick off. It's always fun to meet people you have only heard of by their signatures in registers.

Lastly I have some sorrowful news...my hydration bladder has suffered a mortal wound. holes have sprung in the plastic making it impossible to use it for a pillow. My name sake and constant companion, my identity, has be forsaken. R.I.P. platypus, you have served me well.

I hear their menstruations attract bears

Ok I'll be honest, I have been waiting to use that quote for a long time. I am currently at mile ~1100 in South Lake Tahoe, which by the way is a massive lake. And this leg of my journey allowed me to see something really special, but I'll get to that.

This leg started at Kennedy Meadows when Dirty Brown, Anteater, and I hitched back to trail, the others did not seem like they were going anywhere quickly and I was ready to go. This section has proven to be much easier than the last section(s) for there were no passes, and being able to see the trail is always a plus. At first I was hiking with my companions, but I wanted to pull bigger miles so soon I was on my own. However this did give me the opportunity to read my book and see more wildlife.

The first day out I pulled a 28ish mile day so that I would be in a better position for South Lake. As the day progressed a hurt knee and a long day slowly pulled my spirits down. I kept pushing but I was not in the best mental state. Then I came across a couple of day hikers who told me that there was some magic about 6-8 miles down the trail. So I pushed more. Every part of me wanted to stop, but I knew if I pushed it would be worth it. So when I finally came up to trail angel Doug who cooked me eggs, gave me coffee, coke, cereal, milk, and bread I felt like a king. Magic really does go a long way to make you feel better. After that short break the thought of pushing an extra six miles seemed like nothing. Hiking after coffee=amazing. 

The next day however was the true highlight of the leg. For that's when I got my first bear sighting on trail. The day started off like any other with my morning ritual of eating breakfast, reading and doing everything possible without leaving my sleeping back. Then when I had no other options I packed up and hit trail. There was nothing of note until I was descending some switchbacks. While going down (and ironically eating gummy bears) I saw him. A beautiful black bear meandering up the trail. I must have been down wind because he had no clue I was there. Tingling with excitement I stood frozen watching and eventually got a couple of blurred shot of him (camera fail). At about 100 feet he looked up, saw me and I waved. This was sufficient enough to scare him down the hill. Considering this whole trip I have wanted a bear sighting and considering I never got on in the high sierras, I was ecstatic.

Well the rest of this leg was without event and once I am recovered here I will push on, though I may wait for friends, getting a little tired of myself. It's one of the downsides about hiking faster than the big heard of hikers, less friends on trail.

The High Sierras part six: Conclusion

The sierras ended much like they began at Kennedy Meadows. This time the resort not the town. There was definitely a sense of bitter sweet when I woke up the morning I hiked the last pass (Sanora Pass). This climb was a big one, but I climbed with vigor. Unlike the previous passes the terrain on Sanora looked very different. The rocks were different, the views different, it was the trails way of saying goodbye. I also was hiking with a new group of hikers that I have not seen before. The crew consisting of Cool Ranch, Capitan, Lola, Pea Trap, Lamarki, Esteas, Dirty Brown, and Anteater. This fun crew and I crushed the 13 miles from Sanora to Sonara Pass road. On our way Down we were treated to some cool treats.

The first treat was....TRAIL MAGIC!!! I haven't seen any magic since mile 700 and it was some of the coolest magic yet. We were given food, beer and love from lamas. That's right lamas. Trail angel Lama Greg was exercising his pack lamas and decided to carry food up for us hikers. It was a surprise to come across trail magic when hiking down, but Greg told us to eat up, so of course we did.

Then soon after Lama Greg I started hearing drumming. Confused but intrigued I kept going and I came to the road I saw a Native American  drum circle Playing. Well after a few questions we found out that it was for an annual 500 mile relay race they were conducting.

After  enjoying our morning, cheering on the runners, we then preceded to work on hitching a ride. Never have I hitched in such a large group of people. The strategy to such a situation is all the guys sit to the side and let the girls flag down the cars. Why? because it cuts wait time down by half. Well after about an hour we had not one, not two, but three cars come over the pass all going to Kennedy Meadows Resort. Happy with our luck we jumped in and rode to a hot meal.

I am sad to say goodbye the the high sierras, but there are so many sights still to see.

Trail Thoughts: Mile 1,000!

And I would walk 1,000 miles
And I would walk a 1,000 more
Just to be the man who walked 2,700 miles
To fall down at Canada's door

I did it. It seems like a huge benchmark and yet I am still about 1,700 miles shy of the end. In some ways it feels like it has gone by far to quickly and in others it feels like I have so far to go. Regardless it feels great to say "yeah I walked a 1,000 miles."

One trend that I have noticed about my hike however is my ability to role my ankle every 100 miles. Yes with out fail every 100 miles I role my ankle. And if for some reason I don't role it, it ends up happening multiple times the next 100. It's an average I really hate. It happens on my bum ankle that I sprained back in 8th grade and it's something I have been dealing with ever since. But on trail where I hike all day it happens more often then I like. And let me tell you I have taken some good spills because of it.

The worst was at mile 900 where I full on fell on my face because I was hiking so fast down a hill. Fortunately no permanent damage thus far *fingers crossed* but as I said I have about 1,700 to go...

The High Sierras part five: Yosemite

While I was in Mammoth, like I do in most towns, I looked in my guide book to see what lay ahead. Normally the information has been relatively useless because of how dry of a snow year it has been. However I did notice one thing that caught my eye. It was a note from a previous hiker named Joker. What he basically said was the section of trail I was about to embark on was one of the hardest for him both physically and emotionally and in some ways I agree. The trail started out easy enough as far as the sierras go. The cool part about Yosemite is it is like a condensed version of Kings Canyon. You climb pass after pass but they aren't as big as in Kings Canyon, but you still get spectacular views. Yosemite is full of alpine meadows and lakes. All this beauty came at a price though. The passes are not kindly to feet. All the jagged rocks, steep climbs and steeper descents are tough on the legs. Also when you go down two-three passes in one day you become tired.

 What made this a difficult section of trail was not the terrain however it was the trail makers. Ironically Yosemite has been the worst labeled section of trail of this whole trip. During my stay I encountered three official signs saying I was indeed on the PCT. I had to mostly depend on myself and other hikers who would etched in PCT on the trail signs. But the worst part was how the trail would flat out disappear. I would be hiking along enjoying the views when all of the sudden the trail vanished. I would look left and then right and nothing. Each time I would have to spend five minutes walking in circles trying to find the bloody trail.

The worst of all these trail searches was on Monday the 25th. That day I wanted to do 25ish miles to allow me a better set up to get into northern Kennedy Meadows (different then the town at mile 700). This day would have included four passes along with the high mileage. I knew it would be a challenge but I didn't mind. The day actually started quite wonderfully. The first pass went without a hitch, and the following canyon was a sight in the morning sun, but it was during the decent down that things started to go awry. The first time I really lost trail and bushwhacked was due to a fallen tree. Granted this instance was my fault. Without looking at my map I pushed down the hill, however the trail went left to avoid what I ended hiking which was steep rocks that became a cliff. Well 20 minutes later along with a whole assortment of curses I did end up back on trail.

My next endeavor with bushwhacking came at the bottom of the same canyon. This section proved to be a challenge not just to me but to many hikers. This part of the trail was in a swampy area full of downed trees. At fist I did ok, but somewhere in a creek while being molested by mosquitoes I realized the trail went a different direction. In part to get out of the creek and in part to find sanctuary from the blood suckers, I dashed up a ravine to sunny rock. Like vampires the mosquitoes seem to prefer the dark and shade. Lucky this time the trail was only about thirty feet away and a simple find.

The last bushwhack on the other hand proved to be the most frustrating experience on trail yet. It started with a lovely stroll by a creek. Until this point I had a rule: When hiking by a creek, life is good. This proved to be the exception. As I was walking along the trail it yet again vanished. This had happened many times before, but normally the trail was just ahead. This time though, I could not find it. Full or rage I stormed around. Up the rock I was on, across the creek, I could not find it. Eventually after some extravagant curses and a moment with my GPS I knew it had to be near. So I ventured until I finally found trail. Excited and relieved I followed the very well maintained trail. This trail led up to another exquisite alpine meadow with granite outcroppings. As I hiked along enjoying the views I started to feel off. All day I had been following a fellow hiker name Big Wuss who was wearing Brook's Cascadias and I hadn't seen those treads for a while. Well as this sense of unease built I eventually decided to stop and check my location via GPS. Well as the GPS gained a lock on my location I compared it to my map. As I read my Easting coordinate my heart sank and when I read my Northing it plummeted. For I was on a entirely different trail then the PCT and had been for the last half hour. Infuriated about hiking 1-2 mile off trail that I would have to re-hike to get back on trail I stormed off. Never have I hiked so fast. Steaming I came back to my original junction and of course there were no signs saying what trail I was on nor could I see any other down trail. Fed up I gave up on the PCT, put in a goto  function on my GPS and plowed into the woods. As time progressed my frustrations changed to despair. I was tired, I knew the trail was close, yet I could not find it. At one point, feeling defeated, I sat down to orient myself to my map. After analyzing it for a few minutes I realized the trail had to be on the other side of the ravine I was sitting by. And right as I looked up I saw no other than Big Wuss walking along the trail.  Excited, relieved, and happy I scurried up to true trail. Fortunately I managed to stay on trail for the next pass and the rest of the day. But needless to say I only managed 20 miles that day...on the PCT.

The rest of my Yosemite experience was much smoother partially because from that point on if I lost trail I stopped and looked until I found it again, no matter how long it took.

On a side note, as soon as I left Yosemite boom there were again trail signs for the PCT *sigh*. Also I kid you not I saw a hare that was at least two feet big. No joke, it was massive.

Trail Thoughts: Those goram mosquitoes

One thing about the sierras is that it is a wild wilderness full of beautiful lakes, streams and creeks. However this also comes with a drawback. It is prime mosquito habitat. Nowhere in Oregon have I seen them this bad. These bastards will land on you while you are hiking and have no remorse. But the really scary part is apparently this year they aren't to bad.

Well I guess it's the trade off you make for wilderness and at least they don't have any diseases up here. But if you find yourself in the sierras make sure you have two items. A) a tent, very important for mosquito free sanctuary and B) DEET. I am normally anti chemical, but this stuff is amazing I went from the brink of a mental breakdown to happy because after application they stop landing on you. I literally ate lunch with hundreds of them swarming me, but was bite free due to DEET.

That said it would have been nice to jump in those lakes...if not for the molestation I would have received at the hands of bloodsuckers.