September 27

It turned out to be Dancing Feet and Not So Bad on the ridge. Crazy people! We hiked a little way after dark and passed up Pitfall and Diesel in camp. Haven't seen them for a while. Woke up super late, which seems to be the trend lately. Sluggishly made our way to White Pass, 11 miles. The White Pass store was really cool and the woman working there wore a Tool t-shirt and gave us all of the leftover food for the day. We hung out with Chameleon, Pitfall, Dancing Feet, and Not So Bad. An intended hour in town turned into several hours and several trips to buy more drinks and snacks. Surprise. Surprise. Chameleon mentioned that we were only an hour from Yakima and that Snoqualmie Pass was two hours so we decided to call family friends John and Paula last minute. A surreal, surprising change of events and we ended up hitching to Yakima with an awesome couple from Alberta, Canada. John and Paula took us to get burgers and now we're living in luxury in their spare bedroom. We meet tons of people every day, but it's really nice to be with people from "real" life and it was inspiring to see the home and creative retreat they've set up for themselves. A good recharge to the batteries. Thank you, John and Paula!

September 26

Today was an awesome day. One of the best on the whole trail. From the first morning steps, the views were amazing. Rolling around through colorful meadows. Climbing higher until we reached glaciers and glacial melt rivers flowing down the hillsides, a 20' waterfall, and springs everywhere. We took a long lunch and an accidental nap in the sun. We climbed higher and higher, excited to see what this Knife's Edge" is all about. We caught our first glimpse of Mt. Rainier that grew and grew until we were overlooking a huge valley of glaciers leading eventually to the mountain. We took the hiker's route that is too steep for horses. The Knife's Edge was an insane, terrifying, beautiful trail. Who would build a trail like this!?!? But I'm so glad they did. We met a sobo section hiker who looked absolutely terrified coming off of the ridge, but we headed out along it. Snapping pictures. Taking in the view. Being scared out of our minds. Crying out in terror. Worrying that we wouldn't get across before the beautiful sunset turned to dusk. Eventually we made it across the two mile ridge and the trail turned a corner overlooking a huge green meadow with a view of Ranier behind. We stopped to look around just in time to see one of the most...majestic...sights we've ever seen. Huge, shaggy, white mountain goats were grazing in the meadow, meanwhile, a herd of about 20 Elk went running in a line along the meadow and stopped behind a stand of trees for shelter. One of those National Geographic moments for sure. It just needed some epic horn music. By the time we were headed down, the sun had set and we were slipping and sliding down the scree trail. We looked back at the ridge and two headlamps were looking at us in the distance. We started flashing our lights back and forth. Coo-Hees, but still not sure which of our fellow hikers it was.

September 25

We're in Washington now and zooming through. From the moment we stepped across the Bridge of the Gods, it's been breathtaking views and exhilarating climbs. Today we got to the Mt. Adams Wilderness where there is a 14,000 acre fire burning. The trail was closed along the entire wilderness, 22 trail miles. We had to decide whether to road walk an unspecified number of of miles to where the trail was open at Potato Hill or hitch around it. With the other fires, we've either pushed on through the trail or hitched around, knowing that we want to see all of the trail and not a road. We will come back to complete these sections. This one was a tougher decision because the snow will hit this area earlier than Northern California and our window of opportunity to finish it this year could close. We decided that, either way, we really want to come back to climb around on beautiful Mt. Adams, so we stuck out our thumbs. A nice couple from Tacoma picked us up and were so nice that they took us around sightseeing to see the fire near a full view of the peak, an incredible lake (Taklak?) that had a full mirror postcard mirror-image of the mountain on it, and also suggested that we come back to Muddy Meadows when it opens up. They dropped us off at Potato Hill and were on our merry way, enjoying blue skies and sunlight. We've been really lucky with weather, so far. When we crossed the "Now entering Goat Rocks Wilderness" sign, the sound that echoed through the forest was something like "Woo-hoo-hoo-HOO-hoo-hoo." Dancing like kids on Xmas morning. We climbed up to a most beautiful ridge in time to see a fog roll in. Yuh-oh. Hoping the weather holds out for our goat rocks experience. Super excited for the Knife's Edge tomorrow. Now, we're nestled in bed listening to the Elk make their calls. It's a strange and beautiful sound. Loving every moment out here. Reflecting on what it will be like when we finish. Making our way to White Pass.

Love,
Dana "Doe Eyes"

Crossing into Washington today. Just a few weeks left!

Relaxin' in Bend for a few hours before heading back out to trail. Watching people float down the river and huge Canada Geese fly overhead. We spent yesterday rushing around looking for new shoes for both of us and food food food galore. We won't be cutting it so close this time. We also had a good time at 10 barrel brewery where it seems every employee has aspirations to hike the PCT and one even sat down with us to chat about it. The push to get to Canada is upon us, but for now, we take a breath and enjoy the summer sun. Just found out we're getting a ride out to the trail with Mr. Lloyd Gust, a trail angel we've been hearing a lot about. Excited to meet him! Love to everyone.

September 7

Slept in till 7 today. Soooo nice. Stayed in camp till after 9 and started on a short day of 20 miles. We had decided that instead of two 35 miles days, we would take a 3rd day to get in to elk lake resort and then go out to Bend in the am. Adding this extra day made us really short on food and were mixing spare scraps of dehydrated anything together to have for breakfast. Lunch was a few pieces of salami and half a piece of bread each. Scraping the last peanut butter from the creases of the jar. Brett made powdered gravy and drank it like a shake. The miracle of the day was when I found pudding mix in the heaps of used up wrappers. That filled us up and kept us going for the rest of the day. As we were headed out from lunch, Scallywag caught up with us. We also met three section hikers taking a couple of months to hike oregon. Mapolis Margaret, Woody, and Chef Beard. I've realized that I haven't been sharing trail names, but it's one of the best parts of the trail! We were all chatting and they gave us some bagels and bars that they had been trying to pawn off on people. Me me me! So grateful and we gifted them in return. As were hanging out, another hiker walked up beaming with joy at having caught up with people. His name was Pitfall and he was part of the,now broken up, Lobster Crew. The Lobster Crew, we had heard rumored, was a group of people competing against Team EZ to be last to Canada. We've been joking that a meeting with any members of these teams meant that we were doomed to make it to Canada. Throw in the towel. But really, the team had just been going slow to enjoy the Sierras and Pitfall had been doing 30 mile days since Tahoe and we're still on time to make it to Canada. All this meeting left us a bit behind in our plan to make it to elk lake for food and showers and laundry before closing so we high tailed it our fastest yet. 3-1/2 mph for 13 miles straight with no breaks. By some miracle we made our goal and got there with 15 minutes to spare, but the lights were off and it appeared to be closed is this the right place? How can this be? We knocked on the door. Afterall we just ran 13 miles with empty bellies. Surely someone can respect that, right? Wrong. The guy said that their hours changed and they'd been closed since 7. It's not a store but a bar and we couldn't do laundry till the morning. Here's the hiker box now get out. Uhhh. This isn't what we expected. But we scrounged some tasty morsels from the hiker box and were happy that we wouldn't go hungry after all when a cheerful fellow came up and wanted to show us around camp and give us some "snackiez" he said. He worked there but not today. Today's his day off. He showed us some campsites we could use free of charge. Gave us the info that the other guy didn't-if you don't need a towel or soap, the showers open and free all night. And then he left and came back with "snackiez" a little box with granola bars oatmeal and BBQ chips. BBQ chips! I don't think I can express here how absolutely giddy we were to have chips in our grasp. We thank thank thanked him a million times, but I don't think he really know how thankful we were. A few pieces of wood left in the fire pit and Brett made a nice fire . A rare occasion on our hike. We cooked up a feast and are now going to sleep with full bellies. That's rare. We just can't carry enough food to be full usually. Tomorrow we scamper into Bend as fast as we can. New shoes a REI, bread cheese fruit and salami at the grocery store, ump qua huckleberry ice cream, and brewery tour through downtown bend, then zoomin through the res of Oregon to cascade locks. Over halfway through Oregon already! And loving this journey more and more every day.


P.S. Probably won't have access to a computer for a while so won't be able to update photos.

August 24

We are now camped overlooking a beautiful view of California from O-R-E-G-O-N! The last few days have brought so many thoughts about how we've come all this way. Everything we've been through and seen and felt. The times we thought we'd rather be at home doing other things. The times we thought about quitting. How crazy this ride has been and how very, very glad we are that it's not over yet. Two more states to go and plenty more adventure to come. We woke up slowly this morning. Hitting the snooze over and over again. Eatin breakfast and rolling back over to sleep. By the time we did get going, people from a couple of miles back were catching up and saying good mornings. The miles came really easily even though the terrain wasn't all that easy. Our bodies must be excited for Oregon too. Despite all of my thoughts the last few days, today my mind was blank. Surreal. It has felt like this day would never come and I didn't want to get my hopes up yet. Robo Knee said it best when he explained his similar feeling as a demonstration of the patience he's learned out here. We never celebrate the top of a climb before we get to it, right? We dragged the day out. Taking breaks to chat with fellow hikers, snack, nap. When we got to the border, it was a blur of high fives, hugs, photos, Coo-Hees, and hollering. We hiked up the hill to find the spot we're camped in now, feeling out this new Oregon thing. Does it feel different? I don't know yet. We'll see when we get to Ashland!

August 20

We had a good time in Etna/Scott's Valley. The longer we stayed, the more relaxed we got. Riding bikes to the local market. Eating Popsicles. Shady trees and hot asphalt. Like summers as a kid. The local b&b has a hostel set up next door called The Hiker Hut. A little red building with everything a hiker could need inside. The owners, Dave and Vibeke were great people and, like most places that cater to hikers, it seemed more like a trail angel, than a hostel. Dave hanging out and chatting casually. Vibeke bringing the Schwan's guy over and asking if we wanted anything. We definately stayed longer than planned, but were so glad we did. Oh yeah, and the local grocery store was giving out free sundaes with the works--whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top! Also went to the brewery and Bob's for breakfast with a bunch of hikers. There were so many hikers at the hostel I can't even name all of them. When we finally left, we got a ride with a couple that wa headed to the local, beautiful blue swimming hole (they showed us). They were driving his dad's awesome old camper. Oven door swinging open. Cupboard door swinging on its hinges. Floral print wallpaper. Chugging up the mountain to the trailhead. Made it a couple of miles in that night. Had a slow day yesterday. Starting to get sick? Seems like there's a bug going around trail. Or maybe it's wildfire smoke. A few people said that we had just missed a couple section hiking with a herd of goats with dog backpacks on. Hoping to catch up with them and see for ourselves! Got goi fairly early today, smoke filling the air in the AM, and made our way to Seiad Valley and the fire closure for the Goff fire. Hiked along the road to Seiad with a few hikers-Diesel, Chocolate Chipmunk, and Indiana Toad. Picking berries the whole way. So enjoyed cold drinks and Ben & Jerry's when we got there. Caught up with some people-Veggie, Inspector Gadget, Hop-a-Long, Trooper, Extra Credit, and Cactus. A few hiked the road walk, everyone else hitched up. We were debating whether to hitch or walk when a man pulled up in an SUV saying that he'd gone home to get a bigger car to pick up some other hikers, but they were gone. 4 of us took the ride. His name was Jimmy, his wife worked at the Seiad store. Had grown up in Seiad, lived in Skykomish for a while and moved back. At the top, we all hung out and cooked dinner together. Hiked a few last minutes into the setting sun, climbing higher until we got a full view of the fire burning on the hillside two ridges over. We could even see the helicopters dropping water on it. We cowboy camped on a ridge. Burning eyes. Burning lips. Headache. Oregon border tomorrow, if all goes well!!! 19 trail miles, 5 miles as the crow flies. That means we can see it on the other side of the ridge. Woohoo!

Woke early enough today, but the miles dragged. Thankful for overcast weather, sprinkled a little bit, but when the winds changed direction, we could smell the smoke of the Goff fire like it were right next to us. Lots of breaks today. The end of the day brought a huge climb that wasn't on the elevation profile. A surprise, but we made our best time on this last little stretch. The views tonight were spectacular. Some of the most magical yet, with two rock formations that looked like a bear and an eagle. I could imagine this being a sacred site of Native Americans. Didn't get the miles in today that we wanted--4 or 5 miles short. Early morning tomorrow. Setting a goal to get to the road by 8 or 9 am.

It was nice to sleep in. Only needed to make 25 or so, which in today's terrain was pretty easy. Hiked with a couple of people today, Cheshire Cat and Scooter. The views toward the end of the day were really nice with awesome red rock and wildflowers everywhere. We pushed into the night a little (which was part of our plan with sleeping in and all). It seemed to go much slower this time and the trail went into some thick forest. We saw a pair of eyes slink around and when we got to where it had gone. We stopped and looked around. Nothing. Looked up. "What is that!?!" It looked like a monkey clinging to the tree. It turned out - I think - to be a kitten. In the middle of the mountains? I don't know. Then we started noticing big, huge toads everywhere. Crossing us on the trail. Clambering over bushes. Splashing in the water. Definately using a tent tonight! Don't want toads climbing on our faces. Now we're camped at the junction of the PCT and Bloody Run Trail. Creepy! The sign is dripping with sap that looks like blood. The spot's nice though. Wishing Etna was tomorrow, but another 25 mile day and we'll be close.

32 mile day today!!! We overshot our destination by two miles and ended up on a beautiful saddle with a view of the stars. Sleeping in tomorrow.

Hot today, 10 degrees cooler than yesterday after all. The hike today was really nice and pleasant. Mesquite covered hills, sunshine, shady trees, an huge views of Castle Crags as our trail worked its way around them. Saw only two people on trail today. Stopped short 'cause we felt like it. Not too tired, but just want to go to sleep early and wake up early. Waking up at 4 am. Goodnight all.

Town update. After this last town, we're really starting to realize how important these town friendships are. When all this is said and done, when we're back at home having trail withdrawals, sitting in the couch, not doing the things we dreamed we would do when we got back, who else will understand but these people? No one else even understands the notion to come out here but these awesome people. I want to leave this experience knowing that I have friends to contact when I'm all over the world. That I can just call them up and they will be the free-spirited, anything-is-possible kind of people that we've all become out here. There is a kinship, there is a bond in every acquaintance out here. This becomes more and more true as the trip carries on and people drop out. Injuries, homesickness, wanting to do other things, money, jobs. The people that stick around become that much more meaningful to our town experiences and our lives. It was hot today and we ended up spending most of the day in front of Amarratti's Market in Castella. A lot of people came through today. One of the guys was talking about how he missed other hikers when he was out on the trail alone. It's true and when we get back we'll feel it even more. We'll miss real interaction, real conversation. Openness and excitement for life. Anything is possible. And the people who feel the same. It didn't cool off until late today. Maybe 7pm. It was so tempting to go back into town, but we finally got a ride out with Tom. He had driven up to the gas station and smiled politely, a grin with two missing front teeth, mismatched clothes, worn down shoes, and an old truck. When we asked if he was heading North and if he'd be able to drive us to the trail at the next exit, he didn't even hesitate. Of course he'll take us, but so sorry for the layer of dirt in the back. He wa from Modesto, headed for the Tri-Cities in Washington. When we got out and said our thank yous, he was thee first person we felt expected no tip, no monetary settlement. He asked if he could pray for us and we listened intently as he said a lovely prayer for our journey and we wished him all the best on his. The best meetings come in unexpected packages, no? The world is an awesome place. We're back on trail, perched half a mile up the mountain and can hear the freeway noise. Tomorrow, we'll be in the quiet of nature, but tonight I'm enjoying the simple sound of people, making their way back and forth. Exactly 100 miles to Etna, then Seiad Valley (home of the pancake challenge), and then Ashland, Oregon!!! Looking at the map of waypoints, it's getting exciting. We're getting somewhere now.

We made it to Dunsmuir last night around 5:30 pm. The hike yesterday was much improved. The trail ascending to the tops of mountains and ridges, sunlight flooding through and winding through pockets of cool shade on another hot day. Well over 100 degrees again. We noticed on the map that the trail does this 4 mile or more loop-d-loop along the side of a canyon and loops back around on itself slightly lower than where it started. The gap between the entrance and exit, about 1/2 mile long. We thought it must either be a crazy cliff that the trail diverts around or mindless trail work and we could get through. We have been such purists throughout the entire trip, but somehow I felt empowered by this notion of navigating the map. When we got there, sure enough, there was a well-travelled trail heading across the ridge on the right. One of the only non-steep spots to cross. Like a magical trap-door in the trail, I burst through the bushes and headed down easily. Standing on the ridge, I could see the road that would join the trail up with the PCT. Brett started calling my name, I thought he had followed me down, but he was having second thoughts. I headed back up and when I got to the top, I crouched down to read the faint sharpie mark that someone had tried to wash off of the sign--"OLD PCT -->" It's totally not cheating if it's the old PCT, right? It's the truer PCT trail, the historical route. Still, we continued on the loop-d-loop and it was long, but it wasn;t so bad because it had amazing, delicious, cold water pouring down the mountainside and it was pretty. The view in this entire area is incredible. Three monumental geologic formation all lined up--Castle Crags, Black Butte, and Mt. Shasta in full HUGE view. When we got down to the road, we walked along it for a while, but when a car came by, we stuck our thumbs out. He stopped to tell us that he had no room room because he had a fishing pole in back, but Brett started telling him, "Oh yeah, there's plenty of room...I'll squeeze right in here." And so, we got a ride. I guess we're getting to be real, hardened hitchhikers now. He turned out to be a really nice guy named Rich. We got dropped off in Dunsmuir. Laundromat out of business. OUT OF BUSINESS. Isn't it a town staple to have a laundromat!?!?! Washers and dryers all lined up in the window and the doors locked. We had no choice but to meander around town wearing our hiker stink like a badge. We walked up to the brewery, people outside, band firing up, and noticed with a sting that people were staring. "They're really gonna have the guts to walk in here? Bums!" We held out breath and started walking toward the door, my mind racing with thoughts of what the workers would say. Their sour faces as we came in looking like that. Before we reached the door, a guy in a logo t-shirt popped out, huge smile on his face, full of greetings. He looked like he wanted to shake our hands and usher us inside as celebrities. With everyone on the outside porch staring, he said loudly, "You guys are awesome! Come in, we have a room inside for your stuff." We put our stuff down, washed up, and settled down at the bar, stunned. He was telling us he was a guide and that the long trip he had done was 30 days. 30 days and only one resupply! Now, I think that's hardcore. Then, the brewer gave us a tour of their 8bbl system. It was a cool little setup and the brewer/owner was an awesome guy as well. We then did our grocery shopping and the cashier priced some stuff way down for us because we were disappointed that they were $5 instead of $1.50. This town is full of nice people! Back to the brewery to meet up with some hikers and when we got ready to leave, one of the bartenders oppered to drve us to the campground. She was really sweet, closed out her shift, adn drove all 4 of us out there in her truck at 11pm. So now, we're at the PCT Hiker campground in Castella. $3/person. Stayed up 'till 2am talking. On the trail, when there are people around, it doesn't matter what time it is. Your friends are here now and you will part ways tomorrow so enjoy it while you can. Gonna try to get out to trail this morning if it's not too hot, but right now we're 3 miles away, clothes not laundered, not showered, electronics not charged, phone calls not made. Burning with the fever to make miles.

They say not to sugar-coat the trail experience. I'll try not to here. Today has not been my favorite section of trail. Aside from environmental factors: mood, energy levels, calorie intake...it wasn't any of that. Today I diecovered that I really don't like "green tunnels." When the trail is covered in foliage and trees and you can barely see sunlight. Since last night, we have been winding in and out of deep gullies. So deep that it becomes dark hours before the sun goes down. I feel happy to see sunlight just beyond, surely it's around the next bend, only to find that the next bend looks just like the last. Climbing higher and higher toward the sun, so close, we're almost there, to find that the mountainside has grown higher and I am no closer to reaching that sunlight. There are sections of trail that appear to be old, old wagon roads. As primitive as widened footpaths along the gully walls. It's almost spooky to me. Poison Oak is everywhere, not just by water. It was 110 degrees today, heatwaves wafting through canyons, amid cooler air. 10pm still hiking, looking for any campsite, washing the poison oak from our bodies in the creek by headlamp. Tired. Now, we're camped in the one possible campsite for miles, a small patch just big enough for our tent right on the edge of the trail.

2 good, good, great things about today?:

1.) Berries!

2.) Cleaning up and napping by a beautiful glacial milk river.

Awesome day climbing along tall ridges covered in Manzanita. Warm sun, cool shade. And a view of Mt. Shasta for the second day in a row, this time huge. We hike along it for most of the day...our view's angle changing. It was really beautiful. The trail was lined with huge volcanic rock formations. Black. Butterflies and deer. We saw a baby rattlesnake. By the end of the day, we had descended into the gully we're in now, but we were able to find a single ridge with a flat on it--a 28 mile day. It was funny because afterwe set up the tent, we discovered that the ridge was serving as the only trail for animals to reach the top of the mountain. Deer kept creeping sneaking by, ducking from our headlamps. I think a bear might have gone by too. Something that sounded like it walked on two legs. Making tons of noise. Smelled like a skunk. So it was either a bear or a skunk ape. Who knows...haha.

Tomorrow, we wake early and head for Dunsmuir before the heat hits and before we run out of food.

Love,
Dana

Just a quick update. We made it through the dreaded Hat Creek Rim and it was kind of nice. Brett was in heaven having scrub bushes back. The storm clouds protected a little which was very appreciated, but it was pretty hot for the second half of it, which we did yesterday. No major rain and it blew over. We took a little side trip in the morning before the rim to talk to the fire department about the fire in Lassen and they told us that this one's a controlled burn and shouldn't affect us. All they wanted to talk about was our trip and how they all want to do it too. They were super cool guys. Another unexpected meeting that takes you by surprise. Then, we went to JJ's Cafe next door and shared a plate which turned out to be huuuuge and we were both stuffed. We also did a mini resupply at the convenience store next door and it turns out that it's under new ownership and the guy loves hikers. He wanted to take our picture for his Wall-O-PCT. Ran all the way to get to trail magic that we'd heard about, but ended up missing it, afterall. All was not lost...just a little while further and we came to the same fire department guys up on the rim. It was cool to come across them again and they showered us with ice cold water and gatorade. True, genuine, unexpected trail magic. This is what makes the trail so incredible, the unexpected meetings, the unexpected kindness. The next day, we had the good fortune to make it in time for a last water cache on this dry stretch and it had a few sodas in it--still COLD. I was so grateful for that cold root beer, I can't even express. I had been craving root beer for days and definitely didn't expect to come across it in the wilderness. We skipped (and ran) merrily all the way to Burney Falls State Park. Trying to shave off a whole hour from our hike to get to the store before it closed. We made it with a half an hour to spare and devoured popsicles and a couple of cold beers. Cold has never tasted so good! We hung out with a bunch more hikers we hadn't seen for a while and met a couple of new ones. Then everyone went their separate ways and we got beautifully hot showers at the campground. A good couple of days, a boost to morale. Hopefully we can keep the miles up. We had a wonderful nap at the falls and swimming hole outside of the park today and we saw a lot a lit of different terrain. It's changing to the NorCal/Castle Crags terrain. Looking forward to the towns of Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta in a couple of days.

It so hard to make time for updates! 3 days later, I'll try to recap...we called the fire department in the morning and he said with confidence that the town of Belden was open, all roads were open to hitch out of, and that the fire near the PCT was put out. We were pretty happy with that answer and were all ready to hike on to Buck's Lake and maybe all the way to Belden when we decided to call the trail angels in Belden, the Braatens. Mrs. Braaten answered and as soon as I even mention fire, town closed, Quincy-Laporte Road, she emphatically said, "Yep. That's right. Hitch out now." They were supposed to evacuate, but were holding up their fort. Highway 70 was being traffic controlled and we wouldn't be able to hitch out. There was no knowing if it would be closed by the time we got there. There was the option of continuing to Buck's Lake, but we had heard that it might be closed. This new info was such a contrast from what the fire department told us, we were taken by surprise. What other options were there? Could we get a few more miles in before bypassing the fire? A forest service truck pulled over and the worker was telling us about other outlet roads we could go out on that would be easier to get a hitch on, but his information didn't match up and just as we were thanking him and saying goodbye, a truck pulled up offering us a ride plus two other hikers that had come down the trail. Of course, we took it and were soon in Quincy, en route to Chester, and safely around the fire. We hung out in Quincy for a while and then took a bus to Chester. On the bus, all I could think about was whether or not we did the right thing. We could have gotten out on a different road. The fire might have been out by the time we got there. Were we doing the right thing in...SKIPPING? And when will we be able to come back to finish this section? Will we get to the monument at Manning Park and suddenly feel like we can't celebrate fully because this section is still lingering unfinished? In the end, I think it was the responsible thing to do. And we'll figure out when is the right time to come back. We didn't spend much time in Chester, but did have some drinks at the bowling alley, caught up with some people we hadn't seen for a while and ate at the Cotton Candy something restaurant that was non-profit for the local church and had bottomless fries. Then off to the trail and 18.5 miles to Drakesbad Guest Ranch. Drakesbad was really cool. Big hot spring pool, endless free showers, they take your laundry and do it for you. All free of charge. Dinner is served family-style to the resort guests and all of the leftovers are given to the hiker trash for $5-$10. And stealth camping right next door that you can waddle over to. Now we're just outside of Hat Creek/Old Station. A storm is rolling in just in time for what is supposed to be of the hottest stretches of trail--the Hat Creek Rim.

Mile 1235

Today is interesting because there is a wildfire near Belden, our next town stop. We are two days out of Sierra City. We got to the Qunicy-Laporte Rd. and found a note on the trail stating that Belden is clised due to the fire, as well as Hwy 70, our route into Belden. We had planned to make a 25 mile day, but spent the last couple of hours of daylight making phone calls, looking at maps, and flagging down cars for information. We have a couple of options, but these could change quickly with a change in wind. We've learned this living in San Diego, for sure. Everything can change in a matter of hours and if we push on, we won't have access to updates. The note said that he road-walked to Quincy (26 miles). Not sure where the others decided to go. We're now camped next to the trail near the road and are planning to call the fire department in the morning. It's funny, because most hikers were only concerned about a reroute around the midpoint marker and that they wouldn't be able to see it.

Mile 1198

After our last post, we hitched out of Tahoe with a nice couple in a nice car. It seemed like our new lifestyle contrasted so strongly with their 

lifestyle that they were extremely interested in our journey and were full of questions. Yes, we do sleep outside in the dirt. Yes, for months at a time. As soon as we got out of the car and said our goodbyes and thank yous, we realized we had left three hats in town-

-two of which were handmade. The other, necessary to protect against the broiling sun. We decided to hitch back as the sun was setting. Anyone who knows hitching knows that this feels like a sin, wasting trail magic by acquiring a ride and then just going back to where we came from. We were lucky and a man coming from the ski lodge nearby picked us up. He was friends with one of the hikers we know, Sprinkles. In town, we found our hats and settled down at one of the last spots at the campground. In the middle of the night, the pitter patter of rain started and by morning, it was a full blown thunderstorm. Maybe we were lucky for forgetting our hats...safely in town during the storm. The weather let up in the afternoon and we hitched out, rather reluctantly, in the overcast weather. We were picked up by a woman, Rebecca, in a VW bus and her two very patient kids in the back seat. Despite our reluctance to leave the comforts of town, it felt good to be back on trail. The post storm sunset was fantastic and we camped overlooking the spectacular Echo Lake. The following days were so beautiful, rolling around in the mountains. The terrain climbs easily up to breezy ridges with wild flowers and wind-shaped trees and then back down to thick forests. We felt a bit more trail serendipity when we met Anne and Bill at Barker Pass trailhead. Meeting them was pretty special. Their lives are so full of adventure, living part time in a houseboat on the Northern California coast and part time in a fully equipped camper. They've completed the Washington section of the PCT together and Bill hiked the Oregon section when he was 19 in the 60s with an iron skillet and a 65 lb pack. They've hiked the Pyrenees mountains, which is something we definitely plan to do someday. We left feeling infected with a fresh sense of adventure as I hope our talk of our journey did the same for them. Back onto the trail and our miles are picking up with more determination than ever. Are we willing to set aside everything we think we'd rather be doing at home to complete this one goal? Yes! Absolutely, it is worth it. So with this new determination, we are striving to hike 25-30 miles a day. We got to the Red Moose Inn yesterday afternoon, not sure what to expect. Is it a trail angel or a business? When we walked up to the front door, the sign outside read, "Open for PCT hikers only." We were immediately handed towels for the shower and shown the laundry. With Margaret insisting with the softspoken sincerity that a mother would have that, no, we don't smell bad. That we should wear our dirt with pride. The place was decorated with letters and postcards from hikers. A framed map of the PCT hanging on the wall. Margaret's handknit scarves hanging on a rack in the mudroom. This was not just a business, this was a home. They allowed us all to camp down by the river in their backyard. Bill made ribs for dinner and Margaret made breakfast for everyone. Bill said that they made the prices as reasonable as they possibly could for the hikers. The best meals on the whole PCT alongside Teri and Joe's pancakes and taco salad and Tom's pancakes. We could tell that they were tired as 26 hikers had just passed through two days before, but they fed everyone with care and grace as if they were cooking for family. Everyone we meet has a profound affect on us, but Bill and Margaret have rearranged their whole business to support us dirty hikers. I don't think any hiker can overlook how difficult this must be, how hard they must work. And this will stick with us for the rest of our lives. It's been a great day here in Sierra City and the Red Moose Inn. Now, we're sitting at the bar, watching the Olympics, eating raspberry sorbet, and drinking $1.50 ales. A thru hiker's life is tough! We will be in Belden soon, awaiting news on a closure of 13 miles of trail due to a small wildfire near the halfway mark. Fingers crossed that it will be put out before we get there so that we don't have to be rerouted around the celebratory midpoint. Miss and love everyone!

Hi everyone!

We're still having a great time and are well past the thousand mile mark at mile 1093! This is huge, but what's more huge is that we are only a week and a half from the halfway point.  We have had a nice weekend in Tahoe and were happy to find that Brett's parents made the long journey up for this weekend as well. We actually stayed in Carson City (which turned out to be a great trail town) and travelled back and forth from there and Tahoe. We saw Moonrise Kingdom. We enjoyed a real hotel room which was a sweet surprise because we had been planning on staying in a campground. We ate the most ridiculous portions you've ever seen at the Harrah's buffet. It was so nice to be full for once. As if our hiker hunger wasn't already out of control, it has now doubled! The terrain should be much easier from now on and we're going much faster now. 25 miles a day instead of 15. At this point in the trip, we're a little homesick and craving time to do the things we like to do. Be with friends and family. Go to a concert. Make something. Read. Go to the beach. Relax in the sun and not think about miles. Brew beer. Work. Make a home. The trip demands all of our time, but we both agree that the payoff and lessons learned will be sweeter than anything we could be doing at home. And so, we are motivated to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  The trip also continues to evolve as we get ever closer to Oregon and it's volcanic rock, green, green forests, ferns, and berries. I can't wait for berries! Not too long now.

Love to everyone!


P.S. We've been hearing that a lot of people are having trouble leaving comments here. That the comment disappears. I don't know how to fix this, but if you'd like to leave a comment, you can follow the facebook link at the top of the screen and leave it there. You can also email us at GoingNomadPCT@gmail.com

Goodbye to the High Sierra

July 6, 2012

We woke early this morning looking out on Purple Lake, excited to get into town. This has been our longest and most difficult stretch between town stops. Eight days and six mountain passes in some of the highest mountains in the lower 48. We cowboy camped so that we could make a quick dash for town in the morning, but the lake's moisture left our sleeping bags soaked with dew. We packed, chatted with some people passing by, had a small breakfast and plenty of coffee to fuel our run for town, and set out. Town fever set in as soon as we set foot on trail and the miles seemed to melt away. 13 miles...10 miles...5.5 miles...5 miles...2.5 miles...Mammoth, here we come! As we got closer to the tourist stops, Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls, the trail became more and more packed with day hikers and people just starting their journeys on the JMT, shiny and new. We had tried our best to keep clean, but after eight days without laundry or a proper shower, we weren't feeling too fresh. In the presence of these people, the contrast stung, but we also couldn't help but puff up with pride for what we had just accomplished. What we had just conquered. Our filth seemed to highlight what a different breed of hiker we are. We passed the 900 mile mark. The familiar old arrangement of stones. I chuckled at the thought of day hikers stopping to wonder at its meaning. When it means so much to us. This last 100 miles has probably meant the most. We have struggled and strived through the High Sierra. We have experienced that adrenaline rush and exhileration of climbing over a pass and seeing a whole new landscape laid out before us. The quick breath and thin air cleansing and then we descend into a new canyon, flying faster and faster down the mountain, fueled by adrenaline. We have also felt the low of being at the bottom of a canyon, looking up at the next pass we have to climb. Squinting into the sun, wondering which one is the pass and where this trail is dragging us. Feeling every ounce of energy in our bodies depleted. The Sierras hit us hard, even after over 700 miles behind us. We summited Whitney and passed through Forrester before we even knew what hit us. After our stop in Lone Pine, after celebrating the ease of going over these two huge formations, we headed back to the trail over Kearsarge Pass. That day, we did both Kearsarge and Glen Passes, arriving to our campsite at 10pm. Maybe it was too much elevation gain and loss in one day, maybe it was the rumor that it's the hardest pass going to our heads, but when we headed out the next day with the goal of going over Pinchot Pass, our energy crashed. We kept thinking that we were further than we were based on the number of hours we'd been walking and found that we were dragging ourselves 1mph when we typically go 2.5 to 3 mph. This would mean that an 8 mile ascent would take all of eight hours compared to a little over three hours. We finally decided to call it a day, a few miles before the pass. A full night's sleep and our energy still hadn't returned in the morning and we were really starting to wonder if our bodies were depleted of calories, nutrients, electrolytes, water, or rest. We huffed and puffed our way to the top and relaxed at the top with a couple of other hikers. The speed picked up a bit on the way down and, miraculously, by the end of the day, our spirits and energy levels were much lifted. We went over Mather Pass with strong legs and celebrated Brett's birthday by enjoying the view at the top. The next day, we spent some time at the river napping and washing up and made the long, beautiful journey toward Muir Pass. This section of the Sierras has been the most beautiful yet. Suddenly, the landscape is filled with lush forests and waterfalls everywhere. We climb into new plateaus of lakes and creeks and wild flowers. There are wild onions everywhere that are good to eat right out of the ground. We camped overlooking a waterfall and a lake and woke up to find a buck nibbling at our cooking equipment. We just watched it for a long time, curiously poking around our campsite. We were feeling much, much better by now and climbed up to the top of Muir Pass easily. There's a really cool rock hut at the top and we spent a while there hanging out with some fellow PCT hikers. The Sierra section of the PCT is also considered the JMT (John Muiir Trail). There are so many options for which towns people can resupply in, hot springs and resorts to hang out at, that PCT hikers leapfrog each other. People that we were hiking with for weeks prior could have chosen different town stops and everyone gets jumbled up. Most of the people we see out here are thru hiking the JMT so it was really nice to see familiar faces and people that have been through the same journey we've been through. It is starting to mean more and more. The next two passes after Muir were Selden and Silver, which were much smaller and easier. The JMT hikers start North to South and these are some of their first passes. PCT hikers do all of the high passes first, making their way North to the smaller passes as we exit the Sierras. The JMT hikers gradually work up to the higher passes as they head South. The people we met at these passes were just starting out with the passes as we were finishing them. They seemed exhausted as we were feeling rejuvenated and alive with the accomplishment. We made it to Red's Meadow General Store where the bus picks up hikers and tourists to take them into the town of Mammoth Lakes. It was a small reunion of PCT hikers and then we boarded the bus.

July 9, 2012
Hello from Clocktower Tavern in Mammoth. Setting out tonight. This weekend, we had the incredible luxury of staying at a condo owned by Brett's Uncle's friend. We didn't want to get our hopes up about it and when we left Bishop it was just a maybe, but you know it was all we thought about for three days of hiking before getting into town. What we would be able to cook. Movies we could rent. Popcorn and a fire. Soaking in a tub. Real beds. I feel like we still have to pinch ourselves to believe it was real. We had such an incredible time. Thank you Mark and Lawrence! We also had a great time with Brett's parents and the surprise that his brother, sister-in-law and brand new baby neice came up too. We really appreciate you guys making the long journey up. This was the most relaxing break we've had yet and it was so needed. It's hard to say goodbye to town and venture out to trail again, but we'll be in Tuolomne in a couple of days which is said to be one of the most incredible parts of trail. Then South Lake Tahoe soon soon soon. Can't wait!

Love to everyone. Happy birthday, Mom!

Mt. Whitney

We clambered all the way to the top of Mt. Whitney today! It's the tallest peak in the lower 48 at 14,505 feet. This is actually a side trip off of the PCT so we made our base camp at Guitar Lake about halfway up the back side of the mountain. At this point in the trip, the climb was...kind of easy. The hard part was that we were huffing and puffing for air, plus that I'm terribly afraid of heights and went wobbly a few times on the way up. That just added to the excitement and makes it impossible to forget that it's the highest peak. As we got closer to the top, it got colder and colder. We stopped to put jackets on and a man on his way down pointed out where the peak was. "Just above that snow patch." As we got closer, we started to see little figures moving around on the snow patch and realized that we'd be going right through it. On a steep, rocky mountainside. I tried to keep my mind calm, moving through rocky passes. A few times, the mountain would open up into a window view of Lone Pine, our previous town stop. Finally, it was our turn to make our way through the snow and the final ascent to the top. The snow has been walked through so much that it is actually melted down in the middle, creating a wall and security. This part was really fun and then, soon after, we could see the hut at the peak. It was really cold on top; especially for a sunny day. We hung out for a while behind a rock wind block and had lunch. There were tons of people up there and we chatted with a few, finding out all the ways people has come up and all the trails they were on. Some were day-hiking up from Whitney Portal. Some were thru hiking the John Muir Trail. Some had taken the technical route with a guide. When we started to get chilled, we headed back down, flying this time. As we got back to our base camp and Whitney was in the background, we started to get a little nostalgic about it. Now we can call Mt. Whitney our home as well as the PCT.

Forrester Pass

Before we started this adventure, my biggest fear about the trip was going over Forrester Pass. It's the highest pass we go over and it's only 1500 feet shorter than Mt. Whitney; which we climbed just yesterday. I saw this National Geographic special on the PCT that showed an aerial view of a girl struggling with every step, going straight up a wall of snow and ice. The view from the helicopter captures the sharp edge of the pass and you get vertigo just watching the view in the background blur as the shot pans. As the journey began and most hesitations laid to rest, I still had that image of Forrester on my mind. I watched the snow reports. Not sure if the rumors of a low snow year would turn out to be true. It wasn't until last week that we had confirmation that there was almost no snow on Forrester Pass. Today, we went up and over the pass and it was, by far, the best part of this entire trip so far. In fact, from the rocky switchbacks at the top, far ahead of us, Jacob yelled, "This beats Whitney for me!" It was funny because we had this dreaded image in our minds and in reality most of the day was spent laughing at Marmot antics so hard our stomachs hurt. Brett said, "No one ever mentioned that when they were talking about how hard Forrester was." We couldn't tell which one was Forrester Pass until right when we were crossing through it, which was kind of magical. At one point, we were pretty tired and looked straight up and saw an endless rock wall. Then, just as we were thinking we had a looooong way to go, we were there. The Sierras have been an entirely different experience than the rest of the trail and they definately start a brand new chapter in this story, but I think that climbing Forrester today brought the trail to life in a whole new way for all three of us. There is a definate reason John Muir and the rest fought to preserve this place. It's really, truly incredible and inspiring. It's like Disneyland for outdoors people. I've probably taken more pictures today than in the last two weeks. Tomorrow we're headed out over Kearsarge Pass to go to the town of Bishop. We'll eat, rest up, see a movie, sleep in real beds. And then, we can't wait to see what the rest of the Sierras have in store for us.

Forrester Pass

I spy...

The funniest Marmot we've ever met

The other side of Forrester Pass

Mt. Whitney

We're in the Sierras!

And it is absolutely breathtaking! In more ways than one, but we're having a great time. We're climbing Mt. Whitney in a couple of days. Woohoo!

Onward to the Sierras

Sitting here at a german bakery in Tehachapi. We made it to town last night after two days in the Mojave. When we left the HikerTown Hostel on Monday, we definately didn't expect to be huddling for warmth on our journey through the desert. The temps went from 95 to 45 with a sudden cold windstorm. Travelling through the desert was like an extreme sport, hopping up on burms and pushing with all of our strength through wind gusts. Tehachapi has been a great town stop. Every single person here has been so friendly. We had read in the guidebook that it was spread out and hard to get around so we weren't sure how it would turn out. When we got out of the mountains and to te road, chilled to the bone and windswept, we weren't looking forward to hitch hiking on a quiet highway. We stuck our thumbs out, smiled, and the first car picked us up. He said that his church had told the congregation about all of us and that we would be needing rides into town! We dropped our stuff at a motel and rushed out into the cold to find a restaurant that was still open. We were coming up empty when we came to The Village Grille that was closing up. They let us in anyway and stayed open long enough for us to enjoy real food--burgers and fries. This morning, when we were walking out to run our errands, a woman, Joy, and her two kids stopped at the corner to offer us a ride to wherever we needed to go. She left her number, insisting that we call her when we were ready to leave the store. After we finished our grocery shopping, we were standing outside of the store, chatting with some locals and getting ready to walk the miles to the edge of town. A man who worked at Albertson's, Frank, came up to join the conversation, he was a backpacker himself and knew all about the trail. He was just getting off shift and offered us a ride. He even stopped to pick up another fellow hiker on the way. In the bakery, we met Daniel, who fills a water cache on one of the dryer stretches of the trail. When he found out when we had gone through there, he was truly bummed that we had gotten there right before he had delivered a basket of green apples to the cache. Most of our posts are becoming about all of the trail magic we have received. It never ceases to surprise and humble us.

This is the last major desert section and then we are in the sierras. I can hardly believe that it's happening. Graduating to a new chapter of the trip. And no more desert! For a while, at least. Hesitations about this section from before we set out on this trip are long gone now. We can totally do this!

HikerTown

The recent days have been like a tour of trail angel stops and HikerTown Hostel is the last one until the Sierras. Our plan was to spend a little bit of time at the hostel during the heat of the day and night-hike through the Mojave Desert section to Tehachapi. We could hardly believe it when we checked the weather and it was expected to go from 95+ to 75. It was a pretty huge relief to know that we could relax, hang out with hikers, and not have to come up with some elaborate sleep schedule to work around the heat. HikerTown had a lot more to offer than I had imagined and we've had a really nice time here. The nearby market was even picking up hikers. We had fresh deli sandwiches and were able to replenish the snacks we find ourselves burning through; faster and faster as our "hiker hunger" grows. Tomorrow, we head out through the dreaded Mojave, feeling blessed with good timing.

Casa de Luna-tics, mile 480

The 24 miles from The Saufley's to The Anderson's are infamous. There is a challenge, taken from a similar 24 mile stretch on the Appalachian Trail, where you have to carry 24 beers, 24 miles, 24 hours. You can drink them all or pass some off to hikers you see along the path. We heard stories of a few people taking on the challenge during the time we were making the journey, passing out under trees, et cetera. We didn't do the challenge, but we definately passed out under a few bushes. It was brutally hot and it seemed like the whole day was spent going from bush to bush, shade to shade, nap to nap. We were in the middle of one such nap, planning on going just a bit further and finishing the trek to The Anderson's in the morning, when who should come down the trail but Ms. Teri Anderson herself. We hadn't heard much about what Casa de Luna was like, but the woman before us had a huge presence and a pink mohawk. We jumped up, half asleep, offering to help carry the water jugs she was resupplying. She just said "I don't need help, but I do need a hug!" And she gave us each, sweaty and sleepy, a huge bear hug. "See you there! Come by any hour, we'll be up. Oh yeah, there's also a surprise for you a little ways up. You'll dig it!" And then we were left there, stunned, in the hot trail, and we couldn't wait to get there. We hightailed it out of there as fast as we could into the setting sun. We made it to the surprise as it was getting dark. A hollow in some oaks, decorated as a haunted house. Skeletons with sunglasses hanging from the trees and, in the middle, a fresh supply of water, soda, and beer (to Brett's delight). We hiked into the night, happy to not be hiking in the heat. We got to the road into town around 10pm. And decided to walk the two miles down the road to the house. A man out in his yard gave us slurred directions to the house between sips of beer, but we had nothing else to go off of and found ourselves winding through neighborhood streets all with strikingly similar names. Before long, we felt like we had seen the entire neighborhood, discovered both town markets, a diner, and an empty ranger station, without any sign of the famous Casa de Luna. We were about to curl up on the sidewalk, when a local kid drove by, we waved home down, and he told us that he could sometimes get cell service on one square of sidewalk next to the liquor store. Sure enough, we got service, got through to the house on the first ring, and got directions. A few minutes later, and we were on the front porch of Casa de Luna, 1am, just as the last delirious partiers were settling down to bed; limbs in every direction. We got some half-coherent info from one of the hikers setting up his bed on one of the couches out front. Apparently, we had just missed chocolate syrup wrestling, Joe would be making pancakes in the morning, we could camp in the Manzanita garden out back, and please shut the gate. And then he passed out in a heap on the couch. We made it about 3 feet into the garden, threw down our packs, and flopped onto the ground. This was our longest day, 30 miles altogether. We slept in and then had a very nice day of relaxing on the front porch with a ton of hikers. Casa de Luna is funny because it is such a vortex that we met people who had been there for weeks. It is known as the party house, but we found it to be a great place for mental rest. Spending time with good company. Feeling that there was nowhere else we needed or wanted to be. Most of the challenge with a trip like this is mental. Your body can do the work, but the number of miles you can do is all based on how you feel mentally. It's good to know that we're capable of doing a 30 mile day.

The Saufley's

We're here at the long-awaited Hiker Heaven; also known as the Saufley's home. To get here, we went through some incredible scenery in Vasquez Rocks. The rock structures are so wacky, you half expect dinosaurs to step out from behind them. This is where The Flintstones Movie was filmed and you can even see where they cleared the plants for their filming equipment. The trail turns into a long road-walk coming out of Vasquez Rocks and into the town of Agua Dulce. We got a few snacks and went to the local pizza place before heading up to the Saufley's home. The first thing you notice when you walk through the gate, is how incredibly efficient and organized they are. The garage is organized like a polling place. A bulletin board with an intro, procedures, and updated trail information. There are white tents with comfy cots set up. Bikes to rent for trips into town. Amazingly, a trailer for the hikers to make their breakfast and fresh coffee in, sit on the couch, and feel at home. The thing that we have most appreciated is that they practically have a post office operating in their garage and we were able to spend some time to redistribute our packages. Tomorrow, we head out to another trail angel home at the Anderson's, AKA Casa de Luna.

Mile 400

After an unexpectedly cold, drizzly, and windy day, we are camped on the floor
of a vacant boy scout's camp with nine other hikers. It's so cozy. I have no idea whether or not we are supposed to be here, but I am hoping that the boy scouts won't be too harsh on us considering the weather. We just passed mile 400! We haven't written in a while. Every day has so many twists and turns, it's hard to convey or even remember the details. We have had some challenges, as was expected. We've also had a lot of beautiful experiences. The day we left Big Bear, we decided to relax until the hostel shuttle headed back to the trail. It didn't end up being until 2pm so we got a pretty late start, but were grateful for breathtaking sunset and a great camp spot overlooking all of Big Bear Lake. Over the next days, we went through pine forest, burn area, desert, a reprieve from the heat at Silverwood Lake, more desert, and up to the mountains again. Some days have seemed very slow going. Stopping every few minutes for shade or rest. Other days, we can tell that we're getting stronger. Some highlights since leaving Big Bear: lounging around in Deep Creek near where my family used to go camping at Crab Flats. Getting to the Deep Creek Hot Springs on a busy weekend, being creeped out by naked old men doing yoga, and passing it up completely. Hopefully, to come back on a less busy day. Going to Korean BBQ near Silverwood Lake with Brett's parents. Being in the middle of nowhere and being able to smell McDonald's in the distance. Running through the hills to get to it and emerging from the wilderness to find a McDonald's standing there. Camping perched high above the train tracks and being able to watch (and hear!) them go through the canyon all night. Deciding not to take the first unofficial Poodle Dog Bush detour because a few people told us it "wasn't that bad," only to find that it really was "that bad" and backtracking to the detour. Staying at a vacant

Methodist Youth Camp in Wrightwood. Taking our first hitch out of Wrightwood. Climbing to the peak of Mt. Baden-Powell on a beautiful day and heading back down it in a windy rainy cloud. Finding that there is so much more to this journey than the physical tasks of walking, eating, and sleeping. Slowing down and finding a spirituality in all of this. And that brings us to the present. We'll try to keep up with this more from now on.

Big Bear-Mile 266

We're getting ready to leave the Big Bear Hostel. What a relaxing couple of days. The owner of the hostel, Grayson, actually picked everyone up from the trail. One of the reasons we decided to stay there. He said it was his mom's station wagon from '92 repurposed into the company shuttle and gave a little tour of Big Bear on the way. How awesome. Everyone here is a snowboard bum working their way through the summer. This may be the last bit of SoCal culture we see for a while. We got to the hostel at 9:30am and the house was PACKED with "hiker trash", as one of the guys that works here loves to refer to us as. It's nice when we get to a town and everyone we've met along the way is all together, hanging out. Mostly it's been nice to be under a roof, relaxing, having good conversation. Someone mentioned that they have a new appreciation for VHS tapes and it's true. It's the weirdest thing. The crackle and static, people laying around watching movies we watched as kids. The hostel workers listening to classic rock. The slam of a door. The crackle of butter sautéing in a pan. The smell of the dryer going and fresh sheets. The simple things that remind us of home, but we would never appreciate them if weren't out here. Everyone's getting into the groove of this journey. The reality of what we're doing is becoming more and more clear. I hear a lot of people saying "we just walked here from mexico!" In the beginning, people were rushing to be ahead or to not get behind their friends. Now everyone's loosening up, starting to go their own pace, meet new people, and make a life out of this journey.
It's unbelievable how much food we've eaten while here. We had a lot of good cooks, and an awesome gourmet chef, in the house and we made good use of the kitchen at the hostel. I think everyone appreciated being able to sit around a table together, eat fresh food, and use real utensils. The night we arrived, everyone chipped in and both kitchens were making massive amounts of food. Pasta, salad, and lasagna. We had a nice time at the local sports bar, filling half of the place. For breakfast yesterday, Brett and I made steak, eggs, and an entire loaf of French toast. We used 14 eggs for one meal! And ate it like it was nothing. Pizza in town with a few other hikers and then straight back to the house to make Tri Tip for everyone. Breakfast this morning at Grizzly Manor Cafe with the biggest portions I've ever seen. Pancakes twice the size of the plate. Mmmm. Enough talk of food, but I'm gonna miss it!


There's always a lot of talk about "the vortex." Not wanting to leave the comforts of town. We definitely felt that, but today I can't wait to get back on trail. We're on our way to Wrightwood, with a stop at the famous Cajon Pass McDonald's. It's practically on trail and there's even a trail marker for it. After Wrightwood, we're headed to Agua Dulce and Hiker Heaven at the Saufley's. We have a couple of friends joining the adventure there. Can't wait!

Mile 227

Woke up at Ziggy and the Bear's to people shimmying out of their sleeping bags, still dark out. Rushing around, getting ready to leave. We hung around a little while to enjoy the trail magic. Ziggy and some volunteers were up early to make coffee, orange juice, and oatmeal for everyone. At home, I would have stayed there the rest of the day, cleaning up and helping out. It's weird to use the facility, eat the food, enjoy the company, and just take off in the morning. It is what they expect though. You have to get moving early to beat the desert heat. I always ponder what motivates people to become trail angels. To devote so much to it. Did the trail give them so much that they felt they needed to pay it forward? Will we feel that way at some point? Anyway, we left the house around 7:30 and it was already burning hot outside. We hiked 8 miles to the creek and realized that there was no shade for miles. We made the last-minute decision to take a side trail to Whitewater Preserve. It's a picnic area outside of Palm Springs with wading pools, grass, bathrooms with sinks!, and a huge room with air conditioning. There was a boy scout group, families, a reunion, an engagement party...it was kind of a culture shock. This is all out here? In the middle I nowhere!? We got over it when we were able to clean up and cool off. We spent the rest of the day there and headed out at sunset to hike the last 8 miles before bed. The hike at twilight was so beautiful and so much easier without the heat. The ranger at Whitewater told us that it's supposed to be 105 in the desert tomorrow so we're getting up at 4am to make it up to the trees before the sun beats down. We're learning how to hike our own hike and enjoy it.

What Day Is It Again?

We're back on trail now after welcoming a new neice to the family. The first couple of days back were slow. Half of one was spent doing town errands. The second day back, I wasn't feeling well and needed sleep so we didn't get many miles in that day either. It was worth it though. Today we hiked from San Jacinto down to the desert. A long, slow descent down the mountain in full sun. Somehow, though, I enjoyed it completely. Coming into the desert was so strange. We kept coming to things thinking they were mirages, wiping the sand from our eyes, only to find they were real. At the bottom of the mountain, we came to a water fountain in the middle of the desert, surrounded by tired and sunburnt hikers. A mile further, we came to a port-a-potty with a sink. Then a mile or two further, under the I10, our friend from Palomar College was trail-angelling; giving out twinkies and cold sodas. It was especially nice to see a familiar face today. We also found out that, by some estimates, there might be as many 750 hikers this year. It is usually 300-500. The trail angels are so amazing, I can't even begin to express. We are now camped at Ziggy and The Bear's home with about 15 other smelly hikers. It's been such a nice oasis in the desert. This stretch probably would have felt very lonely without the trail angels today. They fed everyone salad and huge bowls of ice cream (Memories of the ice cream man as a kid had been going through my head all day). They had Epsom foot soaks for everyone. Hot water, candy bars, cold drinks, fruit, blister supplies, stories, jokes. Now everyone's sleeping under a roof (a tarp) and it almost feels like a living room. We'll be in Big Bear next. Love, Brett and Dana

First Zero Day

Yesterday was our 11th day on trail. We got to Idyllwild yesterday afternoon--a 12 mile day, including some non-pct miles coming down the mountain. It was cinco de mayo and we were greeted at the base of the mountain by super nice former pct hikers. They offered us beer and a ride to the campground in town. I couldn't think of anything but a hot shower. Our phone died and we hadn't been able to get a hold of anyone, but found out that Brett's parents were already in town. It's been really nice to have the rest. I've been daydreaming about the time to stop and rest my eyes for a few days. The past two days of the hike have been the hardest. Up and across all of the mountains from Paradise Valley Cafe to Idyllwild. A short drive, but a loooooonnnng walk. It's kind of weird in town though, because I'm so exhausted I can't concentrate on what needs to be done. This morning was so nice. We went to a place called The Little Chef in the Forest that was very homey and relaxing and yummy. Probably not the best place for rowdy hikers, but for a few quiet, well-bathed hikers, it's a very relaxing place to go. After breakfast, we went to Brett's parents cabin and found out that we have a niece on the way today! We had been planning on getting off trail sometime in the next week for this, but were happily surprised that it happened today. So now, we're headed to LA. Not sure what will happen after that, but we should be back on trail in the next couple of days.