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Day 1: May 21

Wow, Day 1. Strange. The butterflies in my stomach are pretty much gone now, but it is strange to be starting such a long trip. I am writing now where I've made my camp on a flat on the Southern side of a ridge. I don't know exactly how far I have gone today, but I'll figure it out more accurately tomorrow. I'd guess about 8 miles, hiking since about 4pm today.

I got picked up at the airport by Jeff Eckert. He helped me out so much today I can't even fathom how to repay him. He took me from the airport to a store where I got stove fuel, took me to pick up Gatorade, and took me to get lunch. Then he drove me to an intersection in the trail & helped me cache the water. Then he drove me to the PCT monument at the border, and took my photo by it and had me stick my foot into Mexico for another picture (apparently that's some tradition with PCT hikers). All the while, Jeff kept trying to refuse compensation. He finally let me pay for gas, but it took some coercion. He's just a great guy. I like the PCT community- everyone is amazingly hospitable.

I saw Brian Gard's signature on the register. He worked at REI Sacramento & did a North -South thru-hike in '98. He finished in December! More hard-core than I am!

There were border patrol agents all over here, doing training where they'd chase after each other. Very entertaining.

I saw lots of wildlife today: Rabbits, lizards, hawks, and a small snake (tan w/ a dark head). It's dry & a little barren, but still pretty in it's own right. Still, I can see city lights from here & even cars moving, so I'm waiting for real wilderness.

It's 9:30 now & I am writing by my photon micro light which I velcroed to my hat bill to use as a headlamp. It works really well. But it is attracting these strange little flying beetles, so I think I'll end now & go to sleep. Before I go, I'll mention the water situation. It's about 20 dry miles from the border to Lake Morena, so I'm carrying a lot of water, so far it's been fine though. Still have plenty of water left.

The stars out here are incredible! The sky has a bizarre reddish tint, but I can still see so many in all directions. They're bright & I can even discern different colors from them. I think I watch them now for a bit. G'nite! Top

Day 2, May 22nd

I write this from Hauser Creek, 15.7 miles into the Journey. The creek is, of course, completely dry (not even any damp soil). It's about 1pm and in the shade of the oak tree I'm sitting under, I'd guess it's about 95 degrees. In the sun, I don't even want to guess. Luckily Jeff gave me a mylar covered umbrella which I've been using out here. He came through in so many ways, it's unbelievable. It's about 5 miles to Lake Morena, my next water source, and I've got a bit under 4 liters left. Even thought the trail is a brutal exposed climb to get to Morena, that's more than enough water. I can tell I am dehydrated, though, so I will have to drink lots of water at Morena, after I finish the 4 liters en route. For now, I'm waiting for it to cool down a bit before I start the climb. Yesterday I hiked 7 miles, which left more for today than I really would have liked. I haven't yet decided if I will stay at Lake Morena, or go on. We'll see. I saw lots more Lizards and Rabbits today, along with lots of hummingbirds. Overall an all right hiking day thus far, but hot!

8pm- Okay, I'm a weakling. I got into Lake Morena about 5pm & then grabbed a double cheeseburger (mmmm) at the malt shop down the street. I then paid $2 for a camping spot & a chance to shower (which I did, of course). Now I'm about to retire. I noticed the names of the couple that started early in the morning yesterday, Amy and Scott Rigby. They made it here last night! That means I'm a full day behind them and it looks unlikely that I be able to catch them anytime soon. Maybe in a week or so. I'm inclined to hit the trail by 4:30am or so tomorrow & get in some serious miles before it gets hot, but the diner opens at 6 and it'd be nice to get breakfast there, rather than eat backpacking food. We'll see. G'nite! Top

Day 3, May 23nd Mile 32.8
 
 

Interesting day today. I got up at 5, packed, and went to the Lake Morena Malt Shop. I ordered two breakfasts, and ate them in about ten minutes. Then I hit the trail and hiked till I got to Barrel Springs Campground. There I started boiling water to make lunch. Then my stove self destructed, with one of its legs cracking in several places. I checked at what used to be a little store at the campground for a phone & I called Coleman (who makes Peak 1 stoves). They are sending me replacement parts to Mt. Laguna, but they won't be there till the day after tomorrow, and I expect to be there tomorrow. So, I'll have to wait. It's bad because it makes it hard for me to get out in time for my sister's graduation, and basically impossible for me to catch the Rigby's. I could, however, use the rest.

The weather was cooler today, and I didn't hike that far, but I'm exhausted and sore. Now I'm camped a little ways from Cibbets Flat campground, off Fred Canyon dirt road. It's a necessary detour of about a mile to get water. I'm gonna eat what I have in the way of food that doesn't need to be cooked, then go to bed and get and early start tomorrow Top

Day 4, May 24th (at Mt Laguna, Mile 42.9)

Interesting day. It started out hot, then I kept climbing until I reached actual forest- with pine trees. No more desert and chaparral. For today anyway. I was enjoying the sights & smells of forest, and then out of nowhere I got a nosebleed. It was one of the worst I've had in years. It took me over an hour to get it under control. I finally did, and resumed hiking until I got to a picnic ground, where I washed up then came into town. I bought a whole bunch of junk food at a tiny store here (they have no restaurants) and then got a piece of great news. The parts to my stove are here already. That means I should be able to get underway tomorrow morning! Gotta get this to the post office before it closes. You'll hear from me again from Warner Springs. Top

Day 5, May 25, Mile 59.2

Wow, what an insane day. I have to say its my best so far- really exciting. Got a late start this morning and came across a little piece of paper on the trail. It was a note from another PCT hiker (or 2) from Friday, May 12 th. There appeared to be 2 types of handwriting on it. One was used for most of the letter, then there was a second signature, and a crossed out and changed date for the other set of handwriting. It started out with a fanciful attempt at lyrical prose addressed simply to "you", suggesting that "you" understand "my" poetry unlike others, etc. Anyway, it went on a made reference to sore feet & a strained achilles tendon, but said the writer was getting stronger with every step - covering 20 miles w/ every 10 hours. It was signed with something illegible, perhaps begging with "S""T". I wonder if it said "step" like a trailname (Lots of thru-hikers have trailnames. The tradition started on the Appalachian Trail. Mine is "shotgun"). The second signature said "Jennifer". Anyway, I'm curious to see if I ever catch up to whoever wrote it- I thought it was cute, so I left it where I found it for the next hiker to find.

A few hours later I came across my first rattlesnake, which made me really happy b/c I was beginning to worry that I might not get to see one. It was about 3ft. long and warned me with a loud buzz when I was 7 or 8 ft. away. I wanted to get a photo, but with me slowly backing away, the snake had time to slither up and away. He was colored much darker than I expected. He continued buzzing a long time after I went past and walked down the trail.

That brings me to tonight. I spent the last few hours walking through clouds and a monstrous wind. Now I have my tarp set up on an exposed ridge (nowhere else was there an open spot) with the wind going like mad. Its strong enough to move me around when I'm outside. My little tarp, which I made myself, is getting a huge test right now. We'll see how it does. I go back down into desert tomorrow, so hopefully this storm up here will make it cool down there. G'nite! Top

Day 6, May 26th, Mile 72.1

Before I forget- strange thing about yesterday's storm. I went out to reposition a stake, and I was surrounded by clouds and wicked wind, but could see tons of stars in a gorgeous night sky directly above me. Strange. Tarp worked great. Anyway it cleared up, and today was pretty hot. I was lazy again and got a late start so my mileage in the morning wasn't impressive. Then I got to Chariot Canyon and had to make a 3 & 1/2 mile detour to get water. I wasted way too much time doing that and lying around in the heat, so my mileage was lame. Tomorrow I aim to get up by 4am so I can make serious mileage before it gets too hot. Another loooong waterless stretch to come. The highlight of my day was my dinner that I'm eating now. Quinoa pasta & cheese. Just a chunk of cheese dropped in the water, w/ powdered milk & freeze dried broccoli. Sounds nasty, but its good. G'nite! Top

Day 7, May 27, Mile 91.7

What a hellacious day. Hit the trail about 5:30am. By about 6am it was about 85 degrees outside, I'd guess. Just got hotter from there. I hit the water cache at Scissors Crossing fine, then started the looooong 12 or so miles in the San Felipe Hills to another water cache at the third gate. The trail was entirely exposed to the sun the whole time- with literally no shade anywhere. Only knee-high shrubs. I had a mylar umbrella that Jeff gave me, which helped a lot. He's helped me out in so many ways! I was painfully thirsty by the time I got to the water cache, and am camped only a few yards away. Like last night there is not a cloud in the sky, and at 9pm its still in the low 80's. never drops below 65 at night. Hopefully I'll get an early start and hit the trail by 4:30am tomorrow. If I push, I might make it to Warner Springs by nightfall. Top

Days 8 & 9, May 28 & 29, Mile 110.6

I rose about 3:30am on the 28th, packed, and hit the trail early. I hoped to get some serious mileage in before it got too hot. A little before 6 am I rounded a corner and saw this orangish-pink colored snake curled up tightly in the middle of the trail. It had a diamond shaped head, so I thought it might be a rattlesnake, but I had never heard of one being that color, and its tail was hidden, wrapped up underneath it. I tried jumping up and down to get it to move, then tapping the ground with my hiking pole, not 2 inches from it. Still, it didn't move. I took some photos of it, then climbed up some rocks above the trail to move around it, out of striking distance. I got to the trail on the other side of it, and was about to take another photo when it decided it was annoyed and quickly slithered into the bushes. That’s when I saw its tail- yep, a rattlesnake. About 31/2 ft long. It was white colored just before it's rattle, too. Strange looking snake.

I ended up making it to Barrel Springs by 10:45am, and took a long lunch. Then I walked through 9 miles of pretty exposed desert with dry short grass and no trees. For 2 or 3 miles of this I was inundated by little tan grasshoppers. There were literally millions (no exaggeration) of them in the grass, and as I'd walk by they would all jump, so there would be this little storm of them flying around me, bouncing off my legs and chest. If I stopped walking they all stopped jumping, and blended in with the grass so you couldn't see them. Then when I'd start walking they'd all start jumping again. Really bizarre.

I managed to roll into the fire station at Warner Springs at about 6. It was totally vacant, but there was a hiker registry that said I could get water around back. I washed some clothes and hung them on a clothes line they had up. Then I left a note for them & walked into town to use the phone. After talking to my Dad I learned that the following day was Memorial Day. (I had no idea) and so I couldn't get my resupply package till Tues. After that call I figured out the firemen were having a benefit for the volunteer firefighters, and had an all you can eat steak, chicken, hamburger plate for 10 bucks, but I missed it by about 10 minutes. Grrr. So I walked back, got on the trail for a few yards, and camped.

That brings me to this morning. I met 2 of the firemen here named Shane and Curtis. They're awesome. I've been talking to them a lot, they have a hose/shower thing set up so I could clean myself off. OH--Curtis just handed me a giant sandwich he made for me, and an ice cold Gatorade!! (which I proceeded to drip all over these pages). Anyway, these guys are awesome.

That's about it for me for now. I'm going to lounge around here until I can get my package from the post office tomorrow. Then on to Kamp Anza & Idyllwild. Top

Summary of Section A

Reaching Warner Springs finished section A (for those unfamiliar, the PCT guidebooks are divided into sections; A, B, C, etc. "A" went from the border to Warner Springs. Here are general thoughts about these last few days:

Day 10, May 30, Mile 123.7

The people at the fire crew station at Warner Springs were awesome. After the sandwich and Gatorade Curtis gave me, Shane later gave me a Coke, and then I hung out and watched TV with them for a while. Unfortunately, they were pretty much the only redeeming thing about the town. The whole thing is basically a private resort with the hot springs and a golf course. Everyone there is either retired and rich, or visiting the resort and rich, and they have that snobby attitude. So, after getting my resupply package and talking to the Rigby's on the phone at Kamp Anza, I packed up and headed out about 12:30.

After hiking a little over a mile I came to a little backcountry camping ground owned by the resort. I stopped to rest for a second, and went to throw a wrapper away in the metal garage cans they had there when I noticed a little gray and white rattle snake stretched out by the garbage cans. He was a hair over a foot long and really thin. I went to grab my camera, and just then this guy in a straw cowboy hat comes riding up this tiny dirt road in a golf cart to pick up the garbage. He parked it about 2 feet away from the snake, and I warned him it was there. His English wasn't very good, but he said something like "Oh, a rattler." I was afraid he was going to kill it, but he completely ignored it , and thought nothing of going about his business just inches from the snake. He'd pickup the garbage can the snake was trying to cower behind, the snake would look scared and helpless, and muster its best rattle, then it would quickly slither to the next garbage can, only to have the process repeat again. I felt really sorry for the poor thing. Eventually it ended up cowered underneath a bag of bottles (which the guy left alone) curled in a tight little ball that looked like a chunk of granite. I was kind of angry that the stupid guy in the golf cart ruined my photo, but realized later that there was something darkly comical about him barreling into the wilderness in a golf cart to disturb things.

Later the trail continued to climb, and eventually made it to forest!!, with pine trees!! I hadn't seen pine trees in a while, and I like them a lot, so I was happy. The temperature was cooler and the sun was going down, and the scene was gorgeous. It was the first time I'd come across views worthy of me bracketing exposures on my camera. I really have nothing but pity for people who never get to experience sights like that, during the sunset. I felt so good that I didn't want to stop hiking. So I didn't … at least until after 9pm when It got pitch black outside. I was on a ridge and there were no flat areas to camp, so I just stopped at the next level part of the trail I came across and camped right there, literally on the trail. All in all, good day. Top

Day 11, May 31, Mile 144.8 (+5.1 mile detour to Kamp Anza)

That's right, over 26 miles today. And afterwards it felt like I'd hiked that far, too. I got a late start and hit the trail at about 7am. A couple hours later another hiker came up behind me! His name was Rob and he was an older man with a big gray beard and bright blue eyes. He was hiking form the border to Big Bear City, and he didn't have the PCT guidebook nor did he know about the water stashes left by trail angels along parts of the trail. To not have those resources to specify where water was is mind-boggling. Somehow he made it, though. Luckily he skipped the San Felipe hills after Scissors Crossing. Wise move. He used to be a pro bike racing coach, so we talked about that, and lots about backpacking. He had a nasty blister on his little toe of his right foot, so I gave him some 2nd Skin, but I think its chronic so he'll have to get new footwear. After a few miles together, we parted ways, and I headed up to a jeep road that led into Anza (Terwilliger) to Kamp Anza. After walking a loooong way I finally hit the jeep road at about 8pm. It started getting dark, and I walked 1 mile, then two, then 5.1 miles down various roads that seemed much too long for me until I reached Kamp Anza at about 9:45, completely exhausted. I found a pay phone and called Paul.

There is a site at Kamp Anza owned by Paul and Pat nicknamed "The Hiker's Oasis." There they let you camp out in the yard, and feed you , and drive you to the store, and feed you more, and you can use the laundry and showers of the camp. Paul came and picked me up in his electric golf cart nicknamed the "hiker-mobile" (it has PETA stickers on it, and it is parked in a spot with a sign that says "reserved for hiker mobile"). Even arriving that late. Pat made me up some grilled ham & cheese sandwiches (sooo good), made sure I was all set up, and let me crash in the yard. Paul & Pat are so hospitable it's amazing! They don't even ask for any money, but I'm gonna leave them some anyway. Hard day, but ended on a high note. Top

Day 12, June 1st, ~Mile 154

I woke up at about 7:30, and went to take a shower, which I drove to in the hiker mobile despite it only being about 30 yards down the road. Yay for laziness!! The shower was extraordinary- It felt really great to be clean. I returned to Paul & Pat's, and Pat had made waffles, and they kept giving me more, so I ate 5 or so. It was a great big breakfast. Paul then drove me to the store in Anza where I got a little extra food so I can make it to the highway, where I will hitch-hike to Palm Springs, without stopping in Idyllwild first. We came back, I did my laundry, and then Pat made grilled Tuna fish sandwiches for us. Eventually, Paul drove me back to where I got off the trail. Anyway, let me just say that Paul and Pat are awesome, as is the Hiker's Oasis.

Paul had told me it was about 5 miles from where I got back on the trail to Hwy 74, where he stashed water. I kept hiking and kept thinking that I must be hiking awfully slow because it seemed like it was taking a long time to get to the Hwy. I did see 2 snakes enroute though. Neither of them rattlesnakes, and I got a picture of 1. Eventually I made it to the Hwy and checked my watch to find it was 8PM! Then I checked the databook and found out that I'd gone over 9 miles, after I hit the trail a little after 4PM, so I didn't feel so bad. I found a little wash w/sandy flat spots through some bushes that I had to physically force my way through from the trail (only to find an opening in the bushes only a few yards further down the trail) and am going to sleep looking at the stars and listening to coyotes howl. Top

Day 13, June 2nd, Mile 167

I didn't get much mileage in today. One word: Wind. Never in my life have I been manhandled by wind like I was today. The day started ok- relatively unexciting. I had to go two miles out of my way for water, and enroute, I turned a corner, and there were 4 cows staring at me. Sounds fine, right? They were bulls, with big intimidating, sharp looking horns. Luckily, they bolted when I tried to walk forward and say nice things to them. I went & got water from a spring that lots of hummingbirds were drinking at (I like hummingbirds) then going back to rejoin the trail, I encountered the bulls again. They ran away for a bit, then all tuned and stared me down. I kept moving closer but they just stared. Eventually I got close and yelled, and they ran off through the bush, like nothing was in their way.

Then I got onto a ridge for several miles. Bright and sunny- not a cloud in the sky. But the wind would shove me 6 or 7 feet off the trail at times. I couldn't even plant my trekking pole where I wanted to, it was blowing so strong. It had knocked over nearly all the trail signs, so everytime I got to a trail junction I had to get out my map (holding on very tightly), which complicated matters. Now I am camped in the most protected spot I could find, which isn't very protected. I have every heavy item in my pack at the 4 corners of my groundcloth. I should be all right, though. Shotgun signing off for the night. Top

Day 14, June 3rd, Mile 178

I left my windy campsite for the previous night and started hiking a little before 7am. My next place to get water was Apache Spring, which I didn't reach till noon, despite it being only 6 miles away. The trail just kept climbing. I got my water and had a big brunch, then started hiking again. The trail kept climbing and climbing. It was pretty, and the temperature was much easier to handle than on other parts of the trip, but the trail took me up way past 8000', and I was working pretty hard and not going very fast. By 6pm I still had not reached the junction which goes down into Idyllwild. I checked the map and made the realization that I would have about 30 miles of rough uphill climbing to over 9000', and then what is supposed to be a brutal decent down to Interstate 10, where ideally I wanted to hitchhike into Palm Springs from. I had to have two extra days (i.e. be 2 days ahead of schedule) to make it by when I needed, to catch my plane home for my sister's graduation. I lost one of those days when I got stuck in Warner Springs on Memorial Day. I hoped to make it up since then. I couldn't. So, I decided there was no way I'd make it to I-10 early enough to feel comfortable getting someone to stop to drive me to Palm Springs, so I decided I'd come out at Idyllwild and figure out a way from Idyllwild to Palm Springs.

I camped in a place about 1/2 mile off the trail called Tahquize Valley, which was full of weekend hikers. I got to talking to one, and she agreed to give me a ride into Palm Springs. Yay! Then I made a late supper and now am going to sleep. Top

Day 15, June 4th, Mile 180 (+ detour to Idyllwild)

Logistics are not working my way. I woke up at about 5:30am this morning, and decided to sleep a while longer and set my watch alarm for 6:30. I somehow slept through that and woke up at about 7:15. I leisurely got things on the way to being packed up, and at about 8:30 I went up to where the woman who agreed to give me a ride was camped, and found her gone! I hurriedly packed my things up and stretched out, then set off down the trail, going at breakneck speed trying to catch her (hoping she'd not seen my camp & thought I had already left, then hit the trail to find me). I got down to the end of the side trail (which is going to be a semi-brutal climb getting back up), but didn’t see her there. I waited 2 hours there hoping somehow I'd passed her or something, but she didn’t come down. Finally I gave up and walked the 3 miles on the road into Idyllwild. Once here I asked around and discovered there is no bus service or taxi service in this town, so the only way to get to Palm Springs is to hitch-hike, which is not an easy task from here. I'm camping at a little state campground, and am going to try to get a ride tomorrow morning. The Rangers here were nice enough to give me a big piece of paper so I was able to make a sign which reads "PCT hiker to Palm Springs". Hopefully it'll work. I was surprised to find that they have a tiny movie theater in this town, so I'm going to go see the Mission Impossible movie (the only movie playing, I think) and hope it's damn good so as to brighten what has otherwise been a frustrating day. Hopefully my backpack will be safe here while I'm gone. By the way, having to take the detour to Idyllwild, and then the hassle of transportation to/from Palm Springs, will probably put me 1 to 2 days behind schedule by the time I roll into Big Bear City. I hope to make that up, and then some, within a week or 2. I want to be at least 4 days ahead of schedule by the time I get to Mt. Whitney (Independence). We'll see if I can pull it off. It'll be hard. That's why I'm doing this hike, though, right? For the challenge. I'll just keep telling myself that. J

No more hiking until the night of the 8th or the 9th , since I'm going home for my sister's graduation, so….here's Shotgun signing off for a few days!

Oh, one piece of good news to tack on- when I was about to head to go see the movie (which turned out to be decidedly mediocre) I stopped by to ask this couple that were camped a few sites down if they could watch my backpack as I went to the movie. I talked with them briefly and it turned out that they were driving through Palm Springs the next day! They offered to give me a ride! After the movie I went back to their site to get my backpack, and talked with them for over and hour. Their names are Yde and Nancy and they are originally from Holland, just visiting here for a couple years because Yde has a job with a tech firm which has its U.S. headquarters in Tempe, AZ. I talked with them for a long time about life in Holland, and how it compares with the U.S., and the different social systems, etc. They're very nice and interesting people. I finally went to sleep, got up the next morning early, showered, went and got breakfast, and did some laundry then met Yde and Nancy at 9, and they drove me to Palm Springs. They wouldn't accept any gas money or anything when I got here either. Great people

Anyway, I managed to get myself stuck for the night at a dirty and seedy motel, but I survived, and got picked up this morning (6th) by an airport shuttle. The driver fairly bluntly asked me if I believed in God (because God would have to be watching out for me in order for me to be safe on my backpacking trip), and when I said no he rambled on about how wrong I was. He wasn't intelligent enough to engage in an argument about it (he tried to tell me that all physical matter in the universe was just "frozen light", and this somehow meant that there was a God--he also invoked the ever-popular argument from design) so I just endured it. Needless to say, no tip for him.

Now I'm in the totally empty terminal at the Palm Springs Airport, still with an hour to go before I board the plane. Till Thursday! -Chris Top
 
 

Day 16, June 9th, Mile 186.4 (+ ~5 miles to get back to PCT itself)

First, a little something about the last few days: I got into the San Francisco Airport on Tues, the 6th, and there at the airport waiting for me with my Dad were my friends Michelle, Eric, and Chris from the debate team, and Michelle's friend Sinoeun! It was incredible getting such a warm welcome, and we all went out to lunch. It was so nice coming home to that - I have great friends. Anyway, the next day I tried to buy a new backpack but was unsuccessful b/c the stores in Sacramento had sold out of the ones I wanted to look at, so I'm stuck with the same one for a while. Later that day I attended my sister's graduation, which was nice. She was a Valedictorian- smarter than I am! I did run into some high school friends I hadn't seen in 4 or 5 years, so that was nice. The rest of the day I spent scrambling to get ready to hit the trail again. I had my brother shave my head, so now I'm sporting an ugly, but more comfortable buzz cut. All said and done, I got about an hour of sleep. After my nap, I got back to SF, and flew back to Palm Springs. From there I took a bus to Hwy 74, and walked a few miles until a good samaritan picked me up and drove me to a campsite far along 74. The next morning I hitched a ride with a man who hiked the AT in '84 (which is why he picked me up- he knew what it was like trying to hitch rides during a long hike). He drove me back to Idyllwild where I had a big breakfast, and then walked to the trailhead (although someone else gave me a ride the last mile).

From there on I hiked up, and up, and up, and with my late start and the elevation I made very poor mileage. But the scenery is pretty, and the temperature good. In fact, it looks like it may be a very cold night. I'm off to sleep now! Top

Day 17, June 10th, Mile ~ 205

When I got up this morning it was really really cold. It took everything I could muster just to pump water & make breakfast. I left with a full load (8 liters) of water, hoping to make it to the next source (22 miles away) without making a detour to get more. It was slow going at first, but once it warmed up I started moving a little faster. Eventually I ran into these other hikers who were heading to Idyllwild, and since they were going into town, one gave me the rest of his water, so I was back up to full capacity. I had a very satisfying lunch, and set off down the trail, which descended many thousands of feet, and I got faster as I went along. I saw 2 rattlesnakes. The first was hidden in a pile of rocks & I would have missed it if a colorful lizard I was looking at hadn't run across it. The snake completely ignored me & the lizard. The next one was large, over 4 feet, and was quite exposed when I came down the trail, so it started rattling while I was still 10 ft away. This one afforded me a good photo, but I'm not sure it will come out. I'm using bulk loaded film, and I've been trying to trick my camera into registering the right film speed by using metal furnace and electrical tape on the DX contacts, but I don't think it's working.

I'm camped about 3 miles from the Snow Creek fountain, my next water source. I could have made it there tonight, but there is no camping allowed 3 miles before or after it (and I doubt I could have made it 3 miles past) so I'm camping in a flat by the trail, in the desert again and will make it to the water tomorrow morning. I have plenty left right now- enough even that I'm going to wash myself off before I go to bed. J Top

Day 18, June 11th, Mile 225

Today started out OK. I made it down to the Snow Creek Fountain, then started across the maze of trails across this large dry flat-ish, very sandy (& therefore difficult to hike on section) which took me under the freeway (freeway 10) from which I had originally wanted to hitch-hike to Palm Springs. It crosses under near a huge set of windmills, for generating electricity. I continued on, with it getting hotter as I went, and I was moving very slow when suddenly these 2 guys came up behind me. It turned out they were thru-hikers as well. We talked very briefly, I found out their names were David & Sam, and then I let them pass. I stopped at the Mesa Wind Station, which oversees the windmills, and got some water. After 2 liters, and an Excedrin, and a package of carbohydrate gel, I felt much better, and motored along, despite the heat. Several miles later, I caught up w/ them when they were filtering water at Whitewater river, which was now a creek about a foot wide. They had made a water filter, like Jardine's "Hiker's Friend." We both had dinner there, and while battling ants who kept attacking me and biting my feet, I found out they had really gone the route of Ray Jardine and had heavily modified their packs, including cutting off the hip belt, cutting out the frame, and leaving the top compartment off. I asked them how fast they were going, and they said they were averaging about 27 miles per day! One day they did 37! Judging by when they started and how light their packs were, I believe them. It sounded like they only get 5-6 hours of sleep a night, though. That wouldn't be enough for me. So long as the lack of sleep doesn't catch up with them, I think they have a great chance of finishing the hike, and in good time. They seem to have the right mentality to finish, and they certainly have the lightweight techniques down. We said goodbye, they told me "God Bless" several times (apparently they take a siesta at mid-day to avoid the heat, and spend it studying the bible), and I finished packing up, then started hiking again. The moon was out and the temperature stayed really high, so I continued hiking, past dark, until about 10PM, when it was still about 80 degrees I'd guess. So, I guess I get to try to sleep in the heat. Top

Day 19, June 12th, Mile 238

Kind of a frustrating day. I got up (still very warm out) and started hiking. The trail climbed along ridge crests, which was pretty, but exposed & it got hot fast. I came across another rattle snake, about 4 ft long, and pretty thick, laid out across half the trail. I took a photo, walked around, and started taking more before it decided to start buzzing me. For some reason after a second or two it decided I wasn't a threat and it stopped.

I continued along the trail which dropped to a huge riverbed, and crossed and recrossed (and crossed again, and again…) this creek, and wound about in all sorts of annoying and difficult to follow contortions, tiring me out. At dinner the bugs attacked. Mosquitos, black flies (that bite) other flying things, and biting ants, which got over everything.

I continued hiking long after nightfall enjoying the coolness and lack of bugs that hiking at night provides. I made camp at about 10PM, and am now off to sleep. Top

Day 20, June 13th, Mile 257.9

The last few days have found my appetite getting voracious, and, needless to say, I'm just about totally out of food. That being the case, I am considering hiking for most of the night, maybe napping for a couple hours, and trying to get to Big Bear City by evening tomorrow, which as I write this (3 PM) is still a good 30 miles away.

11 PM- Okay, nevermind. Walking down the trail at night and being buzzed by a rattlesnake, then not being able to figure out where it was, convinced me that I didn't want to do too much night hiking. So I made camp at Arrastre Trail Camp, and am going to sleep now. Top

Day 21, June 14th, Mile 276.3

I got up at about 4:30 this morning, hit the trail by 5:45, and had covered 14 miles by noon. I rolled into Big Bear City by 4 pm, with sore feet, got my package, and am camping out at the Big Bear City Fire Dept, where they also let me use their showers- all for free! Anyway, I found out that there are other hikers in front of me by only a couple days, so I'm hoping to speed up & start catching some of them. Signing out from Big Bear City, with the friendly fire crew!

General Thoughts on Section B (which ended at Hwy 10, day 18)

Better than section A, since it had more in the way of mountains & forests, but still hot & dry.

Day…? (22), June 15th, Mile 285 (+ ~5 miles to get back onto trail)

I had breakfast, mailed a little extra stuff home, got some extra food at the grocery store, had lunch, then spent awhile trying to figure out where an outfitter close to the trail might be. I was unsuccessful. I said goodbye to the friendly fire crew, and started walking back toward where the trail was. Coming in to Big Bear I had been able to hitch a ride, but going back I couldn't so I had to walk it. I left the fire station about 2pm, and made 9 miles on the trail, 14 total. Not too bad for leaving at 2. Beautiful sunset tonight- Like the clouds were on fire. And now the moon is out- a big ol' super bright full moon. So bright it almost hurts the eyes. So I'm now off to try to sleep, despite the moonlight.

Oh- since I mailed away my last journal entries, I can't remember any longer what day of hiking it is for me. Low 20's I think. Hopefully Jess will take care of it for me. J if it weren't for checking my watch to make sure I don't go into resupply on a Sunday, when the post office is closed, I'd never know what day of the week it is, or the date. Come to think about it, I'm not sure now what day of the week it is. Ahhh… life on the trail. Top

Day 23, June 16th, Mile 301

Kind of an interesting day. I ran into a big rattlesnake early today, surprising him as I came around a corner- which had me about 4 feet away from it (it was about 4 ft. long). Luckily it slithered backwards and into some rocks as soon as it warned me that it was there.

Later on this rather hot day I came across a creek that actually had water- about knee deep- and trout! Anyway, I took a very refreshing dip (basically sat down in it to get me wet up to my chest). That was quite a change from the lack of water on the rest of the trip.

After leaving the creek I turned a corner and found a pine-cone person someone had made and placed on a rock. It looked like a Mister Potato Head!

Finally, just a few min. ago, I came across a definite highlight - a glowing bug!! My friend Anna in NC would think it strange that I'm making such a big deal about this (Hi Anna!), but not having been brought up around fire-flies, I think it's incredible when a bug glows. It was a greenish caterpillar like thing hanging on to a piece of grass, and curled in a "J" shape. The last two segments of its body, at the curvy part in the "J", were glowing bright green! I didn't even know there existed such a glowing bug, let alone that lived in CA--I was impressed. Someone reading this: figure out what kind of bug that was (Cathy? Help? You're the entomologist), and send me a letter letting me know. Thanks!

Now I am camped in a precarious little spot on the side of a canyon that drops down to this gorgeous creek- with water in it! So I'm off to sleep, listening to the sounds of the water, and of mosquitos, and abask in the moonlight. Top

Day 24, June 17th, Mile 319.6

Spent the morning hiking along an exposed ridge that followed Deep Creek, and saw 3 or 4 snakes in the process- none rattlers, by mid-day it had gotten really warm, and I arrived at Deep Creek hot spring, which is actually pretty cool. Its got 3 pools, each with a progressively hotter temperature. So, I took a refreshing swim. Unfortunately, there were lots of other people there, and they were all guys or old people, and most of them were naked. I moved a little past the springs, had lunch, and took another dip in the water (only about 3 ft. deep there) and noticed lots of little trout and catfish in the water, that seemed used enough to people not to mind me being there. Hiking on, I reached the Dam for the Mojave River. The Dam is huge (over a mile) and the river is tiny (now about 4 ft wide) so even the PCT guidebook says the Dam is overkill. The whole place around the Dam was teeming the ATV'ers & Dirt Bike riders, so I soon left & eventually got to where I'm camped, a few yards from the trail, by Grass Valley Creek, which is a puddle. Overall it was kind of a hard day because the temperature was so uncomfortably high. Its hard for me to get decent mileage in when its so hot. I'm looking forward to real mountains with trees & cooler weather. I supposed I should expect hot weather now, though, since I'm skirting the Mojave Desert in mid-June. Soon enough I'll be done with all the deserts! Top

Day 25, June 18th, Mile ~338

I rolled into a small store today & was greeted by a very friendly owner who showed me photos of all the other PCT hikers that had gone through, and took my photo to add to it. His name was Larry.  He mentioned several times that he was a "conservative", but he wasn't at all combative about it, and was just genuinely pleasant and helpful. He let me sign on to his computer, so I could check my grades, but the Berkeley server wasn't responding, so that failed. He made a joke or two about me being a liberal since I went to Berkeley, and was a fun guy in general. I called my Dad from his store to wish a happy father's day, and hit the trail again, until I came to Cleghorn picnic area at Silverwood Lake. The lake was full of jet-skiers & boaters who seemed to be having a great time. I ate lunch and washed (or rinsed, rather) some clothes, then hiked some more. I am now in a flat area near the bottom of Horsethief Canyon, about to go to sleep under a star-filled sky. It's pretty, which is nice because the day was blazingly hot again. My feet are pretty tender, and although the sore/bruise thing on my left shoulder blade appears to be healing up, I have a bad feeling it will leave a scar. Ah-well- I guess it'll be a battle scar from tackling the PCT. Otherwise I'm doing well. My right leg still has no feeling in that same area, but its still working fine. Hopefully I can pull a high mileage day tomorrow. I've got to be averaging 23-25 per day to get to WA before Winter does. Top

Day 26, June 19th, Mile ~358

Got to my next water source this morning, found it to be a mere trickle, and my filter in need of cleaning, so I ate, then decided to make a 1/2 mile detour to what the guidebook said was a gas station mini-mart. Turned out to be a rather easily accessible McDonalds & Chevron w/ a huge market, so I had a Big Mac from McD's and an Ice Cream sandwich & 2 Gatorades from the minimart. Following that I hit the trail, which took me through a drainage tunnel underneath the freeway. Its done this a couple times, and each of them I've found downright gorgeous pictures painted on the cement inside the drainage tunnel by some guy named Yheet, who always mentions the PCT & the year 2000 in the paintings. Kind of a neat way to liven up a dreary & dirty tunnel.

Next I passed through a totally destroyed burn area where there was nothing but tiny black stumps & black ground. The smell of the burn was still in the air. Passing through that I started climbing, had dinner (Curry Rice w/ Instant Chocolate pudding for dessert. Mmmm.), then climbed some more. It got dark, and I was still on the ridge that appeared to just keep going, so I am now camped right on the trail, on a very narrow flat spot. At least the view is semi-interesting (although not as much wilderness as I'd like). There are all the city lights & car lights from the freeway on the horizon. Well, I'd better go to sleep now because I've got a lot of climbing in front of me to make it to Wrightwood tomorrow. Top

Day 27, June 20th, Mile 365.9

Not much to say about today thus far. I got up & hiked, which involved a lot of climbing, but included pine trees and cooler temperatures, so I felt good. I got off the trail and hiked another 5 miles to post office in Wrightwood, where it is now 2:15PM. I'm planning on getting back on the trail today, so I'm going to mail this, go to the grocery store, then hit a restaurant & then on to the trail. Top

Section C

I finished section C on June 19th. It was geographically un-diverse, but did include actual running water and fish! News on Gear & Wildlife is otherwise the same as before.

Food: I love peanut butter. And curry sauce, & chocolate pudding. Top
BACK TO HIKING!
 
 

Day 28, June 21st, Mile ~381
 

Wow, I've been out exactly a month now. Well, sort of, if you ignore the fact that I went home for my sister's graduation. Still, a month is a long time. It doesn't feel like I've been out that long, which is good. I still feel like I've just begun, and I think that is the best perspective to have at this stage.
    Before I forget, I will send a postcard or something to anyone who sends me something, letting you know I got it. That means if you sent me something but didn't hear back within a week or 2 of when I was supposed to get it, that I didn't get it.
OK, after a burger and the 10 mile round trip detour to Wrightwood yesterday, I was followed by 2 dogs all the way up to where I camped, some 4 miles up. I did everything I could to convince them to go back down home to Wrightwood. One did. The other didn't. I refused to give it any food or water because I didn't want to encourage it to follow me. Still, it stayed the night next to me. The next morning I yelled at it, ignored it, & tried everything else I could think of. It would disappear for half an hour, as if it had gone home, then show up again. So it followed me 7 miles farther, to where I took a detour to a campground to use a phone specifically to call about the dog. The campground was closed, and had no phone. I took another detour to another campground, and again the caretaker had no phone. Eventually I got to Vincent Gap where I walked up Hwy 2, which I crossed there, till I got to a call box which connected me to the CHP. They connected me to Animal Control who told me to tie the dog up & they'd come get him. So, that's what I did- tied the brown lab to the sign in the parking lot. I felt bad doing it, but I didn't see much of a choice. I told the person on the phone what street the dog lived on in Wrightwood, & I left a note for whoever picked it up, so hopefully everything will be all right. Getting back on the trail, I climbed and climbed and climbed to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell.  At over 9,300 ft. it was gorgeous & I could see miles in every direction, and a pretty awesome sunset. While up there I met a nice man named Mike who agreed to check & see if the dog had gotten picked up.
    Now I am camped less than a mile from the summit, on a fairly exposed ridge, with an incredible view of the city lights way below.
 
 

Day 29, June 22nd, Mile 397.2
 

Had my typical late start again this morning and hiked until I came across some volunteers working on trail maintenance, and thanked them. They asked me "Aren't you a little late?". Yes, I am. I know that. I'm trying to go faster, really.
    I stopped at a spring which one of the trail workers told me didn't need to be treated, so I didn't filter the water from it. Let's hope he's right- no ill effects so far. I also rinsed my clothes out there, and hiked another 1/4 mile to a trail camp where I hung my clothes and had lunch.
    Hiking along several hours later, I was listening to my walkman when I heard a relatively loud clank. I peered into a nearby bush where it seemed like it had come from, but saw nothing, and started moving on. A couple of steps later, it occurred to me that maybe I had dropped something, which made the noise, so I turned to look. There on the ground, less than 6 inches from the trail, was a 4ft. Rattlesnake slithering toward the bush I had peered in. Where it was at the moment left it very exposed, and I could see nothing near it which it could have hit or rubbed against to make the noise I heard. My theory- and it is only a theory, although a scary one, is that the snake was just inches from the trail when I passed it, and hadn't been paying enough attention to notice me earlier. Startled, it didn't have time to rattle, and just struck the nearest thing to it- my trekking pole. I can't figure out any other explanation. It's scary to think I passed within a few inched of the snake, while it was totally exposed, and didn't see it. I wonder if I stepped on it? Ah-well, nothing I could have done about it. I was watching- it was just that well camouflaged.
    Now I am camped at Copper Canyon Trail Camp. On the way here I had my mosquito headnet on, and with the sun it sometimes made it hard to see. Walking along the trail which was cut into the side of a hill of loose gravel and dirt, the edge of the trail under my left foot gave way, my left leg went sliding down the hill, and I landed hard on my right knee. It got cut up a little, and is a bit swollen, but I've done far worse, and it seems to be working fine, so I'm sure everything will be all right. Time to eat my Mac 'n Cheese dinner & sleep now!
 
 

Day 30, June 23rd, Mile ~417
 

Not too much of note today. I hiked. Again, got a late start, and in the morning was feeling really unenergetic, so I took and Excedrin which made me feel much better, and I flew down the trail. Later on in the day I took another, and for the following 3 hours felt great. Then I got stomach cramps, I assume from the Excedrin, which slowed me down a bit. I've decided that I am going to get in 20 miles every day, even if I have to hike into the night and get very little sleep. I really don't have a choice but to muster the discipline and do it if I'm going to make it to WA in time. I just barely made the mileage today, but it is now 10PM & I just found a place to camp. Luckily, I did manage to see an absolutely gorgeous sunset, with clouds below where I was on the mountain, then I was treated to a stunning city light display, which I can see from where I'm camping now. Not a bad sight to nod off to.
 
 

Day 31, June 24th, Mile 436.5
 

One bad thing of note from yesterday was that the sore on my left shoulder decided to start bleeding, which is problematic considering my backpack strap rests right there. I have a band-aid on it now, though, and I am managing. My feet, particularly my left foot, have also been getting progressively more & more sore, as my shoes reach the end of their lives. I need a new pair. I have one waiting for me in my package at Tehachapi, but I don't think I can wait that long. I may have to beg a trail angel to take me somewhere I can buy a new pair when I get to Agua Dulce. I missed making my 20 miles today by half a mile. I could easily have made it, but when I came to the North Fork Ranger Station, the caretaker there, Todd, told me that if I went any further I'd be forced to sleep on the trail b/c it traveled along the side of a steep ridge, and more importantly, he let me take a shower there! So I'm now a failure (by a half a mile) but I'm a clean failure so its OK!
    Todd is the volunteer care-taker for the facility, which is a very isolated de-commissioned fire station. He just hangs out with his very mello dog (a wolf hybrid!) all day, and on weekends rides around patrolling ("playing" he says) on the Government dirtbikes & ATV's. and, of course, he pays no rent or gas or anything. Sounds kinda fun to me.
    Anyway, I'm now camping out at a spot at the station, and will hike to Agua Dulce & see the Trail Angels, Donna & Jeff Saufley, tomorrow.
 
 

Day 32, June 25th, Mile 454.9
 

By 8AM this morning it was already uncomfortably hot, and I found myself descending back down to the hot environ, with no trees. The first 2/3rds of the day was rather uneventful. Just hiking and sweating, although in certain parts a breeze would pick up, which was really nice. I crossed the Antelope Freeway at about 5:30 PM, going through another long, eerie drainage tunnel. Then I walked through the Vasquez Rocks, where apparently many movies are filmed. It was pretty, and I took a bunch of pictures that hopefully will come out.
    I got into Agua Dulce at about 6:45 and asked a man I saw where the nearest payphone was. He told me, then asked if I was going to the Saufley's. I said yes, and he offered to drive me. I declined b/c I wanted to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant here, but I sat at the table next to him outside, and talked with him and his wife about Agua Dulce, his job, etc. They were really cool.
    Oh, I forgot, when I first walked into the little complex w/ the restaurant, there was a giant banner outside of the market there that said "Welcome to Agua Dulce, PCT hikers!" I thought that was pretty cool. It got there courtesy of Donna Saufley. Everyone in this town knows her, and she is involved in everything.
    She drove and picked me up form the market there & brought me to her place, nicknamed "Hikers Haven". She has an entire guest house, with 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, plus an RV just for hikers. She has spare clothes for them to wear, while she washes the hiker's laundry! It's absolutely insane. There is a TV, VCR, stereo & computer in here, and everything a hiker could ever need! And all of this is totally free!
    When I arrived, another PCT hiker, Dave Stockton, was here. He's a pretty cool guy from CT, in his 40's I think, who had problems with a knee earlier and had to take 2 weeks off. I talked with him for a long time, and I am now going to bed- in a bed!!- at a little after midnight.

Section D summary:
 

Jeff & Donna Saufley are Rad!!!
Gear: I moved where I was packing certain things, namely my water bladder, and now my pack is much more comfortable. I still badly need a different one, but at least I don't have to pop as many pain pills going down the trail.
Me: My shoes broke down very suddenly and now my feet are very sore, but Donna is taking me to get new shoes today, so hopefully that problem will be solved. I still lack feeling in that same portion of my right leg, the sore on my shoulder is about the same, and I'm a little scraped up on my knee & elbow from slipping & falling a couple times. This section has been really bad for having unstable granite, or loose sand and gravel on granite, which makes for poor traction. All in all, I'm doing well though- in good spirits. I've started to get leaner, too, which is cool!
 
 

Day 33, June 26th, Mile 458.7
 

The Saufley's are awesome. Donna got my clothes amazingly clean. She then took me to the store where I bought shoes. I got superfeet insoles with them because I strained the arches of me feet by wearing my last pair of shoes too long, and they need the extra support right now. The total for the shoes I am walking in now came to $130.00. They better be damn comfortable, and last a long time. So far (which is a very short distance) they do seem to be keeping my feet much happier. In a few days I'm meeting my Dad and he will have a new pack for me, which is great since the one I have isn't fitting great, and because yesterday my bottle of Tecnu poison oak barrier decided to open up inside my pack and get over everything, so now it all smells like Tecnu. I also went to the grocery store today & bought more food. Way too much food. With the excessive amount of water, plus the food, I left the Saufley's with a pack that weighed nearly 60lbs.  Considering that I am down to 135lbs now, that is way way way too much. So, tomorrow, I intent to eat about 10lbs (literally) worth of food, and drink about 6 liters of water before 10AM, leaving my pack a more comfy burden. Another hiker named Shaun, from Kentucky, arrived at the Saufley's just as I was leaving. He is about a foot taller than me, but weighs about the same (very lean- he's a runner). Very nice guy. He too is going quickly, and I expect him to catch me sometime soon. He's only doing a third of the trail now. Anyway, I didn't leave the Saufley's until late, and got dropped off at the trail at about 8:30PM, got very few miles in, and am now camped in a dry streambed. G'nite!

Day 34, June 27th, Mile 477.6
 

Before I forget to mention it, I'll discuss a decision I made about a shortcut. I found out from Todd at the Ranger station that Donna Saufley had information about a shortcut through the section that crosses the Mojave that knocks 35 miles off the route through that hellacious section, and ironically, follows the original route that the PCT took when first built. Considering that I am so late in the season (hence it is so hot) and that I am in a hurry to beat winter to WA, it was very tempting. I decided I would not take it b/c I want to be telling the full truth when I tell them I thru-hiked the entire PCT in 2000. I agonized a little while over it, but I'm pretty sure I made the right decision, even now, in section E, which isn't much fun.
    I started the day off in a wonderfully enjoyable way with a monstrous nosebleed, that again took about an hour to get under control. Then I hiked and I got hotter and hotter, and I got slower & slower. It sucked.
    At lunch I decided, just out of morbid curiosity, to try something new, which I read about in an issue of backpacker magazine once. This will totally gross most of you out- I ate a peanut butter and salami sandwich (or tortilla, rather). It didn't taste nearly as gross as it sounds, but it wasn't addictively good either, so I doubt I'll be trying it often in the future. There is no better was to wrap more calories in a tortilla, though!
    Hiking further I discovered my pack seemed wet at the bottom & I opened it up & discovered that my water bladder, which I recently repositioned with good results, was leaking. I put duct tape over a hole I found & replaced it in my pack, crossing my fingers. I also found that the metal stay in my pack frame had decided to cut itself a hole in the pack fabric and had popped out to say hello. Since my Dad is bringing me a new pack in 2 days, its actually a good thing b/c now I may be able to get a brand new pack in exchange for this one on a warranty issues. Then I could sell it and recoup some of the cost. I was making very poor mileage and decided to push on until I got to a road that leads into the town of Green Valley, so I could call my Dad the next day. This didn't make my 20 miles, but what's worse is I didn't make it there till 1 am! That doesn't sound late, but a routine morning for me starts at 4:45 am.
    While hiking by flashlight that night I came across a scorpion. It wasn't very big, only about an inch and a half, but I don't like scorpions. Just another thing I have to watch out for I guess.

Day 35, June 28th, Mile ~488
 

This morning I walked to the Ranger station (still closed, as it was 6AM) and then hid my pack there and walked down San Francisquito Canyon Rd. to go to the P.O. and general store to call my Dad, get replacement batteries for my light, and eat at the restaurant next door. It was a much longer walk than I thought, and the restaurant didn't open till 10, the general store was a gas station mini-mart w/o the batteries I needed, Grrr. I bought an Ice Cream sandwich and a drink, and walked outside to eat. Just as I sat down the man who had been in front of me in line pulled up along side me and asked "Are you a PC hiker?" I thought for a second and decided he must mean "PCT", and said yes. Then he said "Are you Chris?" Rather surprised, I answered in the affirmative, and he introduced himself as Joe, the Trail Angel in Green Valley (who I'd heard of- he does a number of the water caches) and he took me back to his house. He had found out my name from Dave Stockton who was there the day before. I met his family and we talked for a long while, then we went to breakfast, and he took me to the ranger station to get my pack. He's a really cool and mello guy who is very easy to talk to. He walked with me a few miles up the trail, and we said goodbye.
    Oh, I forgot. He has a nephew staying with him- a little kid named Cody, who apparently is a total troublemaker (worse than Michelle! :) ) but even at his young age (7 or 8) he is astonishingly smart. He wanted to go to breakfast and on the first part of the hike with us, so when Joe left the room, Cody asked me to tell Joe that I wanted Cody to come along. I asked him why he didn't just ask Joe himself, and he said because Joe would say no. Cody was quite insistent, and I found the whole thing very amusing. He found himself a friend's house to go over to before we left for the hike, though.
    The day was a hot one and I was tired and sore. The flies were out, and seem to be most attracted to any open cut or sore I have, making then an incredible nuisance.
    At dinner Shaun (from Kentucky) caught me, then he hitched into Lake Hughes while I continued on ahead a couple miles and I am now camped on the top of a little ridge with a rather nice view. That leaves 28 miles to do tomorrow to meet my Dad, though. Arg! That's a hard day!

Day 36, June 29th, Mile 516
 

Got up at 4 this morning, and started hiking. I somehow just wasn't moving as fast as I wanted to, though. At 9:30, when I was having brunch, Shaun caught me again. He went on, then a few min. later I started hiking again too.. An hour later he came up behind me, having taken a wrong turn and having to backtrack. I followed him for the next 8 miles or so, which was hard work because he moves fast (he is an insanely fast runner- under 9 min. for the 2 mile!), but he was good to talk to. We ate lunch at a big cement water tank used to fight fires, where I had my shirt off, and was feeling good in the breeze. Shaun took off, with a message to tell my Dad that I'd be late meeting him, and I finished up, and started on the trail, having passed the 500 mile point (Yay!). the hiking was, for a change, relatively easy, and I had gotten about 6 more miles in when I came around a corner and saw this large tan colored dog running away from me down the trail. I was in the process of wondering why it was running away and where the owner was when I looked a little harder and realized that I wasn't a big dog, but it was a mountain lion! I was pretty excited about that & took out my camera as I came to a corner it had gone around, but I couldn't find it again. It had done a good job of disappearing fast. It was really cool to see it though- definitely a highlight of the trip. I walked the next mile or so on an adrenaline rush, glancing behind me every once in a while to make sure it hadn't decided to stalk me.
    Eventually I descended to this last set of hills which the map made look like easy hiking. I thought I'd go over the crest of them, then down gently along their side until I came to the Mojave desert floor, but no. instead the trail went up & down and in and out to avoid the property line of Tejon Ranch. The last 5 or 6 miles I did by the rapidly fading light of my photon Micro II light, and made it out to meet my Dad at about 10:30, with very sore feet, near delirious from exhaustion. He took me back to his hotel room in Bakersfield, where I crashed hard.
 
 

Day 37, June 30th, Mile ? (hiked through the night)
 

I am going to hike at night until I get to Tehachapi, so I slept in, and headed to the trial at about 6:30PM.
Before I hit the trail I stopped by to see Jack Fair, a famous Trail Angel where the Mojave section starts. He has a reputation for being very eccentric, and smoking, drinking, and cussing. He didn't disappoint. His house was in shambles, but covered from the top to bottom & on all sides with signs he'd made conveying bizarre and often non-sensical utterances he'd made up. Jack was outside working on a water cooler he had put wheels on, and was in his underwear. I introduced myself, and the man, probably 70 or so, threw out every profane word I have ever heard in the course of our 3 min. conversation. He told me that he'd cut my balls off if I didn't sign his register. I signed his register.
    Hitting the trail, I shortly discovered that one of my water bladders was leaking like mad, even though I had done a major repair job with duct tape back at the hotel. I quickly transferred most of it's contents into my other water bladder (which lacks a drinking tube) and moved the leaking one to the outside of my pack where it doesn't balance as well, but where it will not soak everything else in my pack. Having gotten so used to being very careful to conserve water, it was very stressful to watch it dripping away. At least I could tell at what rate it dripped out since the drips kept landing on the backs of my legs.
    Anyway, I hiked till 10, ate some food, took an hour nap, got up, and hiked some more, along the top of the LA aqueduct.
 
 

Day 38, July 1st, Mile ? (hiking at night, sleep during day -> from midnight to Midnight)
 
 

    Before I forget, there are some interesting things I want to mention. First, while in Green Valley being driven around by the trail angel Joe, I was shown the property of this wealthy old eccentric lady (immediately brings to mind Ms. Havisham from Great Expectations, no?). This lady had small, 20 by 20 ft. houses made and strewn randomly across her property, all made to look like big boulders. They were gray and rock like and had the most bizarre windows thrown in where it would look like a natural hole formed when several irregularly shaped slabs of granite rested on one another. Joe called them "Flintstone Houses." Needless to say, they were strange.
    Second, David Ortiz, the one member of the Sam and David duo that passed me a few weeks ago, has apparently been given a trail name: Jesus Freak. Makes sense considering how many times he told me "God Bless." Apparently he's an ex-gang member who found God or something. In the register at Donna Saufley's place he drew a rather entertaining picture. It had a GIANT superman like guy with a Jesus like beard holding the bible saying "If loving God were a crime, I'd be in prison." Surrounding this guy (supposedly David) were little tiny people that were expressing little quotes doubting God, but of course, the Giant David was impervious. I found it all very amusing.
    Third, that day that I ate lunch with Shaun and had my shirt off left me with a nasty sunburn on my back. Hiking with giant backpack resting on sunburned back = major suckage. Yay for Excedrin!
    My new backpack fits much better than the last, so I'm happy. My new shoes are working relatively well also. OK, back to the hiking. Its past midnight, I'm walking along the aqueduct and the road next to it, the stars are gorgeous. About 2:30AM a car drives by on the very rural dirt road I'm on out in the desert, and this guy inside asks me if I know where the party is at. "Umm, no." I explained I was backpacking (hard to figure out considering I had a huge backpack on) and he asked if I had seen the party. "NO." over the next hour and a half 6 other cars drove by and asked the same thing. Apparently there was some big Rave way out in the middle of the desert. I got tired of being asked by people about it, and would hide along the side of the road when I saw a car coming. That is when I noticed 2 cop cars go past. Hehe. I got back on the road, and a few min later another cop car came and surprised me. The cop got out and asked what I was doing. "Hiking the PCT." "What's that?" I explained. "You're not coming from a party?" I answered with a simple "no", but was tempted to get smart with the guy. I was wearing my ugly white hat with flaps that come down around the ears and back of my neck., I had my light velcroed to its bill, I was wearing my jacket backwards, and, here's the clincher, I had a huge backpack on. "Why yes officer, I'm coming from a party, isn't it obvious??" I refrained though, and the cop left. At about 4AM a line of 30 or 40 cars came down the road, though (the party having been busted up) and they all passed me while I was getting water from a water cache. 2 of the cops decided to shine their spotlight at me, which kind of annoyed me, so I waved to them to say hi and gave them a very obviously sarcastic facial expression. Luckily, it worked and they left.
    I continued hiking until about noon where I stopped at Tylerhorse Canyon, at Mile 539. There I ate, and slept intermittently till about 7:30PM, when I packed up and started hiking again. At about 11PM I noticed that one of the town way below was having a fireworks show, so I stopped and watched, and ate another meal, then napped for an hour and a half.Top
 
 

Day 39, July 2nd, Mile 555.1
 

    I got up and started hiking again at about 1:30am, and had to stop frequently just to gaze at the stars. I get an absolutely amazing view night after night- nothing even remotely close to what you can get in the city. A friend once told me that she had never seen the Milky Way- understandable in the city. I have never not seen it out here. Speaking of which, I noticed a change since May, when I started. The Big Dipper was visible as soon as it got dark, but the Milky Way didn't become visible till 4AM or so. It runs through the constellation Cassiopeia. Anyway, the Big Dipper and Milky Way weren't simultaneously visible then. Now, they both are, at about 10PM. Not that any of you care. I just stare at the sky a lot --oh, lots of meteors, too.
    So I continued hiking, and by dawn spotted the acres upon acres of windmills out here. Passing along those I eventually made it to the road I was supposed to meet my Dad at, at mile 555. There was a water stash there, and some of the bottles had really funny things written on them, like"H2O4U" and "Provided by Hiker Refreshment Committee" and, accompanying a sticker of Bert (from Bert and Ernie) "Bert says vote Hiker Party in 2000." I was amused. Anyway, I met my dad again, and we're going back to his motel room, then I will pick up my package in Tehachapi tomorrow, when the Post Office opens. Top
 
 

Day 40, July 3rd, Mile ~570
 

    Today I got up, showered (Ahhhh), and went to breakfast with my Dad. He helped me out a lot these last few days, allowing me to cut my pack weight in half for a couple brutal days, plus bringing me lots of necessary gear, saving me a nasty hitchhike, and buying me lots of meals. Anyway, we picked up my package (and stuff from Jenni & Anna- Thanks!), and my Dad took me to one end of the 7 miles stretch from Tehachapi Willow Springs Road to Hwy 58, and I hiked it with only water and my map. My Dad picked me up at the other side, he helped me sort my food, and I was on my way.
    There is a reason they put windmills here. The wind was shoving me all over today. Slowed me down quite a bit. A Joshua tree drew blood when I bumped into it, too. Those leaves are sharp! I'm fine though. That's about it for the day. I managed to find a semi-wind-protected spot to camp, and am off to sleep (at night now!). I forgot to sign the PCT register at Tehachapi, which I'm a little angry about, but I guess its not a big deal. G'nite! Top
 
 

SECTION E Summary (sec. E ended at Hwy 58)
 

Wildlife: Yay Mountain Lion! I didn't see a Mojave Green rattlesnake, though, which I am disappointed about, scorpion.
Random Stuff: Wind, windmills, STARS!, hiking through the night, one very long (28 miles) day, a Rave in the desert, beautiful sunrises, heat, Yay amazing hospitality!  New backpack is feeling good. Feet are in decent shape. I just need to catch up on sleep, and start getting in more miles Top
 
 

Day 41, July 4th!!, Mile 587.8
 

Happy 4th of July everyone!! I was hoping to camp somewhere overlooking a town and see a fireworks display, but no such luck. That's OK, the stars put on a performance of their own that any pyrotechnic wizard would find a major challenge to rival.
    Don't mess with Joshua Trees. The place just under my knee where the one I bumped into yesterday had stabbed me swelled up and caused me to limp all day today. I managed OK, thanks to Excedrin and Vitamin I (ibuprofen- I heard that from Shaun- apparently a common hiker term, but I hadn't heard it before. I like it though). It did mean I failed to make my 20 miles, though. Grrrr.
    I also have a large bulbous blister on my left big toe that I'll have to deal with tomorrow. Luckily it is more annoying than painful, but still it requires some attention.
    More windmills today, relatively nice graded trail. Still have water in short supply only. The single source I hit today, a spring that leads into a horse trough, was rather disgusting. There was horse manure on the edge of the trough, and floating around in it! Horse owners are sometimes very irresponsible, and in general, this is another reason I think horses and cattle ought to be banned from the trail (hence the debate case I wrote to that effect). I'm pretty sure that the only reason we need to treat the water out here is the horse and cattle contamination. I doubt any of the bad bacteria or viruses in the water are of indigenous origin. Anyway, I filtered water coming out of the pipe pouring into the trough, and not the trough itself, so hopefully I'll be fine.
Not much else of note for today. I'm camped on a ridge, under the stars. Nice view. G'nite! Top
 
 

Day 42, July 5th, Mile 604.8
 

Woke up this morning & my knee was so stiff and sore I could hardly move. After some Ibuprofen and an hour or so on the trail, I was getting by without too much of a limp though. I decided it was not a Joshua tree, but a Yucca plant that stabbed me. It was a baby, only a foot tall, and both plants have sharp leaves. The guidebook says "Yucca grow tough, dagger-like leaves a foot or more long, with sharp tips that puncture the unwary." Yea, no kidding.
    I think I might be ahead of Dave now. I saw at a register today that Shaun passed through yesterday, and said hello to me & Dave. He hadn't met Dave before, so he must have passed him at some point, and was ahead of Dave when he signed the register, so unless Dave didn't sign it, I'm ahead of him.
    I couldn't go fast this morning for some reason (in addition to my knee). It took me till 3PM to log 10 miles, which really sucked. At the 10 mile point, however, was a spring, and after cameling up to get rehydrated, and popping an Excedrin, I flew down the trail & got in 7 miles by 7:30, when I got to where I'm camped now. I didn't get my 20 miles in both because I am slow & because I now am camped at a primitive campground that has a spring, so tomorrow morning I can start the day hydrated, unlike today.
    There is a herd of about 30 cattle here, none w/ intimidating horns. If I walk toward them, they all run away, but if I walk along side them, or away from them they all gather very close to me & stare at me. It's really funny. There are also bats. While I was getting water they would swoop down & skim the surface, I assume getting something to drink. They are so silent its amazing.
    Stars are again gorgeous. I think I'll gaze at them for a bit, then drift off to sleep. Up at 4:30am tomorrow- I aim to get in at least 23 miles. Top

Day 43, July 6th, Mile 627.2
 

Despite getting up at 4:30AM (or waking up, anyway) I didn't manage to hit the trail till 9AM. I don't' know how I managed to take so long.  I had a lot to do this morning, but still. Grr. Anyway, the trail for the first few miles was relatively flat, so I flew pretty fast, making decent mileage.
    I love trail Angels. About lunchtime I came across a cache of water, just a mile or two after the trail left the forest & entered the desert. That cache allowed me to skip a 5.6 mile detour for water, and continue to another cache at Bird Spring Pass, where I am camped now. I had to push hard, but I made decent mileage, especially considering my late start. Over 22 miles today.
    My body sort of revolted afterwards, though. While setting up camp and eating dinner, and even now as I write, different muscles would start to cramp up. Thus far I have been able to stave off a full Charlie Horse w/stretching & drinking LOTS of Gatorade. Lets hope that continues to work.
    My knee is still sore, but is definitely much better. After some examination, I'm now sure it was a Joshua Tree & not a Yucca plant that stabbed me. I guess there are 2 kinds of plants out here with daggerlike leaves. G'nite! Top

Day 44, July 7th, Mile
 

Woke at 5:30 this morning, hit the trail around 7, and did some rather arduous climbing, after it leveled out a bit I started moving a bit faster. The climb at least brought me back to trees, though.
    Hiked & hiked, and am now at the Walker Pass campground. Walker pass marks...drumroll please, the last and final desert section. I'm done with desert! Yay! The campground hosts here were really cool. They gave me water & food, which is really cool b/c I was running out of food. I also was promised a cup of coffee tomorrow.
    Anyway, I am writing fervently b/c I'm excited. I just witnessed not just the most incredible and beautiful thing I've seen on this trip, but perhaps the most incredible and beautiful thing I have seen in my life. And I have no idea what it was. It was at 9:40PM, and I was looking at the sky. From behind the mountains came this bright white point of light, moving across the sky, but moving much more slowly than a meteor (but much faster than a plane). It was sending out a brilliant white blanket of shimmering light in all directions, mostly trailing behind it, and the blanket grew until it covered about a 10 degree Arc of vision. There was also a large patch of blue that it left, also shimmering, which didn't fade away for 20 min. or so. I'm guessing it was a blue vapor could of some sort. Anyway, the white point moved across the sky and at one point seemed to sort of explode and shed another layer of brighter white light, that moved out in a spherical shape. Then rather suddenly the white point disappeared and only the cloud of shimmering light was left, which reminded me a lot of photos I've seen of Aurora Borealis. When it was all expanded to its largest size, it covered about 25 degrees of my field of view. It was HUGE! I'm still sitting here awe struck now. Someone who was in my Astro class, or anyone, please figure out what that was (I have no doubt it will be in the paper tomorrow) and send me a letter telling me!! I guess now I'm off to sleep to dream of brilliant astronomical events.
Top

SECTION F Summary (ended at Walker Pass)
 

Short section in general. Still major problems with water availability, and very exposed to the sun.
Wildlife: None of interest- only cows
Me: Attacked by a Joshua Tree!
Sky: Weird but beautiful something up there Top
 
 

Day 45, July 8th, Mile 664.4
 

Hmm, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to write much about today that isn't negative. We'll see. First some details: Shaun "Sibex" Passat (from KY) is off the trail. He left at Walker Pass. I don't know why, since he was planning to go to Tuolumne Meadows. Dave is definitely either behind me, or he quit and is off the trail. I hope he didn't quit.
    One of the people sort of acting as host at the Walker Pass Campground is named Artemis Morningstar, which I thought was a cool name. He's half Native American. Anyway, he gave me a cup of coffee in the morning and told me that he heard on the radio that the gorgeous thing in the sky I saw was the test for the NMD system. OK, I feel like an idiot now. It really was gorgeous though. I believe it could have been the missile test, but I still have questions. I don't know why I saw only 1 point of light, when there should have been 2- 1 for the decoy ballistic missile, and 1 for the missile that took it out. I also saw no plume of smoke from the light, and I wonder what chemical could have been in it to produce a glowing blue vapor cloud. Ah well.
    So, on to hiking. I have 11 miles to my next H2O source, so I take 4 liters with me and head out. I climb and climb and climb , and although I felt like I was moving quickly, I wasn't I had lunch & discovered I had very little water left. Half an hour later I was out of anything to drink, and it was a very hot and exposed 5 more miles to my water source. (Ironic that I just wrote about it being the end of the desert section). By the time I got to the spring I was stumbling around quite desperate for water. I had been warned that the water was contaminated (with Uranium, no less) and there were signs everywhere warning that it was unsafe to drink, but I had my filter, so I just told myself not to stress over it. The pipe from the spring had a very slow drip that fell into a trough which had nothing in it but a huge blanket of algae and insects. Luckily there was a tiny trickle of a stream from the spring next to the trough. I started filtering and got about a liter and a half filtered when the pump on the filter just stopped working- Totally broken. I had iodine tablets, but that won't do a thing for Uranium, so I took another half a liter only, directly into the bottle, and treated it w/ iodine- hoping not to have to drink it. I had already swallowed the liter and a half, which wasn't close to enough to rehydrate me.
    So, very slowly, I hiked another 4.5 miles to Spanish Needle Creek. The first branch I passed was stagnant, so I had to hike another 3/4 of a mile to get water and make dinner. By the time I was done with that it was 11PM and I headed up in search of a place to camp. Now it's 11:45 and I'm going to bed, exhausted, with a looooong day ahead of me tomorrow. Grr. Top
 
 

Day 46, July 9th, Mile 678.1

Well, my long day didn't happen. Pathetic mileage again. I had an enormously hard time getting up and moving this morning. Eventually I got on the trail, then stopped for breakfast, then hiked up and up some more. Eventually I went over a ridge, and at about 3:30 I made it to the Chimney Creek Campground, where I rinsed and dried my clothes, ate lunch, made dinner to eat for later, and talked for a long time with the caretaker, Grizzly Chuck, I didn't' leave till after 7:30. Grizzly Chuck was a funny man.  He kept trying to sell me things he had gotten or traded for, from other hikers.  When I asked how far it was to Kennedy Meadows, he said "I can drive you there...for a fee."  Amusing fellow.  So now I am camped near a spring so I can get well hydrated before I start tomorrow. I aim to get up by 3:30am so I can make the 20 miles or so to Kennedy Meadows by 11am, Better get to bed now. Top
 
 

Day 47, July 10th, Mile 697
 

Just to make it absolutely clear, I hate the taste of iodine in my water. But it looks like I'm stuck with it until Independence at least- until I have a filter. Grrr.
    Anyway, I got up at about 330 this morning, and ate some oatmeal and drank 2 liters of Gatorade. Drinking the cold Gatorade made me really cold and it took me a while to get everything packed up. I got on the trail at about 5:30, and warmed up quickly. By about 6:30 I was comfortable in just my shirt and shorts.
    I made decent mileage, but had to stop and eat lunch after I logged about 14 miles, and started getting close to the Kern River. Following lunch I had to hike like mad to make it to the Kennedy Meadows General Store (which holds packages) before it closed. I made it with about a half and hour to spare- not long enough to sort my package, mail home what needed to be mailed home, finish this journal and mail it, make the phone calls I needed to make, do laundry, and take a shower. So I will stay the night here & finish tomorrow morning. I'll lose another half a day, but there isn't much I can do about it.
    The guy who runs the store helped me with what I needed when I asked, but didn't in general seem exceptionally hospitable. He will let me us his phone (there are no public pay phones here), but only for a short time, so I can't make all the calls I wanted to. I do have to call the filter company though.
    A man outside the store named Art gave me a ride to a local restaurant.  His name was Art. He was great.  He had a cowboy hat on, and had a huge cool looking mustache.  When we got in his truck, we were driving along this deserted road, and he reached under his seat to this leather apron thing hanging there and grabbed a beer, which he opened and drank.  He was driving fine, and I thought it was hilarious.  He dropped me at a restaurant called Irelan's which is literally a house.  I walked in the sliding glass door which was closed, and this guy came out and said "What do you want?"  He was really unpleasant, but I said I could use a meal, and his wife came out and I got a burger and a shake. Anyway, I'm camping by the trail, and since the store doesn't open till 9, I finally get to get lots of sleep. Yay!
    Okay, change in plans. The lady at the restaurant I ate at told me I could camp out in back of their property, so I can get up tomorrow, walk 50ft. to get breakfast, then go to the store & on to the trail. I think that's about as efficient as I'm gonna get.
    Kennedy Meadows marks the END OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PORTION OF THE TRAIL!!! That pleases me. I'm now in the Sierras, and will be near Mt. Whitney in a few days. I have the permit to climb it, but I won't have time, so I'll have to skip it. :(  My next resupply is at Independence, which is a 9 miles 1 way detour by trail (over a really high pass) and then a 15 mile hitchhike. That will require a lot of time. But, it's the John Muir Trail section, so I already know that its gorgeous!! I'm looking forward to Central California Top
 
 

Day 48, July 11th, Mile 703.8

I went to the store this morning & Dave Stockton was there! I spent a long time there & took a shower and did laundry and got my Ice Axe. This all after a breakfast that included some of the best French toast I've had, ever.
    Anyway, we finally left at about 4:30, ate Dinner, and now Dave & I are camped a few miles past Kennedy Meadows. It now looks like the Sierra!!! OK, I’m sleeping now. Top
 
 

Day 49, July 12th, Mile 723.4

I got a slightly earlier start today, and hiked by myself for the first couple hours because Dave was able to get ready before me. I caught him & we ate lunch under a bridge over the Kern River, where giant (over a foot- giant for this elevation, out here) Golden trout were swimming around. Two more hours worth of hiking brought us up to the real Sierra. It is so beautiful here and the weather is so cool, I felt really good, and hiked fast & strong, ahead of Dave. We met up at a creekbed, where there was supposed to be water but wasn't (this happened twice the last couple days with creeks and springs), but we had enough water left to make dinner. The mosquitoes are now out in force, though. I expected them to be, but it is still annoying. I've now got lots and lots of bites. Anyway, we are sleeping under the stars on a small hill, and even in the moonlight the scenery is gorgeous. Top
 
 

Day 50, July 13th, Mile 738.2

I love the Sierras! Its so beautiful here! Unfortunately we moved a bit slow today, gawking at the scenery. We passed some hikers out for a few days, and just hiked along gorgeous trail, getting up to nearly 12,000 feet. We got water from this little stream running through this big gouge in a meadow, that was like a mini Grand Canyon. It was kinda cool. Following that, we started hiking to the trail that Dave leaves on to go resupply in Lone Pine. He left the Grand Canyon thing before me, and soon after I got back to hiking I got a huge nosebleed again. That really slowed me down, and eventually I had to stop and just sit on a rock trying to get it under control, all the while trying frantically to defend myself against the legion of mosquitoes that were attacking me. Dave eventually got worried and came back to look for me, & when I got it under control we camped just a little ways away, on a saddle. I set up the tarp, for the first time in over a month, and am writing from inside it now. Must sleep though, and let my body replace the lost blood. G'nite! Top
 
 

Day 51, July 14th, Mile ~756

Dave got up early and hit the trail to go out to Lone Pine & resupply by 6AM. I am resupplying in Independence, and so I didn't go with him. I leisurely packed up and ate breakfast, making sure my nose wasn't going to decide to bleed again. I started hiking about 9AM, and couldn't get going very fast. Eventually I came to a stream, got a whole bunch of water from it and drank, and ate a whole bunch of food. Since I didn't have dinner last night, I guess the extra food was needed. I felt much better afterwards.
    The water from that creek I didn't bother treating. I checked the map, and there were no places above where I met the creek where cattle could graze or people could camp, so I figured I was safe. I've done that before, but under less safe circumstances. Two days ago Dave & I came to Cow Creek. There were no signs of cattle anywhere, and Dave drank it straight, so I did too, despite being made nervous by the name of the creek. I felt great after that drinking, and flew up the trail, not paying a whole lots of attention to everything. Dave, behind me now, noticed signs of cattle above where we got water and dumped out what he had gotten, replacing it with water filtered from a spring he found. Of course, he couldn't tell me until he caught up w/ me several hours later. Luckily, I'm fine.
    Today after getting water from the stream it was nice, although sometimes sandy terrain w/great views, and I saw a number of backpackers out for shorter trips.
    About 5:40 I noticed a small stream flowing below the trail, but no water crossed the trail, so it appeared to have no source. I checked it out and discovered it was an awesome spring with cold and crystal clear water just gushing through a hole in a rock. Yay! More water I don't have to treat! I'm nearly out of iodine, and although Dave let me borrow his filter, it pumps slower than Berkeley's administration responds to a problem, so it's great to find sources I don’t have to treat.
    Having found the spring, I made dinner- freeze dried chicken, peas, stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, and gravy, all mixed together. Like Thanksgiving dinner in one pot. It was actually really good.
    In General, today was a day of firsts for this trip. I saw my first marmot of the trip, skirted my first legitimate alpine lake, and had my first log crossing of a stream! But now its off to sleep. Top
 
 

Day 52, July 15th, Mile ~773.5

I slept straight through my watch alarm this morning and woke up half an hour late, and was sluggish for the first mile or two until I stopped to eat a whole bunch of food. I ate lunch by a creek running through Crabtree Meadows, below Mt. Whitney. I hiked through the rest of the day and negotiated several creek crossings (Water- Yay!). I saw a whole bunch of fat Marmots, and several deer. I stopped for Dinner at this small tarn on Bighorn Plateau. True enough, I saw hoof marks from either a deer or a Bighorn walking into the tarn. It was treeless that high, and the sun going down with a view of the mountains of all sides made for an absolutely incredible scene. There were small little red bug things swimming in the tarn, though, so I filtered as much water as I had patience to, and headed out. I kept hiking really late, and made my most dangerous creek crossing (still not that bad) of Tyndall creek at about 8:45PM. I made it across fine, but my walkman landed in the water & opened up, so I'm gonna have to let it dry for a while to make sure it (and the tape in it) are still OK. I got water later that night at a very clean, all snowmelt stream, and went to sleep about 3/4 of a mile from the base of Forester pass, at about midnight. Top
 
 

Day 53, July 16th, Mile 789.4 (+ 9 mile detour)

With a huge day ahead of me I got up at 4AM & got over Forester Pass, which at 13,200 ft. is the highest point the trail crosses. Heading down the other side I walked on some snow, but didn't need my Ice Axe. A mile later or so I ran into a group of people, one of whom had badly hurt her ankle. I gave them my Ace Bandage, and some prescription Motrin, and they told me about a friend of theirs, Craig, who had left just a little while before me to get help, and who was going to Independence. I raced down the trail, left a note for Dave at the junction to Kearsage Pass, and headed up the trail to get out to Independence. A mile later I ran into Craig, who had arranged with a Ranger to have a mule go up and get the injured woman. Craig also agreed to take me into Independence. So I blitzed up the pass, and started down the other side. The trail to the parking lot was long, and very very steep. It is going to be a royal pain to get back up it tomorrow. I think resupplying at Independence instead of Lone Pine was my biggest mistake of the trip thus far.
    Anyway, I made it down the trail, Craig came shortly thereafter, and now I have a small motel room, and get to wash my laundry and get a good restaurant meal. Top
 
 

SECTION G Summary (ended at Crabtree Meadows)

Kennedy Meadows: I forgot to mention that when I went back to the General Store the second day, the people were really cool.

Gear: Damn my broken filter

In General: This included the start of the Sierra, which is the best part of the trop I really enjoy. And at Crabtree Meadows I started the famous section H- The John Muir Trail, which is probably the most gorgeous section of trail in the U.S., besides just the PCT.

I hope to see as many of you as possible in Tuolumne! Top
 
 

Day 54, July 17th, Mile 785 (+9 miles detour over Kearsage Pass):

Today I slept in a bit, got breakfast, picked up my resupply package, sorted it, mailed some stuff home, including my Ice Axe, got lunch, went to the market in town, then set myself out on Onion Valley Road to try to hitch a ride to the trailhead. I waited for 5 hours before I got a ride, being passed by about 15 cars in the process. Finally these two nice guys who are PhD's doing research at UCSD picked me up & brought me with them to the trailhead. Once there, a lady named Karen asked where I was headed, where I had come from, etc., and once she found out I was a PCT thru-hiker she asked a whole slew of questions and seemed really excited. I gave her my website, and headed up the trail at about 6:30 PM. Aided by a near full moon, I topped out over the pass at about 10PM, and continued down the other side by flashlight. At about 11:30 I got back to the PCT, modified the note I left for Dave to let him know I was back, and found a stealth camp a short ways off, sleeping under the stars.

Day 55, July 18th, Mile ~798

I had terrible mileage today, but there is nothing I can do about it now.  I purposely slept in and started hiking at about 9:30AM. Shortly thereafter I ran into two guys doing a day hike to Glen Pass named Bill & Armin. I talked with them for a while, and then Armin whipped out a huge snickers bar and handed it to me. I couldn't believe it! Well I knew that was the highlight of the day, so it could only go down from there. I slowly trodded up Glen Pass until I came to a clean looking small lake and took a risk and drank 2 untreated liters from it. Half an hour later I felt much better. I made it over and ate lunch at Rae Lakes, which I remember vividly from last summer- they're gorgeous. The mosquitoes were bad there, but were even worse when I stopped for dinner at a large stream with lots of waterfalls. They were eating me alive. I've seen mosquitoes worse a couple times before, but these here are enough to drive me to fits of swearing. I continued on, but there were no places even close to suitable for camping for quite a distance, until I found one about 10:30PM. I put my food up in a bear bag set up, using a new technique I had heard about which is far easier, and I think more effective than counter-balancing. It's hard to describe in words, but people can email me when I'm done with my trip if they want to know.
        I set up my tarp, and am really pleased with it. Easy set up, lots of room, and it keeps most of the bugs out. I'm tired now, so off to sleep. I hope I can see as many of you as possible in Tuolumne Meadows soon!
 
 

Day 56, July 19th, Mile 811

Another day pulling pathetic mileage. Grr. I don't have much of an excuse. I felt like I was going fast, but apparently I just wasn't.
    I got up a little late, having slept through my alarm, and hit the trail about 8:15. By about 9:30 the mosquitoes were attacking me so feverishly that I had to stop and cover all my skin that was exposed, including my face, with repellant. Half an hour later I came across a good water source, put down 2 liters, and hiked on. Another half and hour later I felt much better and blitzed up Pinchot Pass. It was pretty non-descript, which might explain why I don't remember it at all from last year. I passed a huge group of hikers there, and passed several others periodically through the day.
    I got to a little tarn at the base of Mather Pass, and ate dinner at about 7:15. Ike, Jiwoo, Antonio and I ate at the same tarn last year doing the JMT, and it brought back vivid memories. I made an Orange milkshake there and gave it to Antonio because it was his birthday. After eating I asked myself if it would be more efficient to go over the pass now, reaching the top just as the stars came out, then searching a few miles below for a campsite, or getting up early tomorrow morning to do it. As long as I'm hydrated (and I am right near the tarn), I know I'm faster in the morning, with it light out. So I am now camped at the base of Mather Pass (but a few hundred yards from where I ate dinner- bears you know, and being above treeline, there is nothing to hang a bearbag from) near a tarn, preparing for an early start tomorrow.

The next few entries were written on the 23rd, while I waited for the Vermillion Valley Ferry. To make it easier, I wrote them as if it were that day.Top
 
 

Day 57, July 20th, Mile ~828

My early start turned into something closer to 7:30AM. I did make it over the pass before anyone else that day, though. Coming from the South, it was much easier than last year, when we came from the North. I soon came to the Palisade Lakes, which I also remember from last year. Lower Palisade was gorgeous! Descending down the "Golden Staircase" from there, I ran into these two women hiking southbound (doing the JMT) one of whom looked exactly like Natalie Portman. It was strange. I should have asked, but I didn't. Although it's unlikely, its not impossible that it was her- Steven Spielberg I heard rents out the Muir Trail Ranch for a week every year. And the woman I saw that looked like Natalie Portman was wearing far too much clothing than would have been comfortable there. Maybe to conceal who she was? Who knows. Much later that evening I caught another thru-hiker where he was camping- "Prehistoric" Tony. He started in April, but got pneumonia and was sidelined for a while, and has been moving slowly since he returned to the trail. He's about 35 and in the Air Force, so he has to go back to active duty for a couple weeks in August, so he's going to be doing a flip-flop to finish the trail. I said goodbye and continued on, but a few minutes later I ran into this group of three people, one of whom looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out where from. We got to talking, and I mentioned Prehistoric Tony, a thru-hiker, was camped not far away, and the guy that looked familiar said "Yea, but I'm looking for a guy named Chris Mills." I was surprised for a second and replied that that was me. It turned out it was Jeremy, this guy from CHAOS, the UC Berkeley outdoor club, whom I'd talked to once or twice but didn't know well. He was supposed to be doing the JMT with Mike Burns, but apparently Mike sprained his ankle just days before they were to start, so Jeremy was doing it solo, until he joined up with two others he met on the trail. He knew all sorts of stuff about my trip- he had been reading my website. I didn't know many CHAOS people were checking out my website. That's cool. Hi CHAOS people!! We said goodbye and very soon it got very dark, so I started searching for a campsite and reached to pull my light out of my pocket. It wasn't there! I lost it, and my Leatherman Micra, tick remover, and rescue whistle somewhere on the trail that day, probably where I stopped for lunch- a good 8 miles back. So I spent the next hour searching in the darkness for a spot to camp, then hanging my food. In general, it wasn't a fun way to end the day.Top
 
 

Day 58, July 21st, Mile 845

A little bit of sleep made me a lot less stressed about losing my light and stuff. But a few minutes after starting to hike I managed to put myself in a bad mood again by slipping while getting water out of a creek, and soaking my right foot. It was a great way to start the day. I put dry socks on, and my Gore-Tex oversocks over them, then dawned my soaking wet shoe, and hiked on. While taking a short break a little while later, prehistoric Tony came up and took a break too. I continued on, and told him I'd see him in a little while. It was only 4 miles or so to the top of Muir Pass, but it was insanely hard. Over half the trail was covered by either water or snow, and route finding wasn't easy. It took me over 4 hours to get the 4 miles to the Muir hut covered. Luckily, the way down the other side was much easier. Coming down I passed Evolution Lake. It was one of those places where I could stay for the rest of my life and be happy, it was that gorgeous. Of course, I'd never survive the winter- but it's nice to imagine. The last couple days I've passed about 10 really nice waterfalls, too. It's really beautiful out here. It's too bad the mosquitoes are so voracious.Top
 
 

Day 59, July 22nd, Mile ~859

A good part of the trail was exposed to the sun today, and it was a loooong uphill heading to the base of Selden Pass, so I was a bit uncomfortable. I had a much harder time coming up Selden Pass this time than I did last year from the other side. Every time it looked like I was at the top, I'd come over a ridge and see another higher one beyond. Finally I got to just below it and stood in awe of the Salley Key Lakes- another stunningly gorgeous place. Then it was up some more, and to the top of the pass, then down to the lake below for dinner. I hiked another hour and a half after that, then found a camping spot at dusk and hung my food and set up my tarp, all the while being bitten through my gloves by the densest swarm of mosquitoes I've seen on this trip.Top
 
 

Day 60, July 23rd, Mile 871

I got up at 3:30AM this morning and got on the trail by a little before 5. Not long after I came to a stream ford- awfully lame so early in the morning with the water so cold and the mosquitoes in such abundance. I managed to get across after changing into my sandals and continued on. I hiked as fast as I could, both up and then down a high ridge, and 12 miles later I make it to the ferry pick up at Vermillion Valley Resort at about 10:15AM, half an hour after it came. Luckily another came at about 2:15 (rather than the 4:45 normal pickup) and I got into VVR and ate, spending the night in their tent cabin. Luckily one of the owners here, Peggy, is letting me borrow a light of theirs as long as I mail it back later. The people here are awesome- highly recommended.Top
 
 

Day 61, July 24th, Mile ~883.1

This morning I was tired and managed to pour salt (thinking it was sugar) into my coffee. The people I was eating with thought it was funny. I didn't. One other note: Dave Stockton is off the trail with pneumonia.
    After getting off the ferry Tony and I ate half a pie each, organized our gear, and set off up the trail. We managed to keep ourselves occupied with some good conversation and made it up to Silver Pass, which was gorgeous. We ate dinner near the top, and 2 strange people walked up. The most notable was named Forest. He just seemed a little slow (mentally). He left a little before us, and Tony and I took a really long time for the rest of dinner, then headed out. We hiked at night for a while and found Forest at a camp at Tulley Hole, and camped there. He informed us that he never hung his food or treated his water.... ever. Hmmmm.
    OK, two things I forgot to mention about VVR. Peggy, one of the owners of the resort, and Butch, the other owner, found me a flashlight and let me borrow it with the promise to mail it back. They're rad. Anyone hiking this part of the trail is missing out if they fail to stop there.
    Secondly, there was a scale at VVR. After I ate a giant double cheeseburger, fries, a salad, a piece of pie, and drank two sodas, I weighed myself. I did not believe what it said. There was a sign on it that said it had just been calibrated, but I asked Peggy if it was accurate anyway. She came out and weighed herself, and said it was right on. If that's right I now weigh.... 126lbs! I've lost a lot of weight! (And that 126 includes the weight of my beard. J )Top
 
 

Day 62, July 25th, Mile 900.7

Today we got up later, and the mosquitoes were swarming like mad. We took off down the trail, and at Purple Lake, we came to a whole maze of intersecting trails and made the mistake of asking a weekend camper which was the PCT. Listening to him took us 2 hours off the trail, so Tony and I had to scramble like mad to make it to Red's Meadows to get the best cheeseburgers around, before the cafe closed at 7. Enroute we ran into a group of women who tried to slow us down and ask questions when we were in a rush to get down. They asked where Red's Meadow was, and I told them I was headed to it, but then they argued that they were headed the same direction as I was, and thought they were heading south toward Mt. Whitney, and had left Red's Meadow that day (via another trail), I assured them that I knew what I was doing, and left them in a confused state. They had made a wrong turn and basically made a big loop, back to where they started. I found that sort of funny, in a mean sort of way. They apparently annoyed Tony in the same way, insisting we were wrong about knowing where we were going. Hehe, what idiots. We made it to the Cafe with about 20 min. to spare, and enjoyed two full size meals each.
    We are spending the night at the little campground here, planning to leave tomorrow morning. Early.Top
 
 

Day 63, July 26th, Mile ~912

Tony and I spent a loooong time talking after eating breakfast, and then we hiked slowly since Tony was feeling pretty sick. Later that evening we were planning to eat dinner briefly at a picnic table at a campground, but the camp host decided to pay us a visit. He told us we couldn't use an empty bench (there were maybe 20); that it was against regulations and that a Federal Ranger would fine us. I don't think either statement was true. Anyway, he got me pissed off, and I was about to argue with him, but Tony and I decided to forget it, and we ate at the parking lot which had water. While there, another hiker came by that Tony knew, named Jesse. He's a really funny guy. He's out here to escape from stuff at home basically. He is the dirtiest hiker I have seen on the trail, and has some bizarre habits. When he is done eating out of his pot, he throws dirt in it. He has a bad habit of losing utensils, so he often uses sticks to eat. His dad teaches at UC Berkeley, and he went to Head Royce for H.S., then went to UCSB for a couple years. He says the most random things. When we were eating lunch at a lake he just walked into the water, and threw a piece of line with a hook on it into the water. It only went about 3 ft. from him. He didn't catch anything. The conversation later evolved to include the fisherman and other day hikers out, and all the women we saw walking around. Tony was talking about pick up lines, and Jesse suggested "You fish here often?"
    Anyway, we didn't hike far, and camped on a rather sloped hill, but under an amazing night sky.Top
 
 

Day 64, July 27th, Mile ~924

We hit the trail by about 6AM today and kept up a good clip down the pass, and through a loooong series of meadows, until we finally got to Tuolumne Meadows at about 1:30am. Tony had led me to believe that there was a decent grill here where we could get breakfast. I had envisioned a nice sit down cafe like at Red's Meadow, but it was a junky stand with plastic letters pushed into a slot board, and no where to sit. I was disappointed. My mother had left late and didn't arrive till 4PM, and Jess's ride had fallen through, so she drove herself and arrived shortly after my mom. WE all camped at the backpacker site at the campground and ate a whole bunch of the food my mom brought. Food was good. Most everything else here is a bit disappointing. Top
 
 

Day 65, July 29th, Layover day

We drove into the valley today, where I did my laundry and had lunch. Just for the record, I hate Yosemite Valley. It has been a rather boring day, but on the plus side I got a package from Dani (Thanks!), a letter from Isabel, and got my replacement filter. On the down side I was unable to get my sleeping bag washed, my water bladder replaced, or my Leki pole tips replaced. Top
 
 

Summary of Section H:

Geography: Steep, gorgeous, lots of water. High elevations. Really really gorgeous

Animals: Deer, signs of bear, lots of Marmots, picas, chipmunks, fish

People: Saw Jeremy from Chaos, met up with Tony and Jesse, and met Beaker and Todd at Tuolumne Meadows.Top
 
 

Day 66, July 30th, Mile ~943.5

Today I wrote some letters and mailed them off, and spent the morning saying goodbye to Beaker & Todd. Beaker is this tall redhead that wears a straw hat that has been duct-taped up & has no top to it. He graduated from Dartmouth w/an Anthro degree last semester & is using hiking as an opportunity to figure out what he wants to do next. Todd is another tall guy w/a huge external frame pack that weighs 80lbs or something. He has to spend over 3 hours on the phone today telling a guy taking over his job at a computer company he used to work for how to do things. I also said goodbye to Tony for now, as he is getting picked up by a friend & driven to Sonora Pass where he will hike w/ his friend & his friend's son, who will earn some merit badges for the hike. I left with this woman named Veronica Galavan who is a 28 yr. old neurobiology Grad student at UCI. She is really strange and says some pretty random and sarcastic things. She reminds me of a cross between my hiking friend Isabel and my cousin Elizabeth. She has a pretty bizarre laugh. (She's cool though.) And she says she is hungry now. We are camped a little past Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, which had a gorgeous waterfall.
    Oh, I almost forgot. I got word that Lou Meier (Crazy Lou) is going to be joining me for a little while next month, which will be cool. And interestingly, Veronica read the journal entries on Ike's website that chronicles our JMT hike when I met Lou, so she knew the whole story of that hike when I started relating it to her. She also read Nathan Martin's PCT journal last year. He is the PCT thru-hiker from '99 that works at LBL & helped me out with planning. Jess said he is following my hike as well. (Hi Nathan!). OK, Veronica actually got up to eat, and I'm done writing now, so I'm going to bed. Oh, Veronica is hiking from Kennedy Meadows (now on fire) to Tahoe, but today is probably the last I'll see her b/c I have to get to Echo Lake by morning of the 7th, and that forces me to move fast.Top
 
 
 
 

Day 67, July 31st, Mile ~959

I was very slow getting up today and Veronica left before me. I felt sluggish all morning, but caught Veronica eating what she termed "Lunch, Part 1" after a couple hours. I ate lunch too, which again made for her leaving before me. I caught her an hour or so later eating "Lunch, Part 2" and she gave me some goldfish/chex Honey Roasted flavor mix that was really good. Up to that point I had managed to cross several rock hops over creeks that were rather challenging, so it was good for my confidence in my balance. Resuming hiking, we soon came across a Ranger on horseback. She asked to see our permits, which I had not had anyone else do on this trip. She also asked if we had heard a weather report (we hadn't and neither had she) and commented on the clouds building in the sky. Sure enough, half an hour later we could hear violent thunder and some dark clouds began moving in. I liked it a lot b/c I love exciting weather. After another half hour the downpour began, and I set up my tarp and we cooked dinner under it, staying nice and dry. The rain let up after about 45 min, but by then it was 7:30. We hiked an hour more, and then decided to camp near Miller Creek. That made for poor mileage for today, but I couldn't have safely gotten over Benson Pass which lies 2 miles ahead anyway, with all the lightening. Even now as I'm under my tarp about to go to sleep, it will rain for a minute or 2 & then stop, then start again. It's nice to fall asleep to the sound of raindrops though. Top

Back














Day 68, August 1st, Mile 977.6
 

Today was an interesting day. It was overcast but acceptably cool in the morning as I went over Benson Pass, then it got sunny and warm. Although I didn't accompany her, Veronica went down to a sandy beach at Benson Lake, called the Riviera, and found Beaker taking a rest day there.
    Later that afternoon we could see clouds building up, but as I was anxious to make miles, I made a tactical error and pushed for the top of Seavey Pass anyway. I was at the high point (which is about a mile wide) when the storm hit full force with lightning striking on all sides of me. It was so close that the sound of the thunder literally shook both me and the ground. I could feel it, not just hear it. I was actually really scared, and all the while the rain was pouring down. At the sign for the pass I came across a British family (Dad, Mom, 3 kids, some very young) going in the opposite direction. I said "Ha, someone else as stupid as I am! Aren't you afraid of getting electrocuted?" He said no since there were trees taller than they were. That struck me as a naïve view to take, and when he asked if I was concerned I admitted that I was quite scared. I hiked on, and stopped for a few minutes under a tree as the rain intensified. I moved some stuff inside my pack into a plastic garbage bag, and ate a piece of Logan Bread that Dani sent me (Thanks Dani!), all the while feeling the hair on my arms move around from the static electricity in the air. As I was just about to leave I got a nosebleed that forced me to take a longer break than I wanted. I did eventually manage to make it down and out of the storm alive. I have to admit that it was really exhilarating--a major adrenaline rush. There were several pristine ponds on top of the pass that with the rain and lightening were powerfully beautiful in a haunting sort of way. All in all, despite being scared (perhaps because I was scared?) it was an experience I look back on fondly. After dinner I met up with Veronica again (she was smart enough to wait half and hour before going up on the pass) and we are camped at Stubblefield Canyon after passing a strange orangish-tan colored snake, and hiking down a very steep and rocky ravine in the dark. Top
 
 

Day 69, Aug 2nd, Mile ~995.2
I was feeling very unenergetic this morning, and went very slowly for the first few hours. Eventually I decided to stop at a little pond and filter several liters to drink. While there I noticed a whole bunch of interesting things in the water. There were lots of brown waterbugs that swam around under the surface using two little leg things that stuck out form their sides. There were more that were silver colored and looked like little balls of mercury. I saw some tadpoles and a really strange bug that moved very fast underwater and looked like a tadpole until it stopped on the pond bottom and I saw 6 creepy looking legs pop out. It reminded me of those robotic bug things that destroy ships in the movie The Matrix, but w/o the tentacles. I stayed there about an hour drinking water and watching.
    This evening I caught up with Veronica and we stopped for dinner at Dorothy Lake. While there Beaker showed up & joined us. We hiked on, and I crossed a footbridge that had collapsed on one side, so getting across it was a fun acrobatic endeavor. Beaker stopped to camp a mile or so before Veronica and I, who stopped at a spot hidden up on a ridge. Top
 
 

Day 70, Aug 3rd, Mile 1013.4
Today started out normally, but started getting interesting by mid-afternoon. That was when I started heading up out of Kennedy Canyon. A huge storm front moved in and started dumping rain and dropping lightening all around me. Between the loud and very explosive claps of thunder, I heard what sounded like pots banging together or cow bells, but more organized. I kept scanning the forest to figure out where it was coming from, but I couldn't see a thing. I found out later that both Beaker and Veronica heard it too, but couldn't figure out what it was.
    Heading farther up, the storm seemed to relax a bit, and I found myself at a very high ridge, traveling along it on talus, with a very barren look to it. There were very few plants but I did notice that those that were there were very fragrant and made me hungry. Not long after starting the ridge hike the storm returned and lightening became a problem again. Luckily the bolts stayed a reasonable distance away- there was never less than a 5-second gap between seeing lightening and hearing the thunder. Unfortunately the rain didn't stay away. I quickly got soaked, but continued on, along the ridge of wet talus. A few minutes later the rain turned to hail and it was bouncing off my hat & jacket, and stinging when it hit my face or hands. Later on, the trail traversed several snowfields, but luckily the hail and rain had eased for a brief bit. Veronica and I continued over some more ridges, & after a long sweeping switchback we came to Sonora Pass, where Veronica's friend "K" was waiting, along with Beaker. They all were going into Bridgeport and since I was: 1. Soaked 2. Had soaked clothes on the outside of my pack which I was trying to dry after washing, and 3. I was running out of food, I decided to go along as well. We got to Bridgeport and I ate at a restaurant there: a huge bacon cheeseburger, a huge burrito especial, poppers, zucchini & mozzarella sticks, and I drank a coke. It was so massive; I am amazed I was able to eat it all.
    Now we are staying at a little "Victorian" hotel for the night.
    Oh, one other thing- I passed the 1000-mile mark today. Yay me! And: Happy 16th B-day to my little brother Devin.Top
 
 

Section I Summary:
Rain, lightening, hail, lots of deer, beautiful passes, a lot of up and down, rain, lightening.
Gear: the new Leatherman Micra my mom bought for me and brought to me at Tuolumne has irregular edges on the scissors blades & cuts terribly, so I'm going to have to get it replaced, along w/ my leaking MSR water bladder, and Leki pole tips once I get to Echo Lake.Top
 
 

Day 71, Aug 4th, Mile ~1022
This morning we went to the Hay's Street Café for breakfast. I realized after we got to the side w/ the entrance that I'd been there before- last year, the morning I started my JMT hike, with David Dobervich, David Coppedge, and David Coppedge's dad, who drove us. Interestingly enough, it was on Aug 4th of '99, exactly 1 year ago to the day that I was there. I remembered them having good food, so I ordered and ate all of (I'm quite proud of this): an order of biscuits and gravy with 2 eggs, a full order of French toast with bacon, a homemade giant cinnamon roll, a large dish of fresh fruit, and an orange juice and water. All of the food was excellent, and I was quite full by the time I needed to fork over the 20 bucks I spent on the meal(s).
    After breakfast we went to get Beaker's package room the P.O., went to the fishing store to get iodine tablets for Veronica, went to the store to get some extra food, and went to a park to sort all the food. All things done, we didn't get back on the trail till 3PM. We hiked separately for a while, then I caught up to Beaker having dinner, and had dinner there myself. He left before me, and I couldn't find him where he said he was going to camp. So I'm camped along on the side of a hill above a creek. There aren't too many clouds tonight, so I can finally see the starts again. Top
 
 

Day 72, Aug 5th, Mile 1045

    Funny thing I noticed this morning.  I had thought I had found a decent stealth camp where I would be safe from bears, but it was dark by the time I finally chose the spot.  In the light this morning I noticed HUGE gashes in the tree from a bear marking his territory.  I guess I need to start choosing my camping spots while it is still light outside.
    I finally knocked out more than 20 miles again. The High Sierras, with lots of up and down and really high elevation, and with me wasting time shooting the breeze with Tony, in addition to staying near him a day or 2 while he was sick, ensured that I couldn't get 20 for awhile. Now it finally flattened out and the weather calmed down so lightening isn't a factor.
Veronica is somewhere behind me- I'm not sure how far, and Beaker is somewhere ahead of me, though again I'm not sure how far.
    Not too much of note for today. I hit Ebbett's Pass tonight around 8:30PM, ate dinner, and went about a 1/4 mile up the trail, to where I'm camped now. Hopefully I will be able to do more than 20 miles tomorrow so I will have less than 20 to get to Echo Lake on Monday. Top
 
 

Day 73, Aug 6th, Mile 1066.7
I got up a little later than usual this morning- a little after 6AM. I still managed to hit the trail by 7:45 or so, but then had to very quickly stop and filter water.
    At lunch I checked the data book and realized it was 5 miles farther to Echo then I though, so I realized today would have to be a 25 miles day to make for only 20 miles tomorrow. I knew even then that I didn't have a great shot at that.
Beaker's footprints seemed to disappear for 4 or 5 miles after where I had lunch, leading me to wonder if I had somehow passed him. Suddenly they reappeared, though. By about 5PM I started feeling really weak and fatigued, so I stopped to eat dinner, which consumed the remainder of my water, and left me waterless for about 4 miles, luckily the weather was nice, and I got to Lost Lakes about 9, which has some interesting trees sticking out of the water which will make for cool photos when the light is out.Top
 
 

Day 74, Aug 7th, Mile 1089
I got up at 4:45 this morning, took some photos of the lake, and headed out. I got to Carson Pass at about 10:30, and called my friend LaVonne, and continued on down the trail relatively quickly. I stopped for lunch at Showers Lake, then hiked some more. At a little after 5pm I came across my dad on the trail, who had come to meet me at Echo Lake. I continued to Echo Lake, and we found Beaker there, who we took back home with us. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment (which is what I came home for a day for), and I'll start hiking again by wed. morning.
    OK, a note to everyone. There is a good possibility that I will be forced to do a flip flop, and when I get to the Oregon Border, take a bus to Canada and hike south, so I'm in WA in September (a much more docile month there) and in OR in October (a much more docile state than WA). Top
 
 

Section J summary:
Fairly pretty, nice and flat, great weather, and overall fast hiking. Lots of weekender campers, though. Bears exist there, but don't seem to be a pernicious problem.
 

OK some more funny stories about Jesse: When he, prehistoric Tony, and some others were near Joshua Tree spring, Jesse walked down to the spring (1.2 mile round trip) to get water. He returned a while later, with no water, and a forlorn look on his face. "The water wasn't running very well, and there was a bear cub there, and I didn't see its mom, so I didn't get water."
    When I discovered that my mom fad left a spoon in Tuolumne meadows, Jesse looked at me and said, "You have a spoon? I've been using sticks."
    When Jesse first started in Cabazon he has a 60lb pack and was hiking in jeans. He collapsed for a couple days after the 1st day of hiking. One time during those couple days he went to get water and returned to find a rattlesnake sitting on his sleeping bag. Jesse started throwing rocks at it, and in describing the situation: "So I messed it up, but it wouldn't move, so I messed it up some more." Besides ripping a hole in his sleeping bag, he killed the snake. He then decided to eat it, but didn't know how, so he ended up throwing away the meat and trying to eat some of the organs, boiled, like the heart.
    When he was camped at the Tuolumne Meadows campground with us, Jesse had left some Kool-Aid in his pack, which was right next to him. At about 10:30PM a bear came up and grabbed his pack, and started taking off with it. Jesse clapped and yelled, and it dropped the pack, looked at him strangely, and took off.
    Oh, Veronica had hurt her ankle and was behind us when I went home. I'm hoping she is now in front of us & we'll catch her (I also hope her ankle is OK. She's entertaining and pretty cool, so I'd like to say goodbye to her before she leaves at Sierra City.) We'll see. Top
 
 

Day 75, Aug 9th, Mile ~1093
My mother drove Beaker and I back to Echo Lake today, where we arrived about 1:30PM- much later than we wanted. Yesterday Beaker and I went to REI, where I got two broken water bladders replaced, my Leatherman Micra replaced, my Leki pole tips replaced, and I finally got a new Photon Micro II light, this time in white instead of turquoise. We also got our sleeping bags washed, and I had my doctor's appointment. I apparently don't have to worry about any of my little ailments. None are likely to lead to anything more serious in the next 3 months, so I'm all good.
    Once at Echo, my mom helped me sew some things on my backpack (my parents are awesome!) and I started sorting my package of food. Beaker found that his package wasn't there, so he was stuck there till it came. We also saw Veronica there, so the three of us hung out for a while, while I got my pack together, which took a long time. All things done, I didn't leave Echo till about 6:30PM. I left alone, as Beaker was waiting for his package and Veronica wanted to rest up her ankle. I walked around the Echo Lakes instead of taking the ferry, so as not to cheat, and I'm now camped in a stealth site a ways up from the trail, with a nice view of Echo Lake below.Top
 
 

Day 76, Aug 10th, Mile ~1109
I am having to guess at mileage because I'm not exactly sure where I am, but its at least 1109.
I got up this morning and walked a couple miles to Lake Aloha on an empty stomach and while dehydrated, and then had a huge breakfast there. Moving on I slowly got closer to Dick's pass, but felt sluggish. I did finally get over the pass, having seen lots of pretty lakes enroute (and lots of dayhikers and weekenders) and saw more of the same on the other side. I've been through most of this area before, so it was quite familiar. I ate dinner at Middle Velma Lake, where I talked with two women, and their dog for a while. (Well, I just saw their dog.) They were very friendly, as was their dog. Bidding them goodbye I started hiking and found I had much more energy. Nevertheless, I stopped by about 8:20PM (very early for me) and set up a stealth camp. I am going to try getting more sleep b/c I know I haven't been getting enough, and I wonder if I'll hike much faster if I'm better rested. G'nite! Top
 
 

Day 77, Aug 11th, Mile ~1132
I still felt sluggish this morning, but eventually made it to Richardson Lake for lunch. After eating, and taking an Excedrin, I felt much better and pushed on. I saw several other hikers out, but managed to avoid having to interact with them for more than a couple min. each. Eventually I got around Ward peak and started pushing along the side of a ridge, up high in the wind. I realized I was very low on water, and still had another 5 or 6 miles to go to my next water source. I stopped at about 8PM to make dinner, right on the trail. I poured a little less than half the water I had into my pot and set it on the stove. Just then it toppled over, and all the water spilled onto the ground, forcing me to use all the rest of my water, save for a couple ounces, to make dinner. I managed to very mildly burn my thumb on the stove while I tried to reposition it, too. Finally, I had eaten, and I hiked on in the dark, down a ridge full of switchbacks, and I'm camped under the stars on a small flat spot where the trail makes a sharp turn at a switchback. Top
 
 

Day 78, Aug 12th, Mile 1153.1
I got to the creek out of the 5 Lakes Basin early this morning, and filtered a lot of water and drank a ton there, staring at a bunch of trout kind of trapped in this pool in the creek, while I drank. Again, I was a little slow in the morning, but got faster as I went. I passed through the top of Squaw Valley, underneath the chair lifts, and had lunch at a little creek there, seeing tons of day hikers, weekenders, and trail runners. Squaw Creek was my last source of water till Hwy 80, over 15 miles away, so I loaded up and headed out. I hiked through the top of Alpine Meadows ski resort, and Sugar Bowl, going around Tinker Knob between the two.  By about 5:30PM I was feeling pretty fatigued, and annoyed by passing day hikers, but pushed on so I could get to 80 where my Dad might me waiting. I started dropping down to Hwy 40, and could hear dirt bikes, so I readied myself with my poles, if one happened to be coming up the narrow PCT, where they aren't allowed. It turned out they were having some big race at Donner ski ranch, though, so I didn't have to do battle with any of them. I got to Hwy 40, which was blocked off by bulldozers for the race, and started the 4 miles between Hwy 40 and Hwy 80. The trail in this section made so many stupid turns, that I'm sure the linear distance between the two highways is less than a mile. I was dead tired, and just followed the PCT signs to a rest stop on the westbound side of 80 (just after crossing under the Hwy through the drainage tunnel). My Dad wasn't there, so I checked the guide hook and found that I had to backtrack to the other side of the freeway again and take a side trail to get to the parking lots where my Dad was. In a frustrated state, I walked that part, and couldn't find my Dad there, so I was about to leave a note saying I had gone to a Trail Angel's, when he pulled up.
    We went to dinner at a nice pizza place, then camped at the Donner Campground. I'm really exhausted, so I think I'm going to sleep in tomorrow.Top
 
 

Section K Summary:
Very short. In general, some up & down, but the terrain was not too difficult. The mosquitoes were not too bad either. The ski lifts and the hordes of day hikers were a bit annoying, though.Top
 
 

Day 79, Aug 13th, Mile ~1164.7
Yesterday after a shower at the campground, I set my damp towel on the picnic table to dry overnight. Half of it was on the table-top, and the other half hung down. The next morning there was frost on the table, and my towel was frozen into an "L" shape. I never even noticed it got cold. Yay for decent gear!
    I had a small breakfast and did laundry this morning, and was annoyed by how trendy-yuppie-snotty Truckee has become, with coffee shops on every corner. I hit the trail about noon, and randomly ran into Katina Zannakis, and her boyfriend, Adam. I knew Katina way back in grammar school, and was friends with her brother. I had heard that she & her boyfriend had gotten married, but apparently they haven't yet, but I think they are engaged. It was cool running into her.
    Hiking on, and battling swarms of dayhikers, I moved slowly but steadily, and ate dinner at White Rock Creek. My appetite that last few days has been next to nothing, and I've been having to force myself to eat, which is strange. Hopefully nothing's wrong. I'm now stealth camped several hundred yards from the trail, looking forward to a good night's sleep. Top
 
 

Day 80, Aug 14th, Mile ~1181
The terrain today wasn't that challenging, but somehow I didn't get many miles in despite feeling like I was going a steady pace. For most of the day there were no discernible landmarks I could find on the map, so I had no idea where on the trail I was. I passed through a "selective harvest" timber cutting area, and a bunch of debate arguments popped into my head. Gotta love debate. I did notice a couple things, just experientially (I hope you're reading this, Larisa! :) ) 1. There was more dust on that section than any other I can remember passing through. 2. There was far more dead forest debris than anywhere else I've seen. That means more chance of a more severe fire. Perhaps selective harvesting does more to promote unnatural forest fires than to prevent them. I have lots of other arguments too, but I'll spare all of you.
    I finally got to Pass Creek campground a bit after 8, had dinner & got water, and continued up the trail about 1/2 a mile, where I am now camped. Top
 
 

Day 81, Aug 15th, Mile 1191.5
I tried getting up early today, but having gone to bed late I failed. I got on the trial about 7:45, went upwards very briefly and then started an easy decent toward Sierra City, passing several creeks enroute which I plan to come back to for some picture taking some other time. I continued down, and soon the pine forest changed to Oak and it got really hot and muggy. I passed the Yuba River, which had some inviting swimming holes, but I moved on since I don't have any time to waste. I got to Sierra City, where my mother was supposed to meet me, but she wasn't here. After making some phone calls I found out she wasn't coming due to a miscommunication. I also called Lou and he offered to get me in Belden and drive me up to Manning Park, and hike with me for a few days. In some ways it would be problematic for me to flip flop this soon b/c a number of my Nor. Cal packages have already been sent, but it would have the advantage of keeping me out of some very hot, steep, waterless sections until fall. It's something to ponder over the next few days. I'd get to hike with Lou for a while, woo. Hmm.
OK, I'd better get things together and head out of here and back on the trail. Top
 
 

Section L Summary:
Short, relatively flat. I have some water problem being here in August. Scenery is okay. Top
 
 

Day 82, Aug 15th (cont.), Mile ~1192
For some indiscernible reason, it took me forever to get all the stuff done in Sierra City that I wanted to. The fact that it was taking me so long got me really frustrated, and I spent most of the evening in a bad mood, and didn't leave till 7:15PM. Amazingly enough, hiking the 1.5 miles along Hwy 49 back to the trail made me feel a bit better, and hiking up the switchbacks enroute to the Sierra Buttes made me feel perfectly fine again- this despite the fact that it was getting dark and there are no campsites to be found. I am now again camped at a tiny flat spot at a switchback, literally 6 inches from the trail. So much for stealth camping. The weather is warm, and I'm again sleeping sans tarp, under the stars Top
 
 

Day 83, Aug 16th, Mile ~1206
I had to start this morning going up steep switchbacks towards the Sierra Buttes, carrying a heinous load of 6 days worth of food, plus the maximum capacity of water I had available, b/c the databook said I had a waterless 15 miles stretch in front of me. Eventually the switchbacks stopped and I walked along a completely exposed trail, on the side of the ridge, and it was getting quite uncomfortably hot. It reminded me of the San Felipe Hills with the sun exposure (but not quite that bad). I got a tiny bit of water from a spring that had dwindled to less than a trickle, and moved on. After about 6 miles I came to a spot where the terrain leveled off and there were trees and shade again, and then I found a nice spring where I stopped for lunch and rehydrated myself. Afterwards I felt much better, and pushed on, at a faster rate than the snail's crawl I had been maintaining earlier. At about 6PM I got the highlight of my day, and one of the biggest highlights of the trip- I saw a Bear! As soon as it saw me it took off and ran away, so I mostly only saw it from behind, but it was definitely a bear. It was fairly small, about waist high, but cool nonetheless. I'm now camped a few hundred yards from the trail, under the stars. I didn't hang my food which should have me nervous since I just saw a bear, right? Somehow watching the thing run away from me as scared as it was actually emblazoned me, now I'm not so worried about it trying to take my food because I feel confident I could scare it off with ease. Hopefully I'm right.  Off to sleep now to the sound of cow bells and mooing. Top
 
 

Day 84, Aug 17th, Mile 1221
Another terrible mileage day today, and I'm not sure why. The terrain was not too bad, I just moved really slow and wasted a lot of time until after lunch. Hopefully I can do better tomorrow. There is nothing much of note to talk about today. This morning I stopped at a pond to filter water that had little frogs and those silver water bugs again. A bit after lunch I saw a deer that seemed fairly brave and stared at me for a while.
    That's about it. Now I'm camped sans tarp again, under the stars, hoping to make a big mileage day tomorrow. My appetite is still way down, but I have been forcing myself to eat, so hopefully I'll still have enough tomorrow.Top
 
 

Day 85, Aug 18th, Mile ~1237
At about 8:30 this morning I crossed a jeep road and continued down the trail when I heard the sound of a dirt bike. I turned and watched a guy on a motorcycle, dragging something, turn off the road, right onto the PCT. I stayed where I was, so he couldn't pass, and was about to let him have it when I noticed he was dragging a bundle of rebar, so I just said: "What are you doing?" He explained that they'd been contracted by the forest service to do trail maintenance, and he was building a retaining wall. I'm not sure I like that the Forest Service would let dirt bikes on the trail, but I didn't have anything to yell at the guy for, so he went up on ahead. A few minutes later a dog went sprinting past me at full speed, and didn't even acknowledge that I was there. About 20 minutes later I came across both that man and dog, and the man was hammering the rebar into the ground. He then asked if I heard about the fire. I hadn't, although yesterday I saw what I thought might be smoke, but it was so voluminous & puffy looking that I assumed they were just funny colored clouds. Apparently an area near the Feather River, right where I am headed, is on fire. My next resupply is in Belden. I hope it hasn't burned down. Kennedy Meadows apparently burned down soon after I left. I know they closed Hwy 70, which goes by Belden. Hmmm. My Dad is probably freaking out. It'll be interesting to see if they have closed the trail in front of me.
    Anyway, I could see the smoke, which looked like an Atom bomb went off, for much of the day. Otherwise I just hiked, passing a huge bile of bear scat at one point.
    My feet have been more sore than usual the last week and a half or so, and I'm not sure why. I have a new set of shoes arriving in a couple weeks, and new insoles at Belden (assuming it isn't in ashes) so hopefully that will solve the problem.
I again made terribly mileage today and I'm angry about it. It felt like I was going fast all day- I'm not sure how I managed to go such a short distance. That leaves 47 or so miles to do in the next 2 days, so it's a big day tomorrow. Better go to sleep.Top
 
 

Day 86, Aug 19th, Mile ~1253
Today about 9Am I came up over a small hill, and there in front of me was a fairly large (about chest high) bear, very dark black. It saw me before I saw it, and it had already started to run away from me, crashing through bushes. Anyway, that makes 2 bears in 3 days- pretty cool.
    Soon after seeing the bear I started the long decent toward the middle fork of the Feather River, which is at 2000 something feet. Enroute I was forced to contend with tons of poison oak, and those annoying flies that buzz around in front on one's face. I've decided that the flies are definitely worse than the mosquitoes. With the skeeters, repellant or clothes can solve, or at least help, the problem, but with the flies, all you can do is put a headnet on, but then you can't see well enough to hike. I don't like the flies. When I got down to the river, I took a swim and ate lunch. Hiking out from the river took me up, and up, and up, and up, and up. I'd gotten back up to about 5000 ft when I stopped by a tiny creek to make dinner. I had not seen a person for days and had spread everything out and sat directly on the trail. I was waiting for my food to cool when I heard someone yell from close range "CHRIS!" and completely startle me. It was Beaker. We ate there and he told me what information he had about the fire, that it was northeast of Belden, and that Belden was still open.
    We hiked about a mile further, and camped. The plan is to do a huge near 30 miles day tomorrow and get to Belden by late tomorrow night.
 
 

Day 87, Aug 20th, Mile ~1278.5, then back to 1274.1
What an interesting day it has been. Beaker and I got up and moving, took some photos at lookout Rock, and hiked as fast as we could. At Buck's summit road there was a sign up that said the PCT was closed from Belden north to Humbolt summit because of the fire, and it suggested and alternate route around, on forest service roads. I filled out a card there saying we'd headed up the trail, and might take the alternate route. I then headed up the trail, with Beaker just behind me. We had noticed three signs before leaving that said the PCT was closed north of Belden, and one that said it was closed north of Three Lakes, which we pass 6 miles before getting to Belden. We chose to ignore the latter, and headed up. By the time we stopped for dinner at Clear Creek it was dark despite being 5PM, and looked overcast. It was all smoke. We were making jokes about how our packages had burned up, and we were inhaling them now. Not so funny, it turned out. I was about 2 min. ahead of Beaker when I came around a corner and stopped cold. I turned around and waited for a minute, then yelled "Beaker, we've got a problem." In front of me, about 100 yards away, were flames. It looked like the trail went right through them, and into the charred remains of the burned chaparral & trees. Beaker came up and saw flames, and let out a perplexed sigh. Both of us agreed- definitely the coolest part of the trip yet. Total adrenaline rush. We kept along the trail and got closer to see if the trail might avoid the dangerous parts. The flames appeared to be off to the right of the trial, but the part around the trail was already burned, and all the charred skeletons of the chaparral were still smoking. While walking along the trail we could literally feel the waves of heat radiating from the burned brush on the sides. We hiked to where we could get a decent view of the rest of the ridge and the trail, which was not easy since it was after 9PM. There were dozens of still flaming spots below us, and occasionally we could hear a bizarre rumbling we couldn't identify. We were pretty sure that turning back was our only option, although Beaker, under the influence of the adrenaline rush, suggested we go on. Just then the area behind a ridge where the trail went flashed and began giving off an eerie orange glow- the smoke light up form below from a huge stand of trees or something that had just become the fire's latest victim. The glow changed our minds. I quickly took some photos, which are unlikely to come out well since it was at night and I lacked a tripod. Having spent a lots of time in the burn zone already, we figured we had pushed our luck enough and started hiking back. We considered hiking all the way back to Buck's Summit Road so we could get to somewhere the fire couldn't reach us no matter what it did, but that would have made for way over a 40 mile day, and we decided we were tired. We made a 30 mile day of it and are now camped at Clear Creek. We figure if worse comes to worse and the fire really does advance to where we camped, we could get in the water and probably at least keep ourselves alive. It's very late, and I'm going to sleep.
 
 

Day 88, Aug 21st, Mile ~1264 (backtracked to Bucks Summit Road)
Today was an interesting day as well. Beaker tried to kill me, and we had the Search and Rescue Dept. and the Sheriff looking for us (or at least saying they were). We woke up fairly late, after 6:30, having had a long day yesterday. I went to the creek to filter water, and was sitting on a rock in the middle of the creek. Beaker had already packed and had spied some very large sections of a huge log that had clearly fallen across the trail, then was cut w/ a chain saw during trial maintenance. The cut out sections had been rolled to the side of the trail, and were about 4-5 ft in diameter, about 4 ft high, and I'd guess weigh between 200 & 300 lbs. Beaker had with effort knocked one on its side, and was pushing it to see if he could get it to roll into the stream (I don't know why). He tried moving one into position and it started rolling down the embankment toward the creek. I heard it and watched. It angled a little bit toward where I was and I thought it a little scary that it was going to land so close to me. Then it hit something and was headed to within 3 or 4 feet of me, getting me worried about getting splashed. Then it hit something else, and it became clear that this massive log that weighed literally twice as much as me, which was about 5 feet away, was headed right toward me. Everything in the next 2 seconds felt like it was in slow motion, although I lacked time to act as I would have liked to ideally. I dropped my filter and stood up on the rock, took a very quick glance around at the bank of the creek, and jumped. The side of the creek I was facing that was close enough to jump to was right in the log's path, and it didn't occur to me to turn my back to the 2 or 3 hundred pound chunk of wood hurdling toward me (nor did I have time), and look at the opposite bank, so I jumped right into the creek, soaking my shoes and socks and gaiters, and the bottom of my pants. The log slammed into the rock with a resonating thud, but managed to lodge itself between the rock I was sitting on and the bank, luckily not rolling over the rock and pulverizing my filter and water bladder. Beaker didn't think the log would roll that way, so it wasn't done on purpose, but nonetheless I made him filter the rest of my water while I put dry socks and my Gore-Tex sock liners on.
    We started hiking soon after my brush with death, seeing a few helicopters pass speedily overhead, but not seeing another person (nor another person's footprints). About 1:30 we got to Buck's Summit Road, and spent about half an hour there waiting for a hitch to Lakeshore Resort lodge on Buck's Lake.
    I immediately called home when I got to Buck's lake and found that my Dad was there, having taken the day off from work because he was so stressed out at the possibility of me having being burned alive. He told me that my mother was up near Buck's Lake then, and had called both Search and Rescue and the Sheriff. I then called both Search and Rescue and the Sheriff and told them where I was, in case my mother called them back. Beaker and I had also decided to try to take Lou up on his offer to drive to Manning Park since we couldn't go north on (or even near, given the size of the fire) the trail for what appeared to be a long while. Better to start the flip flop now. Due to a timing problem Lou couldn't go any longer, however. Just as I had finished up my phone calls and we were about to order something to eat, my mother walked in, glad to see me, but obviously a bit fatigued by the whole ordeal (the search & rescue people had told her to come up from Sacramento both yesterday and today, and drive around searching for me). There had been some serious confusion because I had filled out the card saying we were heading north on the trail and might be taking the suggested alternate route, and after we left, but before my mother found the card, they had changed the signs, closing all the PCT north of Buck's Summit Road, and suggesting a new and different "alternate route."
Beaker and I ate, then drove to Oroville where we met my Dad, who is driving us to Ashland where we are going to take a bus to Canada. Top

Non-hiking Days, Aug. 22-23rd
Beaker and I are spending 29 hours on a Greyhound bus going to Manning Park.  Apparently our ticket was not issued correctly, and when getting back on the bus in Seattle after it was serviced, the bus driver told us that we needed to get our tickets re-issued in Vancouver, and then told me that he would be surprised if we made it to where we were supposed to be going.  That struck me as a funny thing for a Greyhound employee to say.
    Things got more interesting when we got to Customs.  They took us back to Immigration and asked where we were going, etc., and how much cash we had.  The woman then asked if we had proof of how much money was in our accounts, and what our credit limit was (and said that she couldn't call the bank or credit card company--it was our responsibility to have written proof).  She then said she might have to deny us entry into Canada because we had insufficient funds.  She took our ID's and told us to wait in some chairs.  About 5 minutes later a guard came out with a drug sniffing dog, and he had us stand up so the dog could check us out, and check over out packs.  Then the woman called us up again and asked if we had run out of money on the trip.  She asked how we were employed, and when we started, and seemed to think there was no way we could afford our trip.  She seemed not to be able to understand that aside from the restaurant meals a hiker occasionally gets in towns, there are no costs during the trip like people have on a regular vacation (with the possible exception of having a forest fire force you to buy a ticket for a 30 hour bus ride).  She had used the computer to check something about our ID's and finally they told us we could go ahead, and we went back to the bus with a driver that was really annoyed with us at having held the bus up so long.
    We found we were late enough getting to Vancouver to have missed our bus to Hope, B.C., where we had another transfer, but we found that there was another bus doing directly to Manning Park that will get us there at the same time, so it all worked out OK.  We had no trouble getting our tickets reissued, so at least something went smoothly.
    We transferred buses again in Chillimick (I think that's what it's called), and the bus we were supposed to catch broke down, so it was late.  Finally we got to Manning Park at about 10pm, and found a hidden little spot in the forest to camp.

Day 91, Aug. 24th, Mile ~2655
NOTE:  Since I am now hiking south, the mileage will read DOWN from 2658.7.
This morning we went back to the Lodge and ran into some other thru-hikers named Funk n' Gruven, and Mercury, who had just finished the hike.  Beaker had met them way back in the Anza Borrego desert.  They started May 9th and finished today.  That's insanely fast.  They did Oregon and Washington in 1 month!!  That is just mind-boggling.  Taking leave of them we went to where Beaker thought the Northern Terminus monument was.  It wasn't there, so we backtracked to where the map seemed to show the terminus being.  It wasn't there, so we checked at the visitor center, and found out it have been moved.  We went back past the lodge to the new terminus, and found it really anticlimactic.  The sign even shorthanded the trail, saying it was only 2,400 miles.  I had been told that my friends Will and Justin had buried something for me at the Northern Terminus, so I dug around a bit at the most prominate sign and found nothing.  Beaker and I walked back to the lodge and I made a series of phone calls with the minutes running out on my phone card.  I got to talk to Jess and Jenni and Karson, which was awesome, but I never was able to talk to Will or Justin and get the info on where they had buried the little surprise.  Beaker and I then went back to the sign and dug about 15 holes all around it, getting some bizarre looks from passing motorists in the process.  We found nothing.  Finally we gave up and hit the trail.  After half an hour of walking we both felt better, despite not hitting the trail till after 6:30.  We hiked till about 8, made a great fire (my first of the trip!) at the PCT trail camp here, and are hoping for a good night's sleep, and a big day tomorrow.

Day 92, Aug. 25th, Mile ~2634.5
It appears that I may not be able to escape a new trail name.  On my box at Echo Lake there was a label, like normal, that said "Hold for PCT hiker 8/6", except the slash looked more like a 1, so this morning while I was getting water, Beaker walked up and yelled "Hiker 816 obtaining H2O!"  He seems to like using it a lot.
    We made it to Monument 78 today, on the 49th parallel.  Next to the wooden posts marking the Northern Terminus of the PCT is a large obelisk of metal, which you can lift off (it's heavy!)  and inside was a register.  We read the entries of the hikers that had already finished--at the Northern Terminus, where they are supposed to.  Two people that Beaker met near the beginning of his trip, trail named Foot Fetish and Redgoat, finished on July 29th, in under 3 months!  They may have a new record (NOTE:  I later found out that they had also flip-flopped).  Overall, it was a very depressing experience seeing the names of everyone who had succeeded without the flip-flop.  Beaker took it especially hard since he had actually started with some of them.  It brought home the way in which doing a flip-flop is a bit of a failure.
    Luckily the scenery all of today made what would have been depressing hiking enjoyable.  It is absolutely gorgeous out here--far better than any photo of WA that I've seen.  The terrain is very rugged, but the trail is routed intelligently in most cases.  We heard a bizarre sound today that could have been a cow, but didn't sound quite right.  We ended up deciding that it was an Elk.  I can only hope that I get to see one.
    The backs of both my heels reacted badly to my shoes, and now I have open sores on them.  I'll have to do something with them tomorrow.
    We ran out of daylight when we weren't paying enough attention, and I'm now camped in a tiny, precarious, semi-flat spot on a sloped, forested ridge.

Day 93, Aug. 26th, Mile ~2614
    It rained all night last night, and a slack part in my tarp collected a giant pool of water.  Luckily, I stayed dry.  With my having to spend time band-aiding and duct-taping my feet, Beaker was ready before me and went on ahead.  I packed up, with it still raining, and headed out.  It rained on and off throughout the day, soaking my shoes and socks and forcing me to don my Gore-tex over-socks.
    In general, I felt slow and weak today.  It wasn't pleasant.  I never did catch Beaker.  I did, however, see tons of day hikers and weekenders, since today was Saturday.
    After dinner I felt much better, but noticed it getting colder.  Hiking on, I got proof that it was getting colder--it started snowing on me!  In August!  Rounding a ridge I got out of the inclement weather, and I am now camped on a flat spot where it appears to be a little warmer.  It is raining on the tarp right now.  Off to sleep to the sound of raindrops.

Day 94, Aug. 27th, Mile ~2603
    When I woke up this morning it was cold--the condensation from my breath had frozen to the inside of my tarp.  I had trouble moving quickly, but got to see it snowing again, with the the sunlight out.  It was quite a spectacle.  I finally hit the trail a bit after 9 (Ugh-so late!), and half an hour later was treated to another spectacle.  I was heading down a steep ridgeside, and as it often does, the wind from the valley below was heading up the ridge.  This time it was carrying snow with it, though, so I watched it snowing upwards!
    The snow sooned turned to rain, and I got soaked.  The day only got worse from there.  After lunch I started getting bad stomach cramps that slowed my pace to a crawl.  On top of that, I got a serious nosebleed which I had to contend with.  It was, of course, raining during all this.
    At about 6 I stopped and made dinner, and talked briefly with a woman who had decided to camp where I was eating dinner.  She was hiking the whole state of Washington, and I was rather impressed with her--going solo.  She extolled the virtues of Stehekin to me as well.  After eating I felt better, but not great, and went a mile farther where I made a soggy stealth camp.

Day 95, Aug. 28th, Mile ~2584
    This morning it was so cold and everything was so wet that I moved really slowly and was shivering the whole time.  Luckily things improved once I finally got moving.  Blue skies in Washington today!!  The sun is out, the rain is not, it's gorgeous out, and I'm feeling a bit better.  I went over several passes, crossed Hwy 20, and hiked on.  My shoes are even dry now!
    If I'm not mistaken, all my friends at Berkeley are starting classes sometime around now.  Haha!  :)  I'm done with that and am instead enjoying great weather and fantastic scenery in Washington!  Sorry, just had to gloat.  I do miss all of you, though.  Send me a tape or a letter!
    I want to get to the ranger station where the shuttle picks up to go to Stehekin by noon tomorrow, which will require about 15 miles in the morning.  That means I'll be getting up early and I'll have to hike very fast.  For now I'm camped by an old cabin which is now in ruins.

Day 96, Aug. 29th, Mile 2569.4
    I suppose because the elevation was much lower, I woke up this morning to find it cold, but still much warmer than the last two mornings.  I was able to get ready faster, and was on the trail by 6:15.  I felt sluggish at first, but sped up later in the morning.  I passed by a gorgeous waterfall that must have been about 500 ft. tall, but was only able to see parts of it at a time through the trees.  At one point the PCT coincided with a dirt road for a little while, and the place where they diverge must have been obscure because I missed it completely.  I instead took the dirt road down to where it again junctions with the PCT at the shuttle stop.  It turned out to be about the same length, and I got to walk along the GORGEOUS Stehekin river the whole time, so it wasn't too bad a move.
    The town of Stehekin on Lake Chelan is gorgeous!!!!  I don't think I have ever seen a place so beautiful that wasn't in the backcountry.

SECTION L (Of Volume 2, OR and WA) SUMMARY:
    RAIN, some deer, gorgeous mountains, fairly well graded trails, the cleanest, best tasting water around (no treatment necessary), RAIN.

Day 97, Aug 30th, Mile ~2553
I woke up this morning in the Stehekin campground (which is free) and I found it fairly warm, which made a huge difference in how fast I was able to get ready. Beaker and I went to the little restaurant here and partook in a buffet breakfast- where the food was actually good! We were both quite ashamed of ourselves, though, because after one large plate of food plus a bowl of oatmeal we were too full to go refill our plates. We didn't really have time to anyway, as the shuttle was leaving in 15 min, but still. In general, Stehekin is awesome. Everyone is friendly, and random people just wave to you as they pass by. The food is great, and it is absolutely gorgeous! I highly recommend it as a vacation spot.
    Anyway, Beaker and I caught the shuttle and were on the trail a bit after 10AM. We ate lunch on an overhang that afforded a great view of a waterfall below that empties into a beautiful pool. It was sort of tempting to jump from the overhang into the pool, but also quite scary- it would have been about a 100ft. drop.
    Being 6'3" with long legs, Beaker was soon far ahead of me on the trail. I hiked, passing tons of gorgeous snow capped peaks and miniature waterfalls, and found it way past dark when I finally found a flat spot to camp. It isn't very stealthy, being literally one foot from the trail. I didn't have much of a choice though. It looks like it'll be a cold night.
 
 

Day 98, Aug 31st, Mile ~2537
Today was another one of those days when I pulled rather pathetic mileage and don't know why. The terrain was okay, it was overcast but sprinkled only a little, and I was feeling OK. I guess I just didn't move fast.
    I again passed a myriad of rivers, creeks, and waterfalls today, never treating my drinking water. There have also been lots of huckleberries, salmonberries, blackberries, and blueberries (at least I hope they're blueberries since I've been eating them.)
I'm camped on a bench about 40ft below the trail (not a great stealth camp again) and as I'm writing the rain is falling in spurts, making volleys of tapping on my tarp. It looks like it may be a wet morning when I get up. Grrr.  Top

Day 99, Sept. 1st, Mile ~2525.5
    Hmmm, what to say about today?  My mileage was the worst it has been in months.  For the first half of today I was thinking that maybe I really wasn't cut out for thru-hiking, and I was even thinking things like 'I hate Washington."  Although it didn't rain on me much today, I was completely soaked half an hour after hitting the trail.  All the plants were covered with water from the rain the night before, and the trail was horrendously overgrown, so I had to push through the plants and have them deposit all their water on me.  What's worse, much of the trail was very steep, going down a ridge, and with all the overgrown plants the ground was concealed and I was tripping over things all the time.  It was also impossible to see the edge of the trail, so often I would plant my foot beyond it and that leg would slide down the ridge, bringing me down hard on the other knee, and my hands (in the mud, of course).  I also got a massive nosebleed toward the end of the switchbacks.  I only had less then a quarter mile to go before I got to a flat spot by Milk Creek, so I continued hiking, dripping blood on the trail and on my pants.  Once there, I got my nosebleed stopped in about half and hour, then laid out much of my stuff to dry out, and ate lunch.  When I was finally ready to hit the trail again, it was 3 hours later!
    Luckily, I felt much stronger from there on out.  I went up the other side of Milk Creek Canyon at a decent clip, and stopped at beautiful Mica Lake for dinner, which was mostly frozen over.  After that I barreled up to the top of Fire Creek Pass in time to catch an incredible sunset, which I expended a full roll of film on.  In general, I was in a much better mood the last few hours of the day then I was the first, and it made a huge difference.  now I am camped just on the other side of Fire Creek Pass, where it is drizzling off and on.
    A few things to note:  I found out from another hiker that Beaker camped last night at Mica Lake, which puts him more than 20 miles (or a full day) ahead of me.  Grrr.
    I've seen 5 thru-hikers since leaving Stehekin. One older Canadian woman (Swiss Miss?), one guy named Ed, one tall thin guy that graduated from Cal, and a father/son team named Gordon and Brian.  I saw one more guy that I'm sure was a thru-hiker, but I didn't talk to him.

Day 100, Sept. 2nd, Mile ~2511
    Hmm..., into September already.  That's not good.  I should be farther down the trail.  I'll turn 22 this month, while on the trail.  Hopefully that will be a good day at least.
    Today played out very similar to yesterday.  I spent the first half of the day cursing Washington and hiking in general (while soaking wet) and the last half in slightly better spirits.  The bad half culminated in a not so fun crossing of Swollen Kennedy Creek.  I was hoping to get across on a downed log, but it was only 4 inches wide, and my balance just isn't that good.  I spent close to an hour searching for a good place to cross with that 'Well, I've already wasted so much time, I might as well look around this corner and see if there is a good crossing" mentality. I slipped on some wet algae covered rocks and banged up my knees, then ultimately changed into my sandals and waded through the cold, cloudy, rushing water.  This after I met a northbounder named Rockfish who had decided against doing the log crossing because "after more than 2000 miles I have worn the tread off my boots!" (I don't like thru-hikers who try to advertise the fact), but had found a way across jumping on rocks, that I didn't have the leg span to manage.  After that, an excedrin and easy terrain put me in better spirits.
    The day ended up as it began in early morning--completely surrounded by fog (or perhaps clouds).  I'm not sure about the mileage because I can't see anything--hence I can't identify any landmarks.  I am sure of 1 thing--my mileage is something to be ashamed of...again.

Day 101, Sept. 3rd, Mile ~2493.5
    Last night turned out to be quite interesting. 20 min. after I crawled into my sleeping bad, a bit storm rolled in, dumping rain.  I didn't think much of it and fell asleep.  About 2 hours later I woke up to find it very cold, and the sides of my tarp bowing inward.  I assumed some water had gotten trapped in a slack part of the trap, and I pushed on the sides of the trap to try to get it to pour off.  The sides were really heavy, and I discovered that they were coated with about 3/4" of frozen snow!  I was surprised my tarp had been able to withstand that weight.  With some effort, I knocked the snow and ice off the top, then tried to fall asleep again. it was so cold that my feet hurt, and so I got very little sleep at all, but on the plus side, I was awake to knock more snow off my tarp.
    The morning brought the sun out briefly, then it got overcast again.  There wasn't much snow on the ground that had stuck, but there were piles on the sides of my tarp, which I had knocked off.    It took me a long time to get ready with it so cold, but after a hot drink I hit the trail by 9:15 (very late...again).  It only sprinkled lightly today, and I felt better than I have in a while, so I knocked out better mileage than I have been doing lately, at least considering how late I got up.  That leaves about 22 miles to do tomorrow to get to Steven's Pass where I hitchhike into Skykomish.  I'd like to do it by 6 or so, so that I can get a ride.  I don't have much of a choice either, since I am just about out of food.
    Again, it is really cold tonight, although not as bad as last night. I'm trying the one trick now that I didn't last night--boiling water and putting it into a water bottle, then putting it into my sleepingbag.  My only waterbottle is a Gatorade bottle, though, and not a Nalgene.  Thus far it has leaked at the top because the heat deformed it a bit.  I am hoping it'll work once it cools down a bit.  We'll see.

Day 102, Sept. 4th, Mile 2471.6
    I got up very early this morning (4:15 am) and while starting to get moving got a massive nosebleed that kept me from doing anything for a while.  All said and done, I didn't get on the trail until about 8:30.  From there on out I just hiked, hard and fast, feeling pretty decent.  I stopped for an hour for lunch to dry my sleeping bag and tarp (having the sun out has been rare, so I figured I ought to take advantage of it).  I still managed to get to Steven's pass by about 7pm (22 miles).
    After about 20 min. of standing there with my thumb out, a guy stopped and picked me up.  He drives over 900 miles every other weekend to see his kids!  Anyway, he gave me some fantastic fried chicken that his mother had made (she even raised the chickens!) which was exactly what I needed then!  He dropped me off in Skykomish and I went into the gas station to find out where the restaurant was.  The lady working there told me about the restaurant, but knew nothing about where the trail angel in town was.  Coming out of the gas station, a man in a truck pulled up and asked me where I was staying for the night.  It was Bob, the trail angel!  I stayed at his house, where he let me do laundry, dry my bag and tarp, and shower.  Gotta love the hospitality!!

SECTION K (OR & WA) SUMMARY:
    Lots of up and down, but not quite as bad as the guidebook made it seem.  Much of the trail was overgrown with bushes that like to hold water from the rain and dump it all over your legs and feet.  In general, this section was wet for me.  On the plus side, there were lots of berries to eat, and it was beautiful.  Parts of the trail can dip way below freezing at night.

Day 103, Sept. 5th, Mile 2467.3
    Today I woke up at Bob's, and he drove me down the post office.  I had a great huge breakfast at the restaurant and found Beaker there!  There were also lots of other northbound thru-hikers around, sorting their packages and such.  Having eaten, I got my package and sorted it, then Beaker and I headed toward the highway.  We bought some light groceries at the Chevron station, then hitched a ride with a guy that was a really hard core skier, and a from the smell in his beat up van, a pot fan as well.  Beaker and I made it to the trailhead and started hiking in a drizzle through a ski resort area.  The weather continued to deteriorate, and about 4 miles later we stopped at Susan Jane lake and ate dinner, then went to sleep rather early, by about 8:30, in the increasing cold.

Day 104, Sept. 6th, Mile 2451.5
    It got warmer during the night and I actually slept comfortably for once!  I woke up about 6, haven gotten 9 hours of sleep, which was nice. Beaker took off before I did, and so I spent the day hiking up and down little canyons, and seeing lots of stunningly gorgeous lakes.  I also devoured a bunch of blueberries.  Unfortunately, having spent so much time appreciating what was around me, I made horrible mileage.  I found a campsite a little after dark near a creek, and for once it isn't raining as I crawl into my sleeping bag.

Day 105, Sept. 7th, Mile 2433.4
    Last night was warmer, and apparently it didn't rain at all.  My tarp, both inside and outside, was fairly dry.  Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for my shoes, which were still wet.
    For the first half of the day the sun was out, and I managed to get my sleeping bag, ground cloth, and my socks all dry during an extended lunch.  Hiking on after lunch I even found my shoes to be drying!  How nice it is to have sun!  And all the lakes I passed today were absolutely phenomenal.  When everything isn't soaked, Washington is hard to rival in beauty.
    I thought I might be able to write that it didn't rain or sprinkle on me at all today, but at dinner I got about a minute's worth of showering.  After I left where I ate dinner it rapidly got dark, and soon I was hiking by the light of my flashlight.  And, of course, as my luck would dictate, it started raining then.  I stumbled along the trail in the dark and in the rain, checking out potential campsites that proved unsuitable, which included unpacking and starting to set up my tarp before realizing there was rock 2 inches below the soil and that my stakes wouldn't hold, until 2 miles later when I found a decent site next to the Waptus River.  I set up my tarp in the rain, threw my stuff inside, then unpacked what I needed.  Now its late, and I'm going to sleep.

Day 106, Sept. 8th, Mile 2419.5
    Although it was warm last night, the rain never let up for a second.  And it came in more voluminous quantities than in any other storm I had thus far had to weather.  I stayed in my tarp till late, hoping it would ease a little, but it never did.  While waiting there some thru-hikers happened past, one named the "Abominably slow-man".  Gotta love it.  I set out into the rain at about 10am.
    The trail took me up so many switchbacks that I lots count of them quickly.  The rain let up for a few minutes, and I caught a glimpse of an incredible and very vibrant rainbow, but that was about the only thing nice about today.  I did see a number of other northbound thru-hikers, including Ginny and Jim Owens, aka. Spirit Eagle.  I didn't know it at the time, but they did the CDT the year before.  Amazing couple.  The switchbacks eventually took my up and into sleet.  It continued to get colder, and the sleet turned to hail.  All the while, of course, I was totally soaked.  Soon the hail turned to snow, which stuck, making the trail difficult to navigate, and building up on my hat, forcing me to knock it off every few minutes.  I was cold.  I eventually topped out at the ridge, and started heading down, through snow.  I went down a loooong way and eventually the snow turned back into rain.  I was so miserable that I stopped at the first established camp I saw, and was stupid in taking the big risk of cooking dinner inside my tarp, where I am sleeping tonight.  Ah well.  It's still pouring and my bag is still damp, so it may be an uncomfortable night.

Day 107, Sept. 9th, Mile 2496.6
    I woke up fairly early, in the rain, having gotten very little sleep, due to rodents trying to get at my food and having been very cold during the night, intent on making the 22.5 miles to Snoqualamie Pass today.  I hit the trail, soaked, and hiked hard.  Soon I again got into the snow, and came across where Beaker had camped the night (his footprints just appeared from a clear spot, clueing me in).  Hiking on, I got dumped on some more and went up and down on ridges, not seeing the scenery at all because of the very dense fog and clouds all around me.
    If I can digress for a second, I want to interject that the last two days have been the hardest for me on the trip so far--worse than any of Southern California.  That's saying a lot.
    Anyway, my feet and hands were swimming in water that collected in my shoes and gloves, sloshing around, and they were very numb from the cold.  My feet started getting sore, but I hiked on, finally getting to the switchbacks leading down to the highway.  The switchbacks seemed to go up as much as they did down, and it was really frustrating.
    Reaching the highway, I walked the 1/3 of a mile to the gas station and lodge, and tried calling the Bed and Breakfast that has a hiker special.  They were full, so I got a room at the lodge, having to pay more than I wanted since all they had left were doubles.  I had to stay somewhere since my sleeping bag was damp and I couldn't handle another wet cold night outside.  I found out later that night that Beaker was checked into the same hotel.  I got a huge dinner at the restaurant here (the waiter was amazed), and am now going to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep where it's warm and dry.

Day 108, Sept. 10th, Non-hiking Day
    I woke up about an hour after crawling into bed last night, and my feet hurt like mad.  It was just pure pain, with a bit of throbbing.  I took a couple motrin (I couldn't walk on my feet--I had to crawl to the sink) and got sporadic sleep the rest of the night.  This morning I limped my way to the restaurant and ate breakfast with Beaker.  I couldn't possibly hike now, so I called the Bed and Breakfast and Beaker and I headed over there in the afternoon, taking leave of some other hikers we met at the hotel.  The two mile walk along the road to the Bed and Breakfast was absolute agony, but after a loooong time, I made it, about 20 min. behind Beaker.  At least for the rest of today I was able to mostly rest my feet.  They are strikingly swollen now.

Section J Summary (OR & WA, Vol. 2):
 Some significant up & down, but not as bad as it could be.  Close to Snoqualamie there are a couple of high ridges to go up and over.  If the weather is bad, it can be nasty.  For me, I got rain, hail, sleet, and snow, and it was really cold.  My feet and fingertips suffered the consequences, and I lost some feeling in the fingers, and my feet were seriously messed up.  The scenery was probably nice, but I couldn’t see much of it because of the clouds.

Day 109, Sept. 11th, Mile 2394.8
    I woke up this morning to find my feet slightly improved, but still swollen and a bit painful.  The Bed and Breakfast gave us our continental breakfast of a muffin, apple juice, and coffee (hey, it cost a total of $20--can't expect much), and I got a shower, then we headed down and got a more substantial meal at the restaurant.  We took care of mailing stuff at the post office in the little grocery store, and headed to the trailhead.  Since my feet are still in poor shape, I would have stayed in town longer, but saw no reason to spend the extra money.  Since I will be very slow the next couple of days for my feet to heal, I thought that this morning might be the last time I would see Beaker since he might be able to get far enough ahead of me to get out of my next resupply at White Pass before I arrived.  Five minutes after we started hiking Beaker was out of sight, but when I got to Lodge Lake, 2 miles away, where I had intended to camp, there he was!  He decided to camp there too, so it looks like I get to see him for one more day, and since he won't start getting ahead of me until tomorrow now, there is a chance, if my feet are substantially improved, that I will catch him at the next resupply...and so the cycle continues. :)
    I'm going to bed by 8:30 today--need lots of sleep for the swollen feet.  Oh, I forgot to mention the best part about today--it was sunny!!

Day 110, Sept. 12th, Mile 2380.5
    My feet were much better this morning.  They were only slightly swollen, and painful enough only to slow me down on rocky trail.  The sun was out all day again, so it was a great day for hiking!
    I saw a large and colorful frog and a garden variety snake today, along with beautiful Mirror lake.  I also passed two northbounders--Hollywood and Star. They had talked to Beaker, who is a couple hours in front of me now, so they knew who I was was and what my whole flip flop story was (before they saw me I actually overheard them talking about me while walking down the trail).
    My mileage was really poor today.  In some ways that's good so my feet get a chance to fully heal, but it wasn't really my feet that held me back so much today.  I just lacked energy.  I think it might be because I haven't eaten great in the last day or so--I only ate some non-cook snackfood for dinner last night.  Hoping to remedy that, I ate a huge dinner of what I think is probably the ideal hiker's meal.  It was quinoa, "Ray's Way of Life Grain" mixture, instant refried beans, cheddar cheese, and some crushed red pepper, mexican seasoning, and Conola oil.  It's got every vitamin and mineral, and its packed with complex carbs.  And it tastes great!  Anyway, I had enough left over to eat if for breakfast tomorrow too, so we'll see if I'm more energetic.  Not it's time to sleep.  It's nice to be able to see the stars again since there aren't any clouds blocking the view.

Day 111, Sept. 13th, Mile ~2368
    When I woke up this morning there was condensation all over the inside of my tarp--I don't know why.  It had dampened my sleeping bag.  I had to spend some extra time at lunch drying everything out. That, however, is my only excuse for my pathetic mileage.  My feet hurt the last half of the day, but that is also when I made the best mileage.  I can't figure out what is wrong and I'm finding it frustrating.  I seem to get an additional day behind schedule between each resupply stop.  Grrr.
    Other than making terrible mileage through not so spectacular terrain (mostly clear-cut areas), I met another southbound hiker named Roger who used to be on the board from ALDHA-West and who thru-hiked in 96.  It was interesting talking to him.
    The weather was good today.  I think tomorrow there are supposed to be scattered thunderstorms, then it'll clear up again for the next day.  We'll see.  For now, its quite warm, so I should sleep ok.

Day 112, Sept. 14th, Mile ~2350.3
    It was a warm, comfortable night, and everything was dry when I woke up.  I got on the trail earlier than usual, by about 7:15 am.  It was very gusty, but in general a nice hiking temperature, which was nice because I had to hike almost 10 miles of very steep uphill today.  My energy level for most of the day was much better than usual, but my feet seemed to have gotten worse. I had to take about 10 motrin and 5 excedrin today, and they were still killing me when I got into Camp Urich, which is a large cabin/shelter thing.  I found that Beaker was here, which was really nice.  I had intended to hike a little farther, but with Beaker there at the cabin I decided to stay the night.  The cabin is really nice, but there are mice in here, so hopefully they won't bother me during the night.
    I did see the hind quarters of what must have been an Elk today.  It stood about chest high, so it was way too big to be a deer.  I've been seeing hoof prints the size of my hand, too, so they must be from elk.  There are also lots of bow hunters out.  I haven't seen any, but I've heard them, and Beaker has talked to a few.  Hopefully none will mistake me for an animal.

Day 113, Sept. 15th, Mile ~2333.5
    There is a lot to write about today, most of it bad.  The mice were voracious last night and I almost got no sleep while I tried to fend them off to keep my food safe.  This morning I then found that my feet were swollen and more sore than before.  I popped a whole bunch of pain killers and hit the trail.  After about an hour the pain killers wore off and hiking became quite painful.  I made it to the first water source, the spring at Arch Rock, to find Beaker there, frustrated, because he has searched for 45 min. and concluded that the spring was dry.  That meant 2 more miles to the next spring to get water.  Not only were there a maze of confusing spur trails to be navigated to find the next spring, but it was dried up too.  The next source was about 4 miles further.  It was supposed to have a sign.  It didn't.  Both Beaker and I (at different times) walked right past it.  About a mile and a half later I finally came to a running spring and tanked up.  Luckily the weather was cold and overcast so I didn't loose much water to sweat.  Up until about half an hour before I got to the spring, my feet hurt more and more until I was hobbling and moving at a mere crawl.  There were times when they hurt so bad that I was saying that aside from the hike through the storm that caused the problems to begin with, this was the worst part of the trip I have had to endure.  I kept taking pain killers, and they had no effect.  Then for some bizarre reason, for half an hour before and after the spring, my feet suddenly felt dramatically better.  I don't know why--it didn't correspond at all to when I was taking the pain killers.  My feet got bad again for an hour, then felt ok again after dinner.
    Before I forget, something weird happened to my finger tips during the hike through the same storm that messed up my feet.  they feel like they've rubbed raw, and I've lost a little bit of the tactile feeling in them.  I wonder if I got mild frostbite or something, but the water in my gloves never froze, so I don't know how that could be.  It doesn't seem to be getting any better, either.
    I've definitely hit the main pack of Northbounders.  I passed about 20 yesterday, and about 10 today.  Just a couple hours ago I ran into a guy named Li who I remember from the registers being about a week to two weeks ahead of me down at the mexican border.  What's worse is that another guy with Li (there was Li, his friend Tom, and this 3rd man), named Rich who signs in as RO2, started the same day that I did, but in the morning.  And now he's already in the middle of WA!  And he's got to be at least 35 years old!  He must be really fast, and I am really really slow.  How depressing.  Anyway, the 3 of them warned me that there were no camping spots for a while, so I hiked on in an apprehensive mood.  Luckily an hour later I found a nice spot on soft sand, fairly protected from the wind!  Since the trail went along the ridge for so much of the time, and because I'm in the clouds and can't see more than 20 ft. in any direction, I'm amazed I found it.  Off to sleep now.  Hopefully my feet will feel better tomorrow so I can make some decent mileage.

Day 114, Sept. 16th, Mile ~2317
    Happy Birthday to me!!  Today I turned the ripe young age of 22.  It wasn't the most exciting birthday I've had--there was no one around to wish me happy birthday, but at least the weather was nice and the scenery great.  Except for the last hour before I made camp, it stayed sunny and cloud-free all day, affording me views of some nice lakes, and of giant Mt. Rainier looming nearby.
    Since it was my birthday, and my feet hurt, I let myself sleep in till about 6:45.  Once I started hiking I found my feet were OK for about an hour, then progressively got more painful as the day went on.
    In the morning I saw a hunter and his wife.  He was drinking a beer, smoking a cigarette, and clutching his rifle (at 9am!), sitting next to his wife.  They seemed like nice people.  I had been under the impression that rifle season hadn't started yet, but I opted not to say anything because, well...he was drinking a beer and had a rifle in his hands.
    A few minutes later I ran across two more northbounders, who left May 15th.  I am so slow!!!
    I passed through Chinook Pass, at the gate to Rainier National Park, and was in crowded company for a little while.  I eventually left them all behind, though.  Yuppie day hikers can be annoying sometimes.
    By about 11am I was in agony from my feet, and the pain killers weren't doing much.  I did seem to get some brief relief after eating, but I don't know why.  Either way, tomorrow's 20+ mile hike into White Pass will hurt, and I think that I won't have a choice but to take a rest day or two there, putting me farther behind schedule.  That makes me angry, but right now my trip isn't any fun, even with great weather, because I am always in such pain.  Furthermore, there is no way I can carry 140 miles worth of food out of White Pass in my condition.
    Anyway, I should get to sleep.  I'm camped in the clouds again, on a saddle that may get a bit windy.

Day 115, Sept. 17th, Mile 2298
    I got up and moving this morning earlier than usual, and felt decent for the first couple hours.  After that my feet started to bother me.  I stopped at a small lake to rest them, and was about 200 yards from the trail when I saw 3 guys go past, 2 of whom I thought might be Sam and David, the Jesus Freaks, that I met way back in So Cal.  I couldn't get my shoes back on in time to run up to the trail and catch them, though.  I found out when I got to White Pass that they indeed were Sam and David.  It makes me mad that I missed the chance to talk to them.  They told Beaker some info about Jesse Gilbert (the guy with Prehistoric Tony and I when we came into Tuolumne Meadows).  He tried hitching from Tuolumne to Mammoth, but the first guy who stopped was heading to Mt. Shasta City.  When told this, Jesse said "ok" and went to Shasta.  When Sam and David made it up there, they were at an ATM when David felt something at his back and heard someone say "Gimme all your money!"  It was Jesse!  Apparently he had bought a truck for $500 there, and was searching for a job.  Gotta love Jesse.
    Anyway, I hiked on, meeting Mountain Rose, a thru-hiker in her 50's going really light (married to the pres. of ALDHA-West).  Just a while later I got into White Pass where Beaker and Roger were.  Beaker took off down the trail again soon after I arrived, and Roger and I got a room at a good rate at a lodge which only gets much use in ski season.  I'm going to hang out here tomorrow to rest my sore and swollen feet.

Day 116, Sept. 18th, Non-hiking Day
    I got a bunch of packages here, including a B-day present from my brother and sister--a good walkman!  The timing was perfect because the cheap one I had been carrying was totally shot.  So...friends of mine...send me tapes!!
 

Section I Summary (OR & WA, Vol. 2):
 Sun!  Finally!  In general, this was a fairly flat section, but there is some long uphill and downhill near Snoqualamie.  The northern half was mostly clear cuts and not too pretty.  The southern half was much better.  The hunters were out.  My feet hurt!

Day 117, Sept. 19th, Mile 2295.8
    Yesterday afternoon a hiker named Skypilot rolled in.  He’s from Sacramento also, so we had lots to talk about.  An hour later a whole bunch of other thru-hikers came in.  There was Andrew, an older guy who had just about every product that Go-Lite makes.  Marshall is an older guy who is the husband of Mountain Rose, and the president of ALDHA-West.  Richard is an English guy with a heavy accent who was absolutely hilarious with all the quips he made, particularly about Americans.  There was another older guy named Merlin who seemed not really friendly at first but turned out to be just a little shy.  Once we got talking, he was really cool—totally mellow and a good conversationalist.  He’s into photography as well, and has thru-hiked the AT.  Finally there was Cricket; a woman who I would guess is in her late 20’s.  Her real name on her ID is Cricket; it isn’t just a trail name!!  After I had gotten all my chores done for the day, the whole group of us got a room at the lodge, at a decent rate considering we could split it 7 ways.
 The next morning my feet still hurt, but I was restless and HAD to get on the trail or I was going to go insane.  The rest of the group of hikers headed north, and I got on the trail heading south.  I really want my feet totally healed, so I stopped after about two miles at Ginette lake.  It’s not the most pristine, and there are mosquitoes here, but I’ll survive.  There is a guy camped over at the other side of the lake, so I went over to say hello, but he seemed really unfriendly and pretty strange, so I excused myself quickly.
 The rest of the evening went fine until I went to pump water just before going to sleep.  My pump broke again!!  I disassembled it and am pretty sure I can repair it with JB weld or something, but until then it’s useless.  I considered going back down to White Pass to see if they had JB weld, or to mail the pump back to Sweetwater, but I eventually decided to just wait until I get to Cascade Locks, where I know I can get JB weld.  Besides, there are supposed to be lots of snowmelt streams and springs in this section, so hopefully I can get most of my water without treating it.  I have iodine just in case.
 Anyway, now it’s off to bed.  I want to get up early and do some big miles tomorrow, if my feet allow. Top

Day 118, Sept. 20, Mile 2285.5
    I woke up early and found that my feet still hurt, so I knew I would have to do a low mileage day so as not to prevent them from healing.  Therefore, I went back to sleep and got of at 7am ?.  When I finally got to hiking the sky was blue, but in about an hour it became overcast.  I hiked slowly, and my feet were sore, but not painful.  I stopped for lunch at a spring about 1/3rd of a mile off the trail, and while searching for the water I got stung by a bee!  I knew from past experience that I should not turn around and look to see if I disturbed a nest when I get stung once, because 4 or 5 more stings always follow.  Instead, I just took off running.  It worked—only one sting.  It still hurt an hour later, though, and is actually starting to throb a little now, just before I am about to go to sleep.  Anyway, I got water there that didn’t need to be treated, at least.  I stopped for dinner at Lutz Lake, which is really a small, semi-stagnant pond.  By this time it had started to rain.  Checking the map, I realized that any campsites farther ahead would be higher, cold, and very exposed—all very bad in a storm.  So now I am camped here at Lutz Lake, having done only 10 miles.  I’m hoping the easy day will mean my feet will be in great shape tomorrow.  I hope the weather is great as well, because I head high into Goat Rocks wilderness, and cross some glaciers.  It has a reputation of being absolutely gorgeous, but one of the most dangerous sections of the entire trail in bad weather.  Many northbounders had to bypass it when they were here during the storm in which I damaged my feet north of Snoqualamie.  I’ll see what tomorrow brings.  Top

Day 119. Sept. 21, Mile ~2278
    Today was the first day that legitimately began to test the limits of what I am capable on every facet, both physically and mentally.  I began the day walking past snowmelt cascades, with the clouds whirling about me.  Eventually I found myself walking along the top of a very narrow ridge, a knife-edge.  That is when the wind started moving in.  At first it was only enough to force me to tighten the drawstring on my hat.  Then it began to rain, and the wind intensified, driving the rain into my ears, and against the side of my face and hands.  It began getting colder and the rain turned to hail, stinging as it hit me.  The wind picked up some more, and started pushing me around as it blew, making me very nervous as it forced me closer than I wanted to be to the side of the ridge which dropped down near vertically.
 Luckily the trail then moved to the side of the ridge, sheltering me from some of the wind.  It began to get much colder, however, and my glasses kept fogging up as it began snowing harder and harder.  There was already about an inch on the ground when I reached the snow chute that the other hikers had warned me about.  It was narrow—only about 100 feet, but very very steep.  What made it precarious to the point of being lethal was the fact that it had an inch of fresh snow sitting on top of the older snow that had melted and refrozen into solid ice.  My first test-step told me that I couldn’t cross it.  The fresh layer of snow slid right over the ice, giving no purchase whatsoever.  I didn’t have my ice axe.  I walked back along the trail for a few yards looking for a spot where I could drape my poncho up to protect me from the snow, and eat lunch.  The trail there was totally barren—only rock.  I put one end of the poncho on the highest rock I could find, secured by a rock, and ran the other side to the ground, forming a tiny lean-to.  I crawled underneath to eat and figure out what I was going to do.  As I kept beating the snow off the poncho, it continued getting colder, and since I was wet, I started shivering violently.  I did not want to turn around and go back.  That would mean such a loss of time that I wouldn’t be able to finish the trip.  At the same time, it would be stupid to try to cross that snow chute.  Thinking over my options, I remembered back a couple days ago when I was reading an article by Jim Owens in the ALDHA-West newsletter when I was at White Pass.  He was describing the characteristics of a thru-hiker, and one of them was “sometimes stupid”.  This is when a thru-hiker does something dangerous that he or she knows shouldn’t be done.  The article took a very positive view of this, which I have found to be very accurate.  It is by doing those sometimes stupid things that one builds confidence.  They serve as learning experiences. They make great stories afterwards.  They are the parts that are most memorable, most challenging, most rewarding—that make the trip.  This fact, in combination with the fact that I knew that it would be unlikely that I could cross back if I got across the chute once (meaning that I was very committed, forced into going forward only, which I liked), convinced me to risk crossing the chute.  While still shivering I packed everything back into my backpack and shortened my poles as far as they could go.  I plunged my way through the falling snow to the side of the chute, and held onto the base of the poles.  I slammed the tip of my right pole through the snow and into the ice, and then started kicking a hold for my right foot with my running shoe.  When it seemed like my right foot would hold, I would do the same with my left, moving along half a foot at a time, stomach to the snow.  I made it about 5 feet before I needed to stop and take several deep breaths, feeling exhausted already.  Five more feet and my body began shaking fiercely from sheer exhaustion.  A few steps further and my right foothold gave way.  Luckily my pole tips held, and by digging my knees into the snow I kept from sliding anywhere.  Once more this happened, really getting the adrenaline pumping, and me shaking.  When I was about 5 feet from the other side of the chute my foothold gave out again, and this time my poles didn’t stick.  I started sliding, and tried slamming my pole tips into the ice only to have them break free.  In my frantic state I only turned to look where I was headed after I had slid about 10 feet, but luckily I found myself headed down at an angle toward the side at the edge of the chute, because the snowfield was convex.  Another 10 feet of sliding and then a well placed foot on a large rock on the other side of the snow field brought me to a stop.  I had made it across!  I had to scramble a little ways to rejoin the trail above me, but I was alive and going forward.
 About 200 yards farther I came to another huge glacier and was suddenly seized with the fear that I might be trapped between two snowfields that I couldn’t cross, on a completely exposed section of trail with no places to camp, during a monstrous storm.  I was able to quickly calm myself, though, and found that a brief clime upward took me to the top edge of the glacier, which I could safely cross.  This I did, and then I came to a trail junction that wasn’t on the map.  I went straight and came to another huge glacier, that I couldn’t see across due to the clouds.  I headed up the rocks on the edge of it, thinking that the trail that I saw at the junction must cross higher up.  It didn’t.  I found the top of the glacier and discovered that I couldn’t walk above it (sheer cliff) nor across it there (too steeply sloped).  Frustrated, I dropped my pack and walked cross-country until I met the other trail that I had passed.  I walked up it for about a third of a mile and couldn’t figure out where it went, so I came down and got my back and checked out the guidebook.  I didn’t expect it to say anything because this trail wasn’t on the map, but it did.  The trail was intended for horses, and went really high, above Packwood Glacier.  The problem was that since I could see no landmarks through the clouds, I didn’t know if I had already crossed Packwood Glacier (so the trail would take me backwards), or if Packwood Glacier was the one in front of me.  I didn’t want to chance it and have to do another 600 feet of climbing in the storm (as this horse trail did), so I went down and inspected the bottom of the glacier sitting before me.  I found that I was able to walk there, but after a while I noticed that it headed off down the mountain, so I cut across it upward.  That luckily worked and I found myself at the trail on the other side.  I went back, dusted the inch of snow off my backpack, and crossed the glacier.  I found the Dana Yelverton shelter on the other side, about another ¼ mile down the trail.  I gave thought to staying there, but its roof was collapsed and it looked dangerous, the floor inside was too small for me to pitch my tarp, and it was very high in elevation, so I continued down the trail.
 About 2 miles later I saw the sun break through the clouds in the distance, but it was still pouring rain down on me.  Luckily I had gotten down low enough for it to be rain and not snow.  I found the most sheltered camp I could among some trees, which still was quite windy, and I set up my tarp.  I pulled out my sleeping bag and found half of it drenched, despite it being in a plastic bag, in addition to its ostensibly waterproof stuff sack.  At that point, I resigned myself to a cold night.  I cooked dinner and boiled water, which I put in my water bottle and placed in my sleeping bag with me.  I also popped some of my chemical heat warmers in there, and tried to go to sleep. Top

Day 119, Sept. 22, Mile 2261
     I woke up last night about a half hour after going to sleep, and found myself frigid, despite the hot water and chemical heat warmers.  I soon discovered why.  It looked like the wind had blown sand up along the sides of the tarp—but I found on more careful examination that it was snow.  It hadn’t formed flakes, but tiny granules of ice.  I laid awake shivering.
 An hour later I noticed that the wind had intensified and that the top of my tarp, and the hiking pole that was supposed to be propping it up, were flapping against my face.  A stake had pulled out.  I got out of my sleeping bag and put my sandals on, then stepped out of the tarp.  I was immediately greeted by painfully cold wind that rendered my hands and feet a stinging useless mess in a matter of seconds.  I found the stake and tried shoving it into the ground, but the dirt itself had frozen solid and couldn’t even begin to penetrate it.  I found a nearby log and tied the line to it, hoping that the wind wouldn’t be enough to overturn the log.  I scrambled back in my tarp, and into my sleeping bag, shivering like mad.
 Three or four hours later I turned my head to find that the front left corner of my tarp was waving around violently in the gale force wind.  I figured the zipper to the mosquito netting had come loose, and I got up to re-zip it.  I then discovered that the tarp itself had torn, all the way up to its ridgeline.  I could only say to myself “This is bad”.  I took the free ripped corner and wrapped it underneath my backpack, tying it to the shoulder strap on the opposite side of the pack.  I hoped that the weight of the pack, with my food and water in it, would keep it pinned in place.  It didn’t.  The wind pulled hard on the tarp, which lifted the pack up and spun the whole thing around.  Desperate, I rolled the pack back over the corner of the tarp and put my feet on top of the pack, and physically held it in place.  I spend the next few hours until day break shivering in this position.
 When the sun came out (Yes!  Sun!) I had hoped that the wind would die down.  It didn’t.  I eventually got out of my sleeping bag and started to pack.  My hands instantly began to hurt from the cold, making the process of packing excruciating.  Once packed I went to put on my shoes.  They were frozen solid.  I couldn’t even get the uppers to flex a fraction of an inch.  It was physically impossible to get my feet inside them.  I decided I had no choice but to wear my sandals, but the combination of thick wool socks and waterproof oversocks (which were also frozen, but which I had thawed inside my sleeping bag) I was wearing was too think to fit inside the sandals.  I had to unpack and repack to get out thinner socks, all with my hands in agony.  Eventually I got the sandals on with chemical heat warming packets inside my socks (which were not yet working because they were damp) and I got out to pack my ripped tarp.  This I did with my hands and feet hurting more and more, and with me shouting obscenities out of sheer desperation.  I shoved the tarp in my back, having lost its stuff sack to the savage wind, and started walking.  My sandals slip all over on the icy ground and mud, where it had started to thaw, and there was thin layer of mud floating on top of frozen, icy ground.  I figured that I had no choice but to pull an emergency out, and I knew that probably meant quitting the trip.  At that point I didn’t care, however.  I hurt too badly.
 About an hour later the sun came out and I descended enough to get my shivering under control, and that chemical heating packets had dried out enough to start working, making me feel much better.  I passed a northbounder named “Wonder” who seemed to be in much better spirits than I was.  I continued hiking and as it got warmer I felt better.  I really didn’t want to quit my trip and fail in the thru-hike.  In fact, I wasn’t going to quit unless forced.  I figured I could tie a sheet-bend in the ripped tarp and it should suffice until I reached Cascade Locks as long as there was no heavy wind.  I’d get a tent sent to me there, and everything would be fine.
 I reached the trail junction where I would have needed to depart from the trail to make my emergency out, and I passed it up, and kept right on hiking.  Top

Day 121, Sept. 23rd, Mile ~2251
     It was an uncomfortably cold night last night, and the last 2 chemical heating packets couldn’t fix it, but it stayed dry and I was relatively protected from the wind, so it was much much better than last night.  I got a relatively early start after putting an ace bandage on my left foot, which still hurt, and I was still quite cold for the first 3 or 4 hours (even with just about every article of clothing I had with me, on).  The sun was out, though, and it had that brisk feeling like a winter morning in North Carolina.  The sun stays at a low angle all day now.  I just noticed last night that it seems like someone just cut off an entire hour of daylight at the beginning and end of the day.  That’s bad.
 I ended the day with not so great mileage, but better than I have been getting.  I could have done more, but that would have taken me significantly higher in elevation, and I didn't want to deal with the cold.  It also gave me more time to work on Gerri-rigging my tarp.  The sheet-bend knot seems to work great.  I’m sure my tarp couldn’t handle any real wind, but it looks like it’ll work fine for now. Top

Day 122, Sept. 24th, Mile ~2235
     My left foot hurt pretty badly this morning, and in a different way than my feet have been hurting.  It’s a sharp pain that makes me worry—it could be a stress fracture.  I put an ace bandage around it again, and headed it.  I passed Mt. Adams today, and it was gorgeous, as was the weather.  I ran into Natasha Carver, a northbounder, today.  She is from Britain and her and an American friend named Kristen (who got hurt and left the trail at Walker Pass) were doing the hike as a benefit for something in Bolivia.  I also ran into a guy named Vivek who’s thru-hiking.
 After dinner I saw a huge elk, and this time not just the hind quarters.  When it saw me, it ran away.
 I am camped in a random semi-flat spot, ready for what looks like will be a warm night.  I’m out under the stars, so hopefully it won’t surprise me with rain. Top

Day 123, Sept. 25th, Mile ~2218
    This morning my alarm went off and I said to myself “OK, I’ve gotta get up now.”  The next thing I remember I woke up again and it was 20 minutes later.  That strange thing is this happened again 2 or 3 more times before I actually was able to stay awake long enough to get up.
 In the morning, while it was till cold, my feet felt OK, and hiking wasn’t too unpleasant.  The terrain all day was relatively flat, but by late morning both my feet started to hurt.  They continued to get worse throughout the day until mid-afternoon when they felt like they did just before I arrived at White Pass.
 Hiking on, I passed through an area that had been clear cut, which was ugly, but which afforded a nice view of the sunset.  Moving out of that area and into a forest, I found that the dense undergrowth made finding a flat spot to camp hard.  I finally did find one right next to the trail, so I’m camping here, under the stars.  Top

Day 124, Sept. 26th, Mile 1197.5
     My feet were pretty sore right when I got up, but seemed better once I started walking.  I had lunch at a quaint little lake at about 11:30 and about half way through another hiker went by.  That surprised me a bit because I didn’t really expect to see anyone out today.  Then 10 minutes later 2 dayhikers went by, and 10 more minutes later I watched a large group of equestrians march their horses right into the lake to drink.  I love how considerate equestrians are.  They could use a water bag and bring water to the horses, but instead they ride them right into the water so they can urinate and defecate in the lake while they drink.  I opted not to get water there, and went on to Bear Lake.
 Bear Lake was gorgeous.  It was turquoise with trout swimming around, and I say this huge bluish-white crane like think that must have had a wingspan of at least 4 feet.  Anyway, I got water and treated it with iodine (I hate the taste of iodine.  How nice it will be to fix my filter at Cascade Locks), and just then the equestrians arrived, so I left.
 I hiked hard, and my feet started getting painful, but it was a dull pain that slowed me down only a little.  At 5:30 something bizarre happened.  I found myself farther than I expected, earlier than I expected.  That never happens!  I had reached Crest Campground, where there were 2 girls with dogs that really didn’t seem to like me.  I avoided them, then found a picnic table to make dinner at.  Yay for tables!
 Taking leave of my table, I hiked through the remnants of a lava flow, then nightfall came.  I kept hiking, up to the top of a saddle, where I am camped now. Top

Day 125, Sept. 27th, Mile ?
    I got to a spring about 2 miles from where I camped this morning and found it nearly dry.  I needed water so I got it from a very small pool, and upon examination I could see tiny creatures swimming around in it.  I started dropping in my iodine tablets, and found I only had enough tablets to equal half of what was needed.  But I needed water…no ill effects yet!
 I hiked on until I came to Panther Creek Road, and I went up to Panther Creek Campground, which I found to be closed, and lacking any water.
 Oh, I almost forgot.  I ran into 4 thru-hikers today—Ethan, Matt, and Madame Butterfly and Improv.  Improv is deaf, and I had heard about him before.  They both seemed really cool.
 OK, back to the story.  From the Campground I started heading south on the road.  I had decided a while ago to take a road walk short-cut to get to Cascade Locks which chopped off about 20 miles and several thousand feet of up and down.  I hate to cheat like that, but I don’t have a choice because:
1. Having been slowed by the storm and my feet, I don’t have enough food left to go the long route.
2. My feet need a rest.
3. My tarp couldn’t survive a real storm, and one is supposed to be rolling in this weekend.
4. I have to wait for a tent to arrive and see a doctor in Cascade Locks, which means spending lots of time there.  I have to save as much time as possible elsewhere to still finish the trip in time.
So, anyway, I made dinner in a little ditch alongside busy Wind River Road.  Then I walked until it was too dark to be safe hiking along the road anymore, and I checked out an RV park to see if I could camp there.  I could not for the life of me find the front office, so I gave up on that and just plunged into the woods next to the road.  I’m sure I am on private property for tonight, but if I don’t get caught, who cares, right? Top

Day 126, Sept. 28th, Mile 2150.2
     I got walking on the road early this morning and made a trek that was annoyingly long into Cascade Locks, passing far more road kill than I’d have preferred.  I got to the post office at about 11:45am and found I had several boxes, so I took some and left the others.  I got a postcard from Takahiro Ino (trailname Tac), who I knew from CHAOS at Berkeley, who hiked a large portion of the PCT this summer.  He now has grand plans of hiking the ADT, CDT, full PCT, and climbing Denali and Everest.  That’s ambitious.  Also, I got a package from Megan McDonald that was originally sent to Old Station before my flip flop (thanks!).  It was some great food, even being a month and a half old.
 I walked to the marina and that people at the desk were really friendly, so I am all set camping here for free.  I walked back, got my remaining packages, got a couple great cheeseburgers at a little stand, then started making the needed phone calls.  Although it was exceptionally difficult getting a hold of who I needed to, I eventually got it arranged such that my tent ought to arrive on Saturday.
 Later that evening I met a very very strange couple camping here.  At first I thought they were just completely insane—probably drug related.  It was right—they both have extreme cases of adult A.D.D., though I’m not sure if it was caused by past drug use or not.  It seems quite likely, though, because I found out that both of them were heavily into drugs at one point.  What is remarkable that that they (Richard and Janet) are both frighteningly intelligent—the insane genius stereotype.  They both seem very nice, and are quite interesting, but tough to follow at times.  Richard hung with the crowd that makes up the character list in Electric Coolaid Acid Test, and is, in fact, one of the characters in it!  Anyway, they watched my stuff while I walked down the street to get some pizza (great!) and see some of the Olympic coverage.  Now it’s late and I am going to sleep in a large covered cooking gazebo they have here at the marina.  Top

Sept. 29th, 30th, Oct. 1st, Non-hiking Days
 I spent Friday doing nothing very eventful.  It basically consisted of me sorting food and doing my laundry.  Saturday consisted of me getting up painfully early in the morning to begin the 4 mile walk to the clinic in Stevenson, after breakfast.  I got a hitch pretty quickly, which was great because it was pouring rain and I was already soaked.  Since I didn’t have to walk I was an hour early for my appointment, but they only made me wait about 20 min.  The doctor I saw was somewhat incompetent, though, and they lacked a good enough x-ray machine to detect a stress fracture, and lacked the equipment to figure out where to cauterize my nose.  I left in a very frustrated mood, and couldn’t find a ride back in to Cascade Locks, so I had to walk it in the rain.
 When I got back I tracked down a Kaiser in Portland that was open, and then found the cheapest shuttle from Cascade Locks to there (still nearly $70 each way).  I had to wait a while there at the clinic, but most of the people there were really friendly and cool, so it was OK.
 The doctor I saw seemed to understand fairly well about my dilemma, but he refused to cauterize my nose.  He insisted that I stop taking anti-inflammatories because they are exacerbating my nose bleeds.  That’s bad because the anti-inflammatories help my feet, and make me hike faster by thinning the blood.  He took X-rays of my feet, and found no stress fractures, concluding that I had damaged the ligaments in my feet.  That leaves me in a dilemma.  My feet will not get better unless I stop hiking entirely.  If my feet aren’t better, I have no idea how I’m going to manage the 30+ miles per day that I need to do in order to finish by the time I need to so I can study for and take the LSAT in time to go to law school in the fall.  I DO NOT want to quit and finish this section next summer, however.  I’d be exceptionally unhappy with myself if that were to happen.  It is beginning to look like I have no choice, however.  This is absolutely agonizing! I thought about it for a while, and knew I had to give it a shot, so as soon as my tent arrives I’m heading back onto the trail to see if I can pull the 30 mile days I need.

Section H (Vol. 2, OR & WA) Summary:
 If Goat Rocks is hiked through during good weather, I’ve heard it is stunningly gorgeous.  I wouldn’t know.  What I do know is that in bad weather the area is nearly deadly.  Everything south of Goat Rocks is relatively easy, and the views around Mt. Adams are exceptional. Top

Oct. 1st, Non-hiking day
    Today another hiker named Gene, AKA Flatfeet, rolled into Cascade Locks.  He is the last Northbounder, to the best of our knowledge.  We talked for a while and he crashed in the cooking area at the Marina with me that I had been staying in.  He seemed to be a pretty interesting older guy—used to be in intelligence collection for the military.

Day 127, Oct. 2nd, Mile 2148.5
    Another hiker who had hiked the state of Oregon came in today.  He and I talked fairly extensively while I waited for my tent to arrive, and then while I hurriedly packed after I got the tent.  I rushed the last set of journal entries, and mailed them and my drift box away, then took off down the trail, in a final test of my feet.
 It took only a mile to realize they were still in terrible shape, and nightfall came early, so I made camp at a little creek having not gotten very far.  I’ll see how my feet feel tomorrow, and if they are bad I will backtrack to Cascade Locks.  I have been forced to the realization that I will not be able to finish my trip, even if I make it to Timberline, and that angers me beyond all comprehension.  I say it so matter-of-factly here—that belies how upset I really am.  I just can’t seem to find a way to articulate it.  Top

Day 128, Oct 3rd, Mile 2134.9
    What a depressing day!  When I woke up my feet felt a bit better, so I decided to push on to Timberline Lodge.  That was a mistake.  But before I complain, I will relate my one highlight for the day: a newt.  I saw it walking along the side of the trail, and watching it move made me laugh.  It was so slow and methodical, and totally oblivious to anything that it was just hilarious.  It’s movements were exaggerated too, so the white bottom of its feet pointed upward at the back of its leg stride.  What an adorable little thing!
 After my encounter with the newt, things got ugly.  My feet started hurting more and more, and by the time I got to Wahtum Lake I was hobbling.  Despite it being only 6:30, I decided to call it a day and camp there, and go back to Cascade Locks the next day.  While I was standing there deciding this, a man walked down from a road above to look at the lake.  We got to talking a bit, and he invited me to come and join him and his friend up at a campfire they were starting after I made dinner.  I thanked him, and set up camp, then started making my meal.  It was depressing, because with everything I did, I was conscious that it was my last time doing it on this trip.  I was making my last dinner, eating it for the last time, unfurling my sleeping bag for the last time.
 Going up to the campfire ended up being a good move to keep my mind off what a catastrophic failure it was evident my trip was ending as.  The two guys were named Pat and Bruce, and both were very friendly and great conversationalists.  They offered me a beer and a seat in a chair by the fire, and we talked all about the Tour de France and the Olympics, since Pat was into cycling, and about Canada (and my trouble with immigration there ?), since Bruce was from Vancouver.
 After an hour or two relaxing with them, I went down to my camp, gazed at the stars for the very last time on the trail, crawled into my sleeping bag for the very last time, and am writing in my journal from the trail, for the very last time on this trip.  So many “lasts”.  Time to go to bed.  Top

Day 129, Oct. 4th, back at Cascade Locks
     I decided to take an alternate trail back to Cascade Locks today: the Eagle Creek trail.  Pat and Bruce were also hiking down that one, so much of the day, including lunch, I spent with them.  My feet started out bad, and continued to deteriorate over the course of the day, but luckily the scenery was incredible, so it kept my mind off the pain some.  There were 5 or 6 absolutely amazing waterfalls on the trail, including one that the trail goes behind, through a cave blasted out of the rock.  I highly recommend it as a day hike for anyone up in northern OR.
 I finally made it down to the parking lot at the end of the creek, where Pat, Bruce, and I saw a whole bunch of giant salmon battling their way up the very shallow creek.  Pat and Bruce were then nice enough to drive me back to the Marina at Cascade Locks, and from there I began making arrangements to get to Portland to fly home.  That marks the end of my trip…

For this year.  I will finish next summer.  Stay tuned. Top
 
 

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