July 19th, 20th, and 21st

July 19th : Bridgeport zero day. I wasn't planning on taking a zero today. I blame it on the looming storm clouds. I was all packed and ready to hike out when I looked up at the sky. The moment I saw the gray clouds forming above I instantly wanted to curl up with a cup of coffee in a warm bed. Instead of hiking I ended up going to the town thrift store and shopping around for a bit. Now that I don't have to lug around a bear canister (weighing in at 3lbs!) I can carry around more fun things like a black and blue jester hat (that all my hair more than fits in), and a v neck, spaghetti strap, long, silk slip. I also added some smelly lotion to my pack (for towns so I can feel somewhat girly). I was wearing the above mention jester hat and my new dress (silk slip) that I got at the thrift store while I was walking around town with my pack strapped on. I then took a seat on the steps of the library to get some writing done. Apparently the locals are not accustomed to such attire because I got some pretty special stairs. I think it was the jester hat that did most people in. Baboon and I got a room with Twinkletoes for the night.

July 20th: Green eyes. Today's miles = 23. Total PCT miles = 1,041. This morning Twinkletoes drove Baboon and I to the trail head somewhere around 11:30am or so in her rental car. She had gotten of the trail for a bit due to a kidney infection and was waiting for her husband to hike into Sonora pass. So, she had rented a car and was hanging around the trail roads that were far and few between. All I did was hike. I managed to hike 23 miles by 11pm (with a lunch and dinner break in there) and arrived to the camp spot for the night with a head lamp that's batteries were almost useless. Not too useless, however, to produce a glare in the eyes of a wild animal. Upon arriving to camp I immediately saw a pair of green eyes staring at me from the trees not too far from the fire ring. Baboon and I stood there for a moment in silence trying to imagine what kind of animal those eyes most likely belonged to...and what kind of animal we preferred them to belong to. My first instinct was to make noise. I had recently discovered that my pack strap has a whistle attached to it so I gave it a good blow. Baboon threw some rocks in the general direction of the eyes. The eyes disappeared, however, I heard no noise of the animal leaving. If it had been a bear, deer, or cow there would have been a loud and graceless scatter as it ran away. This and the fact that the eyes were a bit too close to the ground to be a large animal made me believe it could have been a mountain lion. Shortly after the eyes left we made a fire and set up our tents. I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared. Just as my nerves were starting to calm Baboon shined his light into the trees. This is when he saw the green eyes yet again but in a different spot. The animal that belonged to those infamous green eyes was stalking us! There was nothing we could do. I set my treking poles an arms length away from my tent (the only weapon us hikers have) and I got into my tent to try and get some sleep. It wasn't my best nights sleep on the trail.

July 21st: Today's miles = 21.5. Total PCT miles = 1,062.5. I woke up this morning by 7 or so, made some campfire pancakes, and hit the trail by 9am. It wasn't until a about a mile into the hike before I realized what the animal from the night before must have been. I heard a pack of coyotes screeching rather close to me. They must have caught some food. It was then that I knew almost for certain that it had been a coyote stalking me. The first part of the day was rather difficult for me. Having eaten dinner 6 miles before I got to camp the day before, having hiked until 11pm, then having not gotten any good sleep due to the creeping coyote, I was rather tired in the morning. Things turned up for me after lunch, though. I put on my music and busted through 12 miles like nothing to my camp spot tonight. Once we were making a fire to cook our dinner I heard a loud screech. I looked at Baboon to see if he heard it as well. There was no way he couldn't have. We agreed that we have never heard a wild animal make that sound before and I thought, 'crap, I'm not getting any sleep tonight either'. Turns out it was some sort of super breed of dog at the next campsite. Wheeww.

Wednesday, July 18th: Sonora Pass

Wednesday, July 18th: Today's miles = 10.8. Total PCT miles 1,018.3.

Today was the first day that I have ever arrived in a town on my projected eta, on any trail. Today was also the most beautiful day of hiking that I have EVER done. There was something about today that hit me just right. The mountains today were mostly volcanic. The climbs were graded and I was feeling great! Days like today are one of the reasons I hike.

After arriving at the road to Bridgeport I immediately started to get my hitch on. I had heard that this hitch was almost impossible. After about 3 minutes of standing there an Austrian man came up to me and said "would you like a cold beer?". A few minutes later his friend came up to me and said "would you like a cold beer and a ride into Bridgeport?". He was driving a Cruise America Rent a Trailer with his wife and young daughter. Baboon and I jumped in with our packs and sat down at the table of the trailer. Thats when his Austrian wife said "would you like a cold beer?". Baboon and I hung out in the trailer and had a wonderful conversation with this woman. She was quite worldy and truly understand a trek such as the PCT. She had an amazing spirit. After about 20 minutes I saw Typo and Wolverine standing on the side of the highway. They had apparently gotten a hitch halfway to town. Once I said that they were our friends the rent a trailer was immediately halting to a stop. I swung open the trailer door and said "would you boys care for a ride?" They were quite surprised to see me. They too piled into the trailer and were promptly offered beer, cookies, bagel sandwiches, and bananas! So far my Bridgeport experience was pretty damn good!

I wasn't expecting all that much from Bridgeport after what I had read and heard from the hiking community. However, after arriving here I realized that everyone else must be crazy! This town provided me with the best Greek salad I've had on the trail so far (so much for not having any veg options). The bar had decent beer and delicious pizza. The grocery store had everything a hiker could want and the gentleman at the hotel allowed me to talk him down to a reasonable rate for a room (after first quoting me 150 I simply sated that that wasn't going to work for me and walked away with a room for 4 people for 100!).

Shower = check
Laundry = check
Full belly = check

Tuesday, July 17th: 1,000 mile mark!

Tuesday, July 17th: Todays miles = 19. Total PCT miles = 1,007.

Today was a strong day for me. I think it was the poptart (450 calories) that Wolverine gave me that did it! The first 10 miles of the day flew by and I actually had to stop myself from hiking on to take a break for lunch. Just two miles after my lunch spot (by a beautiful mountain lake) was the 1,000 mile mark of the PCT. Typo and Wolverine were there eating lunch when I got there and we all had a little celebration. I remember very vividly the day I crossed mile 1,000 on the AT last year. I was hiking with Hollywood. We spent the night at the Blackburn Center eating spaghetti and brownies. It was the day I met Baboon! It feels a little strange to now be out here on the PCT experiencing 1,000 miles. Some days you don't feel like your getting anywhere and then all of the sudden your 1,000 miles in. Before I know it I'll be done with California, Oregon, Washington, and the whole trail. It's a reminder to truly live for each day out here. Sooner than I can imagine I will be off the trail and wishing I was back out here only 1,000 miles in.

During dinner and camp fire I learned that Typo does not know what a s'more is! In New Zealand they apparently roast marshmallows over the fire but they do not make s'mores. I later found out it was because he also didn't know what a graham cracker was! So, I told him we would remedy this and while in Bridgeport tomorrow pick up the makings for s'mores. Tomorrow night is going to be a s'mores party with hungry thru hikers. How many s'mores can a hungry thru hiker eat? Updates will be reported following the s'mores party...

Tomorrow is Bridgeport. Its a very special day because after tomorrow and Sonora Pass I no longer am required to lug around a bear canister! I am more excited about ditching this bulky, heavy, and annoying piece of plastic than I am about going into town for any other reason. Food options are not too great in Bridgeport. Hotels are expensive there so I won't be staying in one. The grocery store is suppose to be small and inadequate. Although, there is a laundromat. I'm not sure doing my laundry is essential when I'm most likely not going to be able to shower there. This stretch will be from Mammoth to Tahoe without a shower. Thats 200 miles without being able to properly bath myself. The shower in Tahoe just may be the second best shower of my life. Number one goes to the shower in Millinocket Maine after having come down from Katahdin hours prior with hypothermia! That was a beautiful shower.

I'm camped with Baboon, Typo, and Wolverine again...by water...11 miles from the road to Bridgeport. Only two mountains lay between me and town.

Monday, July 16: Fish day

Monday, July 16: Todays miles = 20. Total PCT miles = 988. This morning was a normal and late start. I started hiking by 9am or so. There was a decent amount of uphill trail today but not quite as much as yesterday so the thought of that made it a little easier to push through. I didn't take many breaks today. I just pushed through the 20 miles with a few little stops for water and food. There was a moment early in the day where I lost the trail. There were massive blow downs covering some sections of the trail with smaller side trails to go around them. I took a side trail to the right. Wrong choice. After following this little trail for quite some time it suddenly stopped without reconnecting with the PCT. I meandered around the woods for a bit hoping I would miraculously come across the PCT. It was after a bit that I decided I would just have to retrace my steps back to where the blow downs began. From there I took the side trail to the left. Bingo!

Around lunch time I came across Typo eating his lunch on a giant rock almost at the top of a mountain. I asked him if the guys hiked ahead (Baboon and Michigan Wolverine). Typo said that no one had passed him all morning. In my head I was going through the order in which I saw us all leave camp today. First Wolverine, then Typo followed by Baboon. Typo swore that Baboon had not passed him which would mean that I would have somehow passed him without noticing. This is entirely possible if he went down to the water to filter or something of the sort. So I sat on the rock and waited for Baboon...and waited...and ate lunch...and waited. I finally decided that either Baboon was in fact ahead or he was down by the water a few miles back waiting for me. I decided to leave a note on trail and hike on. It wasn't after 10 steps that I saw Monkey tracks in the sand (Baboon shoe prints). I had waited for nothing. Baboon was ahead! He was ahead about a mile waiting for me. Silly Typo. Typo had missed Baboon passing him while HE went down for water. Of the trail I would have just taken out my cell phone and given him a call. All would have been sorted out within moments. On the trail, however, its slightly more entertaining!

Camp tonight is lakeside, again. I don't know the real name of it though. There are so many beautiful, sparkling, and picturesque lakes that I've almost stopped learning their names entirely. They go by: big lake, kinda big lake, small lake, smaller lake, super round lake, shallow lake, sandy lake, kinda sandy lake, and so on. I guess tonight is fish lake. Fish lake got it's name when Baboon yanked a squirmy rainbow trout out if it and fried it up for dinner.... in my frying pan.

Camping with Baboon and Typo. Michigan Wolverine is about 50 yards away. Typo banished him for snoring.

Sunday, July 15th: Benson Pass and mile 968.9

Sunday, July 15th: Todays PCT miles = 20.3. Total PCT miles 968.9. This morning I woke up at Glen Aldin High Sierra Camp to the sound of weekend hikers scurrying around trying to get there things organized. There were so many people at that camp that once I woke up all I wanted to do was get as far away from there as possible. I had to go to the bathroom but I couldn't just use a tree because there were people everywhere I turned so I had to wait in line for 25 minutes. If all those damn people hadn't been eating mountain houses they wouldn't have spent so much time in the bathroom. Anyway, I busted out of that camp by 7:45am. My earliest start in weeks! We play a little game with the day/weekend hikers. We try and guess what fresh and clean smell each person is going to have by the look of them. Then when they get close enough we can determine if our guesses were correct. For instance, a cute girl with clean long blond hair... I usually go for the shampoo smells. They seem to overpower all except Downy and Irish spring soap. I feel like I could hunt day hikers pretty successfully by just following their scent. You can smell them for miles!

Today was a pretty standard day on the PCT. I hiked 3 miles then took a short water/snack break. Then another 5 miles before I re-uped on water. I ran out of sweet water (water treatment) about a week ago and you can't but it in any store except REI. So, I was worried about how I was going to treat non potable sources of water. Thats when Baboon and I found a water filter/pump on the trail. No one claimed it so now I've just been pumping my water. The trail provides! After the water break I hiked another 3 1/2 miles up and over a mountain to a beautiful lake. Baboon was fishing when I got there. He said there were no fish in the lake....I say he just couldn't catch one. Either way, he didn't eat fish for lunch. I took a little nap on the sandy beach of this lake and admired the intricate sand castle someone had obviously invested some time into. Typo from New Zealand met another New Zealander at this lake and got to chat to him for a while. He said the man is doing just a section of the PCT and has been traveling all around the world for the past 13 years. I would love to hear some of his stories. Typo said he was a little crazy though. He said in his adorable New Zealand accent that the man "has been on the move a bit too long and is mad, but nice"

After the lake I climbed up and over Benson Pass. It was a hell of a way to end a days hike; hiking over a pass. Now my belly is full with lentil soup and crackers and I'm camping by another lake with Typo, Baboon, and Michigan Wolverine.

Saturday, July 14th: Lee Vining

Saturday, July 14th: This morning was the coldest morning I've had in a while. I woke up to condensation completely covering the fly of my tent. It took a lot of will power to get up this morning. I sat by the warm morning fire until about 9am. 5.6 miles later I arrived at Tualumne Meadows where I met a nice couple of school teachers who gave me oranges and string cheese! From there I hitched to Lee Vining to eat at the famous deli. They had one vegetarian option, a veggie burger. It wasn't very good but the ice cream was fantastic! I sat there at the deli until about 3:30pm. Then I got a hitch back into Yosemite and hiked 6 miles to the bear infested camp site. I'm not at all concerned about bears. The past 10 miles of trail has been flooded with tourists and day/weekend hikers. The camp site tonight is an actual organized camp with running water and a privy! What?! So, all the thru hikers made a fire (no one else had a fire) and we cooked our dinners in it and drank some whiskey. It was amazing that none of the 100 or so other people here made a fire.

I am roughly 75 miles from Bridgeport and am going to try to make it there in 3 days. I'm really pushing to be in Tahoe for my birthday, which is completely doable. Jeremy from New Zealand (who now has the trail name Typo) is also planning on getting to Tahoe on the same day as me. His birthday is the day after mine so we are hoping to have a little co-birthday shindig. It would take quite a bit to outdo the epicnes of my birthday last year on the AT. I don't suppose it would be overly wise to try.

Friday, July 13th: Agnew, Island, and Donohue passes

Friday, July 13th: Today I hiked over three passes! Although Agnew and Island passes don't really count. Donohue pass on the other hand most certainly counts. Last night I camped with Pappa Smirf and his girlfriend (who is out here for a 4 day section). It was a false alarm last night with the rain. It was all ready to storm when a wind blew in and took the storm with it. A similar thing happened this afternoon on the way up Donohue pass. The sky grew dark, rain clouds were overhead, cold winds brought a little sprinkle of rain. I thought that at any moment the sky was going to open up and there would be a downpour. There was in fact a downpour but it turns out it was on the other side of the mountain. I could see the rain on the other side but was standing under blew skies. I lucked out again!

By the time I got up Donohue pass it was already 4:30pm. I guess The fact that I didn't start hiking until almost 10 this morning had something to do with it. I ended up pushing the last 7 or so miles to get to my chosen camp spot for the night. I'm next to a river in a valley just 5.6 miles away from Tuolumne Meadows. From Tuolumne Meadows you can hitch to Lee Vining where there is a gas station/deli. The deli at this gas station was rated one of the top three delis in California. Therefore, I've decided to make this 16 mile hitch to see for myself.

The 15 miles following Tuolumne Meadows is apparently the worst section for bears. They say if you haven't see a bear yet, you will here. If you have not had a bear playing with your food at night yet, you will here. Now, I do think bears are quite cute and cuddly, however, I've decided to try and hike past this section of trail as quickly as possibly and I will desperately try not to camp here. Knowing myself, I'll spend too much time in Lee Vining and not have the time in the day to hike an additional 15 miles after I fill myself up with deli food (big salad!). So, chances are I will end up camping smack dab in the center of bear heaven. *sigh*

The big accomplishment of the day: finishing the Sierras!! I am officially out of the Sierras and in Yosemite. There are still a few high passes ahead but they are not in the Sierras. It definitely feels strange to already be done with the Sierras. I realized I have no idea whats ahead after tomorrow. I don't suppose I've ever looked ahead to see.

July 10th, 11th, and 12th: Mammoth town days

July 10th: Welcome to Mammoth! I woke up pretty darn happy because I knew that I didn't have to hike today. I had a whole day to relax and eat! I started my day off by calling Big Agnes (tent company) to see if I could get a new tent. The guy I talked to said that he could send me just the base of my tent 7 days ahead on trail. I was rather bummed by this information because the fly of my tent isn't particularly water proof anymore. So I tried to explain to the guy on the phone that having part of a tent shipped 7 days ahead on trail does not help me in the next 7 days of hiking through one of the most mosquito infested areas of the whole trail. I asked him what Big Agnes's policy for in store exchanges were. I was hoping that I could walk into the outfitter here in Mammoth and walk out with a new tent if the store could corporate with Big Agnes. So, my next mission was heading to the outfitter. I got them to call Big Agnes on my behalf and re-explain my situation. The guy on the phone said that the store could give me a new base of the tent and that Big Agnes would send a base to the store to replace it. I convinced the guy at the store to tell the Big Agnes people to let me just have the whole tent. Somehow they agreed and I walked out of the store with an entire new tent free from Big Agnes!! No more mosquitos in my tent. No more worrying about rain. I was beaming all day because of my new tent!

After I got my tent situation worked out I headed over to The Breakfast Club (a breakfast cafe) and had a nice warm breakfast with coffee! I then did a little running around town and shopped for resupply food. After all that was accomplished I went back to the motel. All day today we had hikers knocking on our motel door. Hikers were needing a place to store their packs while they explored town and word travels fast on the trail thus all the hikers knew that room 109 of the Motel 6 was inhabited by hikers. A hiker named Bouncer ended up staying in the room tonight with us along with the packs of many other hikers.

July 11th: I slept in this morning. I didn't get out of bed until 11am. I got up, went and got myself a Greek salad and just spent the rest of the day bumming around. Dinner was fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil on fresh chabatta rolls (I bought the ingredients at the grocery store) and mint Klondike bars. Another lazy town day. A hiker named Navi stayed in the room tonight.

July 12th: Goodbye Mammoth. In the morning I went for breakfast at Subway. Then back to the hotel to pack up my things. I didn't end up getting on the bus out if town until about 1:45pm. By the time I actually started hiking today it was close to 5pm. Total PCT miles today = 13. It looks like I got my new tent just in time because the weather turned today. Thunder in the sky, humid air, strong cold winds. It's looking to be a thunderstorm tonight. I am camped not 20 feet from the edge of a ridge nestled in some small trees. If a storm comes I'll sure be quite exposed. My new tent is up for the challenge of keeping my gear and I dry tonight. My concern goes to Baboon who still does not have his new tent. Right now he is rocking the Tarp Tent Moment, which isn't really water proof anymore either. If the rain is bad I'm sure we will work something out. My tent unlike his, truly is a one person tent. My pack and I barely fit. I slept two in my tent only one time and that was while on the AT. It was, (hem hem cough cough)....cozy.

My aunt Linda!

I need to dedicate a post to my amazing aunt Linda because without her I would not be out here on this trail right now. She has taken up the task of babysitting my cats for me while I'm out here living carefree...and my cats apparently aren't the easiest to take care of. Without hesitation she said yes to me when I asked her to take them so I could go off and hike the AT. Just 7 months after returning from the AT she opened her home to them again. I know the task isn't easy for her and I want her to know with complete sincerity that what she is doing does not go unappreciated! It is 100 percent true that without that spectacular woman in my life I would not be out here, truly living a dream (for more reasons than babysitting my cats). My aunt Linda is a mother to me and she makes my heart pound. Thank you Linda!

July 8th and 9th: Silver pass, Virginia lake, and Reds Meadow

Sunday, July 8th: Silver pass and Virginia Lake. Mile 893.5. Silver pass was a bitch. I only threw up once on the way up though! There was a mile of really steep almost New Hampshire like terrain but then it started to mellow again. This pass was another one that took all morning and then some. It was on the way up that I realized that I hadn't showered in 9 days and I suddenly felt rather grimey. I decided to go for a "swim/bath" in one of the shallow lakes on the way down Silver pass. Oh, what a difference a little water can make! Past silver pass was another mountain and another decent. Then came Virginia lake. After getting to Virginia lake I really wanted to set up camp there. It was so beautiful. I was tempted to cut my day short in order to do so but I really wanted to push the last few miles of the day. I ended up camping alongside Purple lake, which was far less beautiful and the water looked like dirty New York beaver dam brook water. I drank it anyway. It was my last night on trail before town so I was more than happy to make up all my food. Even after eating everything but a few snacks for tomorrow I was still hungry. I filled my belly up with water in an attempt to fool it into being full and went to bed shortly thereafter. The mosquitoes are out in full force. There were so many in my tent I didn't bother to count. Every breath I took it seemed one ended in my mouth or up my nose. I tried to stick it out and make it through the night but I was being bitten so many times I had no chance of getting any sleep. Thats when I decided to go a knockin' on Baboons tent. After about 5 minutes of saying his name, shinning a light in his tent, and shaking his tent wall he finally woke up and let me come in to escape the biting little devils. It was a tight squeeze but we made it work. I didn't care about the smell emeninating from ever orifice of his tent or the piles of dirt and dead bugs on the floor of his tent. All I cared about was being able to say "fuck you" to all the mosquitoes buzzing around his tent not able to get in. This thought alone put me right to sleep.

Monday, July 9th: Reds Meadow. Mile 906.6. I woke up this morning more excited than I have ever been before for town day! Maybe it was because it was such a long hard stretch or how dirty I felt. Although, I think the real motivation was food and cold beer. I woke up famished! I hiked 13 miles with the mantra " food and beer. Food and beer". It was rather successful. The last few miles before Reds Meadow was very reminiscent of a Dr. Suess book. I felt like I had walked right into a scene out of The Lorax. Every tree was burnt and cut down. I had walked into a giant massacre off truffala trees! Im guessing there was a burn there a few years back and they came in to cut the burned trees to prevent future potentially dangerous blow downs.

Red Meadows was nothing special. My original plan was to get to Reds Meadows, eat at the cafe, and then find a stealth camp spot for the night. In the morning I was going to take the bus into Mammoth and take a few days off in town. Shortly after arriving in Reds Meadows, however, I knew the chances of me staying there for the night were low. The pull of town was too strong. I ate at the cafe then saw the bus to town pull up. Without thinking I grabbed my things and beelined straight for the bus. All the seats were taken so I had to stand for the 30 minute ride. I didn't mind. I was on my way to a shower, pizza and beer! I soon realized that I was an absolutely repulsively smelly hiker standing on a bus with a dirty pack strapped to my back. I had on a bright salmon colored hiking skirt with a sweat stained blue long sleeve sun shirt on. My face was covered with dirt much like a child playing in a mud pile all day. My hair is all tied up in knots and I had cuts, scrapes, and countless insect bites all over my body. It was then that I took a good look at the other passengers on the bus. Every seat was occupied with a perfectly clean and fresh smelling tourist with a camera either around their neck or in their fanny pack. They all carried bottled water they had purchased at the gift shop (despite the abundant fresh potable water that was rushing down the waterfall that they no doubt traveled to see). The one woman said to her exhausted husbad, "Today was our most strenuous day. We hiked 1.3 miles to that waterfall! The other days won't be as difficult as today was." It was on this bus that I began to feel a bit of a culture shock. I felt uncomfortable being around these people. They looked at me like I was a spectacle worth taking a picture of. I felt a sudden dislike for everyone on the bus. They looked at me like I was trash yet they have no concept of the journey I'm on. They don't understand the reason I look the way I look right now. They don't know just how much sweat or how much determination I needed to get to that point to be on that bus. They sat in their nice little plastic bus seats and consumed themselves with a delusion of nature.... Then I felt compassion. I realized that my feelings were simply due to the culture shock and I began to feel better. I felt even better upon arriving in town! I got a room at the motel 6. I think the moment you become a thru hiker is when you choose food over shower upon arriving in town. Showers can wait. Food cannot!

Imagine this...

Imagine this... You wake up in the morning, stuff a few hundred calories into your mouth, pack up your things and head to your local gym. You decide to start your daily workout with 4 to 5 hours on the stairmaster. You don't stop climbing up that machine until you absolutely can't take it anymore. This is when you get off the stairmaster, eat a few hundred more calories and take 45 minutes to breathe. Then you jump right on the treadmill. You force yourself to maintain a pace for 3 straight hours that allows you to constantly feel your heart beating in your neck and even your finger tips. Once your three hours on the treadmill are up you immediately head back to the stairmaster for another 4 hours. Thats your daily workout. Oh, but I forgot to mention, you have to do all of this with 35 pounds on your back. If your moving, the weight is on your back.

Thats basically what thru hiking feels like every day...if not harder some days. Except we don't have a water fountain just yards away. We don't have a controlled air temperature building to do our workout in. We don't have a protein, fresh fruit smoothie bar at the entrance of the woods in the morning. Instead we get to do this workout worrying about where our next sip of water is going to come from or if the water we have on our back is enough to make it up the mountain. We have rattlesnakes and bears to watch out for.  We have to hike when its 115 or 25 degree out. We hike in the rain, the blistering sun, the wind farm winds. We walk through sand, mud, grass, through rivers and lakes, and more sand. If we get hurt, we still walk. We deal with our shoes blowing out and our tents not closing (thus sleeping with mosquitoes). We go to sleep shivering and wake up with ice on everything we own and all our drinking water is frozen solid. We put the same dirty socks on every morning. We do workout after workout without showering and at the end out our workout we don't get to go home and make a nutritious and fresh meal and curl up in our warm beds. We eat the same foods day after day and never enough of them (powerbars, Ramon, Pasta Sides, and a variety of Frito Lays products). Then we lay just an inch off the ground and wrap ourselves in a sleeping bag that smells just as badly as we do. We push ourselves to the limit; to the breaking point. Sometimes we break (stress fracture) and sometimes we don't.

And then it happens... Your walking along a ridge of a mountain and the wind blows just right. The sun starts creeping up over the the tops of the mountains and the sky turns to most amazing colors. The birds begin to chirp their morning tunes. You can hear a faint trickle of a waterfall just below. The wildlife of the mountains begin to stir and wake. The morning wind blows the scent of fresh mountain wildflowers just under your nose and your just standing there 14,000 feet high in the sky able to see for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Its then that you realize. You realize your not an employee of some corporate business or a piss on at some retail store. Your not a student pushing through college or a kid with credit card debt. Your not fat or ugly, cold or tired. Your not sunburned or hungry. Your feet don't hurt. You don't have cracked bones or altitude sickness. Instead, all you are is ALIVE. It's that moment you understand that you would do anything. You would do absolutely anything and push yourself as hard as necessary if it meant that once more, just once more you could feel that way again.

We're not out here to look hot in a bathing suit or to prove something to anyone. We're not here so that we may or may not fit into a certain mould of person. We are out here because every so often the wind blows just right....

Saturday, July 7th: Selden Pass

July 7th: Mile 878. Selden Pass. Todays miles = 18.4. Mosquito hell! The hike up to Selden pass was a 7 mile uphill. The first 4 miles were not too bad. The remaining 3 became rather steep and tedious. Like almost every pass there was a series of lakes. Unlike most passes, however, it was mostly tree covered due to the lower elevation. It was a nice change to hike a pass and feel like I was in the woods. One of the lakes below Selden was called Heart Lake. I'll give you one guess why. Thats right! You guessed it. It was shaped like a heart. It was actually truly shaped like a heart, also. It was rather spectacular in that respect.

By the time I shot the pass and got down to the North lake of the pass it was already 3pm. Thats when I looked at the maps and realized that I still had 13 miles left in the day to end where I had planned on camping. I put myself into high gear and took off on the trail. I managed to hike those 13 miles by 7:30pm! Baboon got water while I started a fire. I was desperately trying to get the mosquitoes to back off a bit. The camp spot I chose for the night was absolutely infested! I know I mentioned that my tent does not close but I'm not sure I implied just how awful this is while trying to set up in a mosquito hell hole. There is a few moment lapse of time while setting up the base of my tent that exposes the front of my tent to the wide open air. Many mosquitoes take this opportunity to mosey their way into my tent at this time. Then I set up my fly. I have not been guying out the fly's vestibule portion of the tent so that instead I can try to make it as flush with the base of the tent as possible. Its then that I pin it down with rocks to attempt to make a cover for my tent. It works to some degree although there is an unavoidable 2 inches of space between the base and the fly (where the tent pole needs to be) where the mosquitoes can still get in. This set up also does no good at keeping out any crawling insects (although that doesnt really bother me). So by the time I'm ready for bed I can count between 20-40 mosquitoes buzzing around inside my tent. At first I was attempting to remove them from my tent but for every one I got out two would find their way in. I've just been sleeping with a bug net over my face to minimize the bites. Also, because of this fly set up I was crossing my fingers it didn't rain. By setting my tent up this way it took away its waterproof components. If I had any cell service I would call Big Anges (tent company) and see what they could do for me. I guess I just have to wait until Mammoth.

Friday, July 6th: Muir Ranch

Friday, July 6th: Hot springs and Muir Ranch. Mile 859.6. I was running out of food and still had 3 days to make it to Mammoth Lakes CA. There was a rumor on the trail that Muir Ranch's hiker box was a pretty solid score. I was banking on that information when I decided that I would take the side trail to the ranch. Despite my eating lightly I still rolled into the ranch having only 3 ramon and 3 bars left (which would have had to have lasted three full days of high Sierra hiking!). I was a little worried that the hiker box was going to be empty. If that was the case I would have really been in a bind. There was no where to buy food at the ranch. You could have ordered food be shipped in to the ranch by pack muel for the low cost of 55 dollars, however you had to do this weeks in advanced. Due to my low desire to plan most of the trail, yet more importantly the lack of the 55 dollars, I obviously did not have this done. The hiker box ended up being pretty scarce but I was able to grab some food such as oatmeal, stale trail mix, and soy milk powder. I was just thankful that the box had something. I wasn't really looking forward to eating oatmeal for 3 days straight but it was better than attempting the Sierra passes without food in my system. It was then that I was organizing my food that a man came up to me and said, "Didn't realize you would have all that extra food, did ya?". Thats when I responded "Well, I'm thru hiking the PCT and I'm actually quite short on food."
He responded with, "Oh, well I'm just doing the JMT and my partner and I have extra food we can give you"
The two men gave me:

2 mountain house meals
A bag of salted mixed nuts
A bag of pistachios
A bag of homemade granola (which goes really well with the powdered soy milk)
Dehydrated sweet potatoes
2 bars
A handfull of drink mixes
Chocolate covered acai berries
Tea bags
A bag of almonds
And some starbucks coffee packets!

Needless to say I put the oatmeal back...

I spent the rest of the day hanging out by the natural hot springs and warm lake not too far from the ranch.

6/30/12 - 7/5/12

Saturday, June 30th: Mile 789. I left Independence late in the afternoon and hiked up K pass again back to the Bullfrog Trail. I camped with Baboon and Jeremy from New Zealand.

Sunday, July 1st: mile 800. Glen pass. Glen pass in my opinion was one of the steeper passes I've climbed on the PCT so far. Altitude sickness really slowed me down today. Every step was a challenge. Todays biggest accomplishment: mastering the art of campfire quesadillas.

Monday, July 2nd: Mile 815.5. Pincho Pass. I camped with a guy named Hot Wing who hiked the AT two years ago. The coolest people out here seem to be people who have already hiked the AT. We camped at a lake at the base of Mather Pass.

Tuesday, July 3rd: Mile 820.5. Mather Pass and Palisade Lake. First thing in the morning I climbed up Mather pass and hung out with an adorable yet rather old marmot. 3 1/2 miles past Mather Pass was a lake called Palisade lake. Once I got there Baboon was perched on a rock on the opposite side of the lake from the trail. He had obviously been jumping off the rocks into the lake. I asked him how he got over there. He responded "forded". So I took my shoes off and started crossing the lake with my pack on. We collectively decided that this spot was too beautiful to pass by and we set up camp at noon on a sandy part of a giant rock/rock cliff and hung out there the rest of the day. Despite our short day we didnt particularly relax. We left camp and wandered around the giant rock cliffs climbing up and down and eventually discovered a waterfall. It was a well spent nero day.

Wednesday, July 4th: Mile 835.3. I camped somewhere between three and four miles from the top of Muir pass. Today Baboon and I stumbled across a campsite that looked like it had been left in a hurry by its last inhabitants. Just moments before coming across this spot Baboon said that he wished he had bought fishing gear while in Independence to be able to fish at some of the lakes. It was then that we saw the fishing pole in the dirt by the camp spot! He scored a fishing pole. I then came across a pile of tampons, Midol, and a corn cob pipe with weed still in it. Looks like that girl was having a rough time. I took the Midol and the pipe and we went about our way.

Thursday, July 5th: Mile 852.4. Muir Pass. It took all morning for me to climb the pass. It was another HORRIBLE altitude sickness day for me. After I got below 9,500 ft, however, I took off and ended up making it further than I thought I would. Overall, today ended up being a good day.

Independence

From left to right: Baboon, Marvin, Debbie's daughter, Debbie, Me, Cheers, and Heavy

Forester pass

Friday, June 29th: Kearsarge Pass

Today was one of the hardest mornings on the trail so far. Not in actually difficulty, however, I was perhaps feeling the worst I ever have on trail. I camped just a few miles away from the Bullfrog Lake Trail. This trail is not on the PCT but it connects to the K pass trail which I needed to find my way to. The plan was to take the Bullfrog Lake Trail, hop on the K pass trail, climb K pass and go down the other side to a campground in Onion Valley that is 15 miles away from the town of Independence. I needed to resupply on food to make it through the rest of the Sierras. I ended up hiking 9 miles up and over a high pass just to make it to a road that leads to civilization. It wasn't an ordinary 9 miles for me. Almost immediately after starting the days hike I started to feel dizzy. I hiked a few miserable miles before I woke up and found myself laying on the side of the trail. I must have passed out. I'm not sure how long I was out before I woke up on the side of the trail. Upon waking up I didn't exactly know where I was. I wasn't sure what I was doing out there. It took me a few moments to remember that I was hiking the trail and the only thing I could really do was drink some water, eat some food, and start climbing up the pass. The remaining miles were some of the hardest I've ever hiked. I just kept telling myself that there was in fact an end to the mountain and if I continued to climb I would eventually get there. Get there I did.

Once I got to Onion Valley there was a sign on the side of the trail that read "trail magic site 13". Tom, the man who runs the trailer hostel for hikers out of Kennedy Meadows had set up camp in Onion Valley and was giving hikers beverages and also rides into town. Independence wasn't really a town. It had two gas stations, a subway, a restaurant, and a few motels. Which is why I sent myself a resupply box here. The chevron gas station accepts packages for hikers so that was my first destination...then subway.

I ended up getting a room at the Mt. Williamson motel for the night. This is when I shot a text message to Marvin and Debbie (the couple who gave us a ride into and out of Lake Isabella). They agreed to meet us at the motel. It was around 9pm or so when they showed up with fresh cut fruit, veggies, meat, beer, and a grill! Right there in from of the motel Marvin busted out the grill and began to grill up the veggies. He made these amazing veggie wraps with homemade salsa from Debbie! I was so very happy to be there at that moment with these people sharing stories and drinking beer. Heavy and Cheers wandered their way over to our little party and we all ate until our stomachs were exploding! Marvin and Debbie outdid themselves for us yet again. It really was a highlight moment of the trail. Part of the reason I'm out here is to be able to meet people and create connections with them. Marvin and Debbie have become true friends and I can't thank them enough for their kindness.

Thursday 6/28/12: Forester Pass

This morning was another cold one. I was camped at 10,000ft-ish and I'm convinced its impossible to have a warm morning at that elevation. I got a relatively early start (for me) because I wanted to do a 20 up and over Forester Pass which is the highest point on the whole PCT and is also suppose to be one of the most difficult. The morning went slowly and I only made it 8 miles before I stopped for an early lunch. Once I began the 5 mile climb up Forester Pass the trees thinned out and there was a 360 view of the entire mountain range including Mt. Whitney! Most years hikers have trouble determining where the trail goes from this point because there is usually snow covering all signs of the trail. This year, however, we experienced NO snow on Forester Pass. NO SNOW! My feet touched no amount of snow on the pass nor did they even get wet at all. It was a rather easy and extremely pleasant climb up.

One mile from the top of the pass there was a beautiful lake that I sat by and ate a snack at to give me a little push up the last and most steep part of the climb. From this point looking up at the pass it looked to be just a giant rock wall that went straight up. I had no idea how I was ever going to get to the top, although it proved to appear more intimidating than it actually was.

Once I got to the top I saw Monkey sitting in a pile of rocks surrounded by patches of purple wildflowers. We sat there and smelled the wildflowers for at least an hour while we looked off into the distant mountains from 13,700 ft high. I made sure to take many pictures because I knew it would be one of the more spectacular views of the trail but it wasn't until I was in my tent that night that I realized that they were all in black and white. I must have accidentaly switched the mode over and because of the sun glare I couldn't tell at the time. I was pretty bummed out.

The decent down Forester was perhaps even more beautiful than standing at the top. There was a series of lakes on the way down that the sun glistened in just perfectly. The bottoms of these lakes (which you could see as clearly as possible) were all just rock scrambles. The one lake was a perfect cerulean blue color. I called this lake the "lake of the mountains Gods" because it truly looked too amazing to be real. I didn't even want to touch the water of this lake because I felt in doing so it would contaminate it's beauty. It took my breath away. I would post the picture of this lake but I don't feel my black and white shots would do it justice.

The camp spot for tonight was in a mosquito infested "bear home" looking pine forest. you know those movies where you see grizzly bears attacking people? Imagine the scenery that always seems to be the same in these movies... green pine forests in a valley surrounded by giant snow capped mountains. There is a giant river flowing through the valley with rocks scattered through it to create tiny waterfalls. The fish are swimming and being swept down the stream as they jump out of the water in play ....and in steps the grizzly. Except there was no grizzly in my picture tonight. The pure look of my surroundings made me feel like at any moment I was going to turn the corner and see a giant brown bear on the edge of the river fishing for dinner.