Slight change of plans

After a fun day and a half of eating, drinking and swapping stories with fellow hikers at VVR we headed back to the trail. VVR is situated on Edison Lake, but since the lake is 50ft below normal levels, the ferry shuttle they normally run to get you to and from the trail is currently a metal fishing boat they only can take 4 people at a time. I went on the first shuttle out and waited an hour for the second shuttle that Katie was on.

It was about 10:15 when we started hiking and the weather was quickly changing for the worse. Within an hour the winds picked up and the skies turned from blue to white to dark grey. We decided to seek shelter under some trees before we got out of treeline and we made the right call. Another hiker, Brownie, joined us under the trees and in a matter of minutes the thunder, lightning and hail came and the 3 of us waited it out under the Tyvek ground cover for about 30 minutes while the storm passed. The rain continued for another couple hours, but we decided to hike through it. Our group of 3 grew to 5 with Georgie and Ben from Austrailia. We forded a few creeks, Katie managed to fall in one trying to rock hop across wet rocks, but we were all rewarded with blue skies as we approached Silver Pass.

That day we only hiked about 10 miles. We found a sweet campsite that the 5 of us all stayed at (later 2 others hikers made camp there too) and had a campfire that night to keep warm and keep the mosquitos away.

The next day we took it easy and was the first day of hiking in a while that we didn't have to go over a pass! We went 20 miles to Reds Meadow Resort which is another "resort" that is not the fancy kind you may be picturing in your head. They did have a small store, cafe, horse stables and cabins but felt a bit like a ghost town. I got my usual chocolate milk and an apple, both hit the spot! Katie was not feeling well, so we made the decision to get off the trail here to get down to lower altitude to see if that helped (we had been above 9000ft for nearly 2 weeks straight). We hitched a ride from a worker at Reds Meadow and made our way into Bishop via Mammoth Lakes.

We are rested up and Katie is feeling better, so we will make our way back to the trail and again head towards Tuolumne (Yosemite NP).  As our wise thru-hiking friends told us many times, "don't over-plan." Well, they were right...sometimes you just need a longer break and some salad!

Updated stats after 57 days:
# snakes: 18 (only 1 rattler)
# bears: 1
# pushups: 370
# days rain: 1.5
# nights indoor: 9
# showers: 12

Here are some town pictures below for your viewing pleasure...

The High Sierras!

After shoveling in a pancake breakfast, hamburger and a pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream all to myself, I was ready to head out of Kennedy Meadows back on the trail. We had 10 days of food each to go 195 miles to our next destination, Vermillion Valley Resort. I posted a pic below of what 8 days of food for me was, so you can imagine how heavy my pack was to start out.

It took us a couple days to really get into the Sierras. Our timing could not have been better though as we were able to climb up Mt Whitney on Katie's birthday. What a beautiful peak! We had great weather although it was a little hazy from a couple fires burning in southern CA. The views from the top of Whither were amazing! I included a pic below of us on the summit.

After Whitney, we went up and over 6 mountain passes in the course of 5 days which included reaching the highest point on the PCT on Forester Pass (13,200 ft). We also had numerous river crossings, but the water did not get higher than our knees. We did hit snow on 4 of the passes, but by timing it right, we did not run into ice or have to posthole through it. Below is a pic of Forester Pass itself and us on to of the pass.

It is so hard to sum up these past 10 days. The views are breathtaking and after working your way up each pass you are rewarded with views of mountains, basins, clear blue lakes below and surrounding you. There is also something so refreshing about not seeing a road or car for 10 days straight. Granted, I do get pretty excited for a trail town, but this stretch of trail has been incredible. If you are reading this blog, I highly recommend getting to the high Sierras; it has to be up there with the Grand Canyon and other magical scenic places to see in your lifetime.

Trail stats after 52 days...
# snakes: 18
# bears: 1
# days of rain: 1
# nights indoor: 6
# pushups: 310
# showers: 9

What's In A Trail Name...

People who hike long trails like the PCT, AT, Colorado Trail, etc., get trail names, it is just what happens out here.  You lose your "real" name and people start calling you by your trail name.  Some people make up their own before the hike, some make it up during the hike, others get their name from someone else during the hike.  It doesn't really matter, it just needs to fit who you are.  Here are some examples of trail names out here this year...

Gumby - she stretches a lot
Double It - he loves being hydrated, but usally takes more water than he drinks
Deer Hunter - he found a dead dear near the trail and showed his friends
Sexy Legs - he had on short brown cord shorts as loner clothes while doing laundry
Bipolar - he is bipolar
Midnight Chocolate - she reportedly slept walked and ate a chocolate bar in the middle of the night
Stilts - he has super long legs
Samba - he has hiked in Adidas Samba soccer shoes, you can't miss his foot print on the trail
Moab - he is from Moab
Sasquatch - he has big feet
Autobahn - he is from Germany
Lorax - he had a dream the night before starting the PCT that he was a superhero

...the list goes on, but this gives you an idea of where these names come from.

So my trail name is Cowgirl.  It came about as there have been a couple times cows were trying to come by us to drink out of the water trough or have walked by our tent area.  I was a little worried about them as they tend to stare you down and they are quite large, so I sort of herded them away by making noise with my pot and trekking pole.  Nobody else seemed to care about the cows except for me and got a kick out of my herding strategy and hence the name Cowgirl was born.  So like it or not, Cowgirl is now my trail name...yeeee-hawwww!

Winnnndy!

Lucky or unlucky for you, not having internet for 8 days means a much longer blog than normal for me...

Wind is the theme of this last 8 day stretch from Mojave to Kennedy Meadows.  Oddly enough, it is getting cooler the further north we head into more desert.  It is hard to complain about the cool weather though as it is great to hike in.

After resupplying in Mojave, Katie and I did an evening hike of 10 miles. It was breezy when we went to bed, but a few hours later the wind started picking up and did not stop!  Needless to say, it was a looooong night as the tent stakes came out twice.  On top of that, the tent zipper is not working well, so every time we have to get out of the tent it takes about 10 minutes to zip the tent back up.

The next day was a climb out of Tehachapi Pass which, come to find out, is one of the windiest places on earth.  The wind just sucked the energy out of me and there were gusts probably as high as 50 mph.  I can understand why Tehachapi/Mojave has one of the largest wind farms in the world and I will be happy to not see a windmill for a very long time!

On our third day on this stretch we saw a black bear!  I could not believe it and was certainly not expecting it in this area as there were a lot of burn areas, windmills and the water is scarce.  It barreled across the trail about 50 feet in front of Katie and was so loud coming through.  Although it was cool to see a bear, we both had Elvis legs for a bit after that so we decided to use our recently purchased portable AM/FM radio to make sure we didn't startle any more bears :0)

Day 4 was a good one as we dropped down to the desert floor for the last time.  The water continues to be scarce, but thankfully a trail angel stocks 2 water caches at two key locations for the hikers to make it doable.  Today was also the day I finally got my trail name...I am officially Cowgirl!

Day 5 got off to a rough start as our tent was in the cross wind.  Same thing as the first night, we had to fix the stakes multiple times and then work on zipping the tent back up.  Hiking that morning was also tough with the strong winds.  The good news is that we are heading out of the desert and got our first glimpse of the Sierras in the distance.

The rest of days 6, 7 and 8 were more of the same.  Still lots of wind, but the scenery was changing and we did a lot bigger climbs and were in the trees more with more opportunities for water.  We arrived Tuesday at  Kennedy Meadows which is 5 days ahead of schedule!  To me, this place marks the unofficial start of the PCT and the last 700 miles was physical and mental training.  We figure if we can make it through the desert, we should be able to make it the rest of the way (assuming no major injuries of course).

We are taking 10 days of food with us out of Kennedy Meadows to go just under 200 miles.  That will get us to Vermillion Valley Resort and also allow us a side trip to climb Mt. Whitney.  We continue to try to figure out how much food to bring, but we are going with about 2,800 calories per day for this stretch.  On the food front, I have been enjoying all my food so far.  The only thing I don't like is mashed potatoes.  On the other hand, the one food I love and just discovered in Mojave is flavored butter (garlic herb, Italian herb); it is delicious!  We spread it on a tortilla with meat, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and it makes a tasty high-calorie wrap.  I eat a lot of bars (Kind, Lara, Snickers, ProBar, etc.), cookies, chips, nuts and take a daily multi-vitamin to make myself at least feel a little healthier.  We cook a main "dinner" just once a day which helps us conserve fuel.

Not only are we taking 10 days of food, we also have to carry bear canisters for a while through the Sierras which weigh 2lbs 9oz each.  The bear canister can only probably fit about 6 days of food in it, so I am going to have to do some creative packing to get everything in my bag.

I will have to send out some pics later as the "Internet Cafe" here is not set-up for that.

Thanks to all who have sent care packages to us out here!  It is so awesome to have such great friends and family and so nice to get mail!

Happy Trails,
Cowgirl

Chillaxing under the bridge

We are relaxing under a bridge right now at mile 535.  It is super windy and the only noise I hear is of wind turbines spinning as we are in the middle of a gigantic wind farm. We have been walking along or on top of the Los Angeles aquaduct for the past 15 miles today and will soon be working our way back up and over the hill to get to our next resupply town of Mojave.

Since the Saufley's we have stayed with 2 more trail angel's, the Andersons' and Hikertown. The Andersons' was great. A nice couple who feed the hungry hikers pancakes and coffee for breakfast and a buffet-style taco salad for dinner every day!  The night we were there was a low-key night they said, but there were still about 15 of us chatting it up on their front driveway through the evening. Katie and I have been hiking with 4 others for the past week or so. The 6 of us are 2 for 2 in hitching a ride that we and our bags can all fit in, both to and from the Andersons'.

Hikertown was the place we stayed last night. Frankly, it was kind of weird, but it was a great place out of the wind and I was able to get a a shower and a bed for $10. There are a couple pics below of the place, but basically it is like a tiny town of some sort. I guess some ex-Disney exec lived there at some point and built all these small buildings. I stayed the night in the "Doctors Office" and Katie was in the "Officer's Quarter".

This next stretch from Mojave to Kennedy Meadows will be our longest so far, about 150 miles. It will also be the last section of the desert area as Kennedy Meadows is the starting point entering into the Sierras. We are hiking farther each day than we predicted, averaging about 20-22 miles per day.

A couple random notes...

I finally saw my first rattle snake after 470 miles of hiking. It was rattling loudly and was all coiled up before darting off across the trail, but I did not think fast enough to get a picture (sorry Shawna)!

On another note, this hitch hiking thing is better than I thought! The trick seems to be to take off your hat and sunglasses so they can easily see your face and to smile! On this hitch into Mojave, the 6 of us again got a ride all together and it was the 7th vehicle to go by!

Lastly, I am working on a smiley-face sun tattoo on my calf and it is coming in pretty nicely! See pic below.

Here are updates trail stats after 33 days:
# snakes: 15
# nights indoor: 5
# pushups: 160
# days of rain: 1
# showers with soap: 8

Paradise at The Saufley's!

After descending back down to the desert yesterday, we walked into the town of Agua Dulce at mile 455 and stopped at the Sweetwater Cafe for breakfast.  Oh man do I get motivated when I know I am getting into town!  It doesn't matter if it is 3 days or 6 days between stops; once I know I am going to get to town, my mind starts spinning thinking of food, drinks, showers, laundry, etc.

After stuffing myself with breakfast, we walked a mile up to The Saufley's, another awesome trail angel's house.  This place is paradise and is set-up for hikers!  They are on 5 acres of land and I think the hikers take over about 3 of them!  You walk in and they have a canopy set-up for loaner clothes and laundry (you put your clothes in a bag and they wash they for you).  Then their entire garage is set-up with hiker info (weather report, water report, trail angels further down the trail, etc.), a mailing station and a place to pick up your packages.  They have a single-wide trailer for hikers to hang out inside complete with a kitchen and shower with all the fixin's of shampoo, conditioner, Q-Tips, razors, deodorant, you name it! There are motor homes and canopies with cots for sleeping, a huge fire pit, internet cafe, hammock and bicycles you can use to ride into town.  Their are 4 volunteers here as well to help out and they are all so unbelievably giving and friendly.  It is quite the operation they have going on here and it is all on the honor system for any donation you can spare, no pressure.

Last night a few of us went out to Taco Tuesday at the local Mexican restaurant and has $1.25 street tacos! Tonight was a gigantic 28" pizza split between 9 of us.  Tomorrow we hit the trail again with full bellies and fully loaded backpacks for this next 6 day stretch.

...Next up is another trail angel, the Andersons; which is known on the trail as "Hippy Day Care;" should be a good time!!

Below are some pics from the Saufley's. 

I don't have updated trail stats right now, but can assure you there has been no progress made in the pushup department.

It's getting hot out here...

After a nice stretch in the trees and spending multipledays up between 7,000 - 9,000ft high, we are descending back down to our next stop, Agua Dulce at 2,300ft, and the last 250 miles of desert.

We resupplied a few days ago in Wrightwood and met up with hikers we have and have not met before and had pizza and beers at the Yodler (see pic below). Katie and I shared a hotel room with 4 others (Muppet and Stilts from Michigan and Deer Hunter & Sexy Legs from MO).  BTW, Katie's trail name is Midnight Chocolate and I don't have a trail name yet.

Between Wrightwood and Agua Dulce is about 86 miles and we are aiming to do this stretch in 4 days (currently we are on day 3 as I type this). There is a peak that we summited the first day out of Wrightwood called Mt Baden-Powell. After that it has been generally downhill with a couple trail detours thrown in for an endangered yellow frog and for the Mill Fire Station Fire from 2008.  From the fire, a poisonous plant called poodle dog bush (similar affects like that of poison oak but looks like a Dr. Seuss plant) grows abundantly in the area after a fire and has gotten so bad in parts of the trail that it is unavoidable so they detour hikers to walk a road instead. I included a pic below of Katie navigating it and trying not to let it touch her or her clothes.

We are still trying to figure out our food and how many calories we need to eat. We keep on having 2 days of extra food by the time we get into town which is a lot of extra weight to be hauling around, so for this last 4 day stretch we are trying to go tight on food to see if we can nail it down. Three days into this 4 day stretch, I am tight on food but will make it without starving. However, it is stressing me out more than I thought it would, so I think I will stick with carrying the extra weight moving forward and just eat more!

We here the temps right now are breaking records and it certainly feels that way. Luckily we are in the shade at a Ranger Station taking a long break from the afternoon heat. After we leave here we won't have any shade until we get to the Saufley's (a trail angel's house in  Agua Dulce), so we are enjoying it while we can.

Trivia question for a super duper prize...what was Lord Baden-Powell known for that a mountain was named after him?

Updated trail stats after 26 days:
# snakes: 12
# days rain: 1
# pushups: 120
# showers with soap: 5
# trail magic: 13
# nights not in tent: 3