Day 62; Wed June 27 2007

(Dr Bug) Morning at Wilmer was quite cold - in the 40s. The mosquitos had vanished with the warmth. Later in the morning they returned with reinforcements. We walked for miles across lush wet meadows; for the first time I used my head net. It worked well. Most of the terrain today was flatter than normal. We walked through pine woods and bolder populated spruce forest. One pass, Dorothy Pass, was a blip compared to all others in th Sierras. STUD found a great lunch spot in the bolders, under some fur trees with enough wind to keep the mosquitos away and good shade from the sun.

The remainder of the afternoon was pleasant canyon walk. Stopped at the north fork of the Walker River to do laundry and relax. The mountains have changed character. They have become smoother, and warm green rather than the cold grey of lifeless rock. We slept on one of these mountainsides tonight over looking Kennedy Canyon.

We have not seen another human for 1 and a half days.

It is late June and spring has finally come to the Sierras. High in the mountains, for the past few days, the trail weaves between beds of small purple and blue flowers. The mountains have changed to volcanic. The rock is polverized, giving it smoother lines from a distance and allowing hardy plants to survive. We walked through a mountainside of 10 inch high plants with broad leaves and yellow flowers at days end.

We probably walked about 19 easy miles today. Tomorrow is 8 short miles to hwy 108 and a hitch to more food at Kennedy Meadows Resort.

(Stud) This is the first day we can recall that we have not encountered another person on the trail.

Day 61; Tues June 26 2007

(Stud) We left Smedberg Lake around 6:30 just after Achilles, Suess and Chickadee. Not far down the trail we ran into Yetti, said good morning--but he hurried on ahead and we didn't see him again until lunch.

Perhaps because we stayed up until 10:30 sharing a fire with Suess and Chickadee, Dwight and I were both total slugs today. It was like a plug had been pulled, and all the energy I had yesterday had drained out of me. I was particulary lagging behind Dwight on the downhills, where I kept sliding on the loose gravel--twice falling on my butt and both times using the same spot on my right had to catch my fall..ouch! A not so subtle reminder that granite is hard. (And, Yes, I'll take some cheese with that whine.)

Around 11 we were both out of water, but decided we could wait for a noon lunch break before making another stop. I lost sight of Dwight due to my slow pace and walked for what seemed like 2 hrs with no sign of him. I had decided I would stop at the next water crossing and eat lunch with or without him.

The next water was at a ford just past a trail crossing. Achilles, Yetti, Suess and Chickadee had all forded and were having lunch on the other side. I asked Achilles if they'd seen Dwight and he said they hadn't. He asked if I thought Dr
Bug had taken the wrong trail at the crossing. "Unlikely", I told him. For one thing, Dwight had the maps and also I didn't think he'd go past the crossing without waiting for me to catch up. Dwight and I always waited for each other at trail crossings just to make sure we headed down the same path.

I started across the river and lost my footing, and decided to just get water and return to the trail crossing. I made my lunch and waited. Dwight must have stopped somewhere along the trail and I must have passed hie without knowing it, I hoped.

Some time passed and here came Dwight. He'd stopped to get water at a creek. He said he thought he heard me pass but didn't yell out. He also broke our rule of leaving your pack at the side of the trail if you stop. I would have gotten into him over it, but he'd already gotten his due. Just after heading on the trail with his 3 liters of water, he yanked at his water tube thinking it had a kink in it, and he immediately felt water down his back. Before he could get his pack off, almost the entire 3 liters was emptied--with his sleeeping bag getting the worst of it. Needless to say, he wasn't in the greatest mood. He dumped out his pack at the trail crossing and we stayed there until his sleeping bag was nearly dry.

We shuffled on to Wilmer Lake battling it out with the mosquitos enroute. We stopped for dinner a hr or so before this and I nearly fell asleep sitting against a rock before Dwight finished up with the stove. He shared his dinner with me since I didn't have enough water to cook and was too tired anyway.

We slept cowboy with the netting having between trees. It still amazes how effective this is at keeping he mosquitos out--even though it is pretty disturbing to watch them all hovering aroung just inches away and buzzing up a storm.

Day 60; Mon June 25 2007

(Dr Bug) The day started with a killer breakfast at the Glen Alun mess hall. Literally, eggs, bacon, buttered pancakes - it was a heart attack waiting to happen. But there was also oatmeal and fresh fruit. I loved every all-you-can-eat mouth full. The other wonderful thing about this breakfast was that it was served at 7:30 am, we got to sleep in. We paid for a breakfast for Chickadee and enjoyed coversation with he and Suess and a couple of the paying guests.

The morning hike was relatively easy, a pass would come in the afternoon. Lunch was by a roaring river. We ate, washed our feet, and our sox, and relaxed. We had lunch with Achillies, Yettie and Ghost. I guess her name is Ghost because she covers every part of her body with white clothing an her skin is very pail white.

We made a steep mile drop down to Matterhorn Canyon. There by Wilson creek we found three hikers we had never met before. Billy Goat #2, Helen Wheels (pronounced hell on wheels) and Storm'in Norman. They were very happy-go-lucky folks in their mid to late 50's. Helen and Storm'in Norman are British and Helen was smoking a cigarette!

After walking though the yet another lush green meadow, the accent up Benson Pass was a long one. It was miles up hill with many false summits. Unlike passes before, this was wooded and green alost all the way to the top.

When we reached the barren summit the cool wind blew hard and we thought we could cook dinner mosquito free. But no, these guys were drafting and hiding behind any object to escape the wind and attack us. It is funny to watch them as they line up against the wind looking like a squadron of planes. Suess and Chickadee showed up and we swapped mosquito stories.

We hiked farther down the trail looking for a more hospitable place to eat. Found a open high area near a small creek, but the bugs were relentless. STUD built a small fire to try and smoke them away. Was not very effective. We ate and moved on. We finally reached our 20 mile objective, Semdburg Lake, about 8pm. Found a nice place to camp. The trout were literally jumping out ofthe water, trying to catch mosquitos. Suess came by and borrowed STUDs fishing gear. STUD and Chickadee started a camp fire. Nobody caught any fish but we had a great time telling stories by the camp fire. We got nto our sleeping bags at 10:30.

Day 59; Sun June 24 2007

(Stud) The first thing I heard this morning was: "The bag is gone". It was 5am. "What?", I asked. "The food bag is gone", Dwight said. I looked in the direction that he hung it and said, "Maybe we just can't see it from here, or maybe the wind got it". We had camped above 10,000 ft, where the where trees were sparse, and we were pummeled with wind all night. Dwight went to investigate and sure enough, he found the food bag--untouched--on the ground. The carbiner that attaches the bag to the rope had broken. Possibly an animal had come by and decided..not enough there to bother with!

From our campsite the trail dropped quickly down to the Llyle (sp?) river. There was a challenging rock hop across the river to the trail--and I went across in my normal slow mode--working myself up to jumping to the next rock. When I'd gotten nearly to the other side I looked up to see a man coming toward me. "I saw you from my campsite and it looked like you might need some help. My wife has trouble at river crossings so I thought I might lend a hand". By then I was past the difficult part so I thanked him. We chatted for a while--he was there with his grandkids--then headed down the trail.

It was a level hike along a meadow into Tuoleme Meadows, that generally followed the river. We went directly to the Tuolomme General Store and Grill and got a late, second breakfast. I had some delicious buckwheat pancakes with strawberries, which the cook/mamager gave us for free because we'd placed 2 orders for pancakes but they only had enough batter for one order. I'm not sure why this warrented a free order--so I guess we'll just chaulk it up to trail magic.

We hung around the picnic tables in front of the general store until late afternoon eating and chatting with other hikers gathered there. We met a few new folks: Mr Parkay-a guy around 30 and Yetti--a 69 year old who was averaging 25 miles/day. He is also a rock climber and gymnist. Both are very nice guys. My Parkay entertained us with Chuck Norris jokes. Eg: Normally the grass is greener on the other side...but on Chuck Norris' side it's just full of blood and tears. On second thought, this entertained some more than others.

Other hikers there there were Jeb, Speedstick, Voyager, Galahad, Suess, Chickadee and Safari Bill (who was finishing up his hike of the JMT there).

In mid afternoon we resupplied at the store, then ate dinner at the deli and finally headed out around 5:30. Dwight had figured out an "easy way" to get back to the trail but it wasn't long before we were standing at a trail intersection wondering which direction the PCT was. We happened to be near the historic "Parson's Lodge", a stone structure built as a meeting place for the Sierra Club in the 1930's. So while Speedstick (she'd lost the trail as well) and Dwight pondered over the map, I went to check out the lodge. It was locked up, but a door was open at a nearby log cabin. I walked in, thinking it was a tourist attraction as well, but it was actually a Ranger's private residence. Her husband was very nice about my mistake.

Back on the trail, Speedstick and Dwight thought [emphasis added] they had it all figured out. But it didn't make sense to me. The ranger is 1/10th of a mile away... why don' I just go ask her. Speedsick, satisfied that she had it figured out, went on. I went back to the Ranger cabin, and she headed us in the right direction--too late to go after Speedstick who was well down another trail. Enroute to the high Sierra camp at Glen Aulin, our stop for the day, we stopped to dump the sand out of our shoes from the beachy trail...and here came Speedstick. She figured out her mistake when she got to a sign that said "Maintenance Area". She then bushwacked her way in what she figured to be the general direction of the trail. Until she met up with us, she really didn't know for sure that she was actually on the PCT. I wish I had her moxy.

We arrived at the Glen Aulin Camp just before dark. Voyager, Galahad, Suess, Chickadee and a hiker we hadn't met before--Ghost--were already there. (Speedstick had gone on to get a few more miles in.) We thought Glen Aulin was just tent camping spots with some food lockers (which it did have)--but it was also a staffed camp with several platform tents, and a small mess hall. For $148 per person/per night, you could stay in a small paltform tent replete with a woodstove, small dresser and two single beds. I believe this price also included breakfast and dinner. You could also get just breakfast for $12pp and tent camping was free. Since space was available, Dwight told Tom, the site manager, that we'd take a tent cabin. "Reeeaaally?", Tom said, his eye wide in disbelief. Clearly, no thru-hikers ever stay in the tent cabins. "Just kidding" Dwight said--pleased he could keep a straight face while saying we'd take a tent cabin. But we did spring for breakfast.

I think we did 16 miles or so today. Not bad for spending so much time hanging out at Tuolome Meadows General Store.

Day 58; Sat June 23 2007

(Dr Bug) Started hiking at 6:02am. I love an early start. After about 2 hrs of hiking we ran into Suess, Chickadee and speed stick. They were just waking and getting it together. The older folks wake up early and get in the miles the young folk hike late in the evening. So it goes.

There was a choice of trail to take - PCT ridge or JMT river and lake. We took the ridge. There were some spectacular views of the mountains across the canyon. Snow covered black volcanic rock with pockets filled with glacier melt - lakes and ponds. Then these roaring waterfalls from the mountain lakes into the green canyon below.

Of course, we were too absorbed watching this and we got lost. I was in the lead and got off trail, on to a spur trail to a spring. STUD was behind and started backtracking to the actual trail. By the time I worked my way back she was gone. This is a dilema I face often. First I wait for her - 5 minutes, no show. Now I must determine where she went. I choose forward at the trail junction we missed, thinking she found it and went ahead. This is what I hate more than anything. I don't know whether she is in front or behind me on the trail. It is a gamble to try and catch her. I turn a corner with a great veiw of the trail in front of me for 1/2 mile and I don't see her. This is where I get nervous. Luckily I hear her voice from down below the mountain ridge. She had gotten off trail where we were originally lost looking for me. This could have been much worse.

At lunch STUD tried to grill cheese on toast over a small fire and a rock pile for a stove. The fire was nice but the cheese didn't grill. Lunch was still good.

We hiked to spot on the map that looked above tree line and away from water, between two lakes.

Day 57; Fri June 22 2007

(Stud) I slept really well last night. It's been warmer the last few days which is a plus and a minus. A plus because it makes sleeping more comfortable and a minus because it doesn't thwart the mosquitos. But we hung our mosquito net from a line tied between 2 trees--and it was pretty effective. It covers from our heads to about our waists and stays in place even if you roll over.

We had a quick 14 mile hike into Reds Meadow today. It was an easy trek--and the small restaurant the was calling..."double cheeseburgers and chocolate milk shakes..come and get it".

The last few miles before getting to Reds Meadow was a burn area with just the burned trunks of the pine trees remaining. The fire occurred in 1992 due to lightning after a 7 yr drought. Only the grasses and low scrubs seem to have come back. A local told us it would take 150 years to recover because of the low amount of rain here.

There is a family owned pack station at Red's Meadow. In addition to providing pack services where they will take you and your gear into the back country on horseback and mule, they also will provide a cook and whatever related services you need. They also have a small grocery (where we resupplied).

We spent much of the day at Red's Meadow--hanging out with Suess, Chickadee and Speedstick (who we first met at Kennedy meadows). Besides buying groceries and eating at their restaurant twice, we took at showers there. They're free and the water comes directly from a hot spring. It was actuaaly too ot to stand directly under.

We left late in the afternoon and stealth camped on the border of Devils Postpile National Monument--which we knew because "Border" signs were stapled to all the trees. Devils Postpile is an interesting rock formation which we thought we would be able to see from the PCT but could not--we'll have to save this for another trip.

Two reminders today that life and death go on in the world even though our isolation often make us detached from events around us. When we got into Red's Meadow, a couple day hiking with their son stopped to chat with us about thru-hiking. The woman was so happy to meet thru-hikers you would have thought we were a celebrity couple. When she found out we were from SC, she told us that 7 or 8 fire fighters had died there while fighting a blaze at a furniture store. She couldn't remember the town.

And on a more personal note, while calling home today, I learned of the passing of my Aunt Pris--my father's oldest sister. Aunt Pris was a super cool aunt who was talented at many things: she was a generous hostess, great cook, talented seamstress and other types of hand work such as knitting and crochet (which she taught me). She was an avid reader and artist--and I am lucky to have one of her paintings--which is a favorite of mine. It was a gift for helping with the book she wrote out my grandfather. She was really fun to shop with, had a great sense of humor and a wonderful laugh. I loved her and she will be missed by all.

Day 56; Thu June 21 2007

(Dr Bug) It was wonderful to wake up in the clear sheets of a queen bed. The yurt was toasty warm. We gathered our things and said good bye to our little refuge. We had a big breakfast at the VVR resturant and then closed our tab. This was a BIG bill. I guess why they call this a resort. To me it was worth it, we only stayed 24 hrs but it was one of the most relaxing stops we have had. The staff was great and the atmosphere was layed back. There were some negative VVR rumours on the trail. I found none of them to be true. I would highly recommend this place, but is not cheap!

At the landing on the othe side on Edison Lake, STUD and talked to some section hikers names Suess and Chickadee-guys in their early 20's. They were knowledgable fisherman and gave STUD some good tips. We would see them throughout the day and talk to them alot more. A neat piece of gear that Suess had was a Big Buddy wood stove. It looked like a small coffee can with internal chambers. You could cook using small pieces of wood.

There were many river crossings in the next section. This is not STUDs favorite thing to do. She hates to get her feet wet. Because ofthe light snow season, fords that are normally thigh or waist deep were ankle or calf deep. We were very lucky with the lack of snow. The north fork of Mono Creek and Silver Pass Creek were easily forded.

Our next obstacle was Silver Pass at 10,895 ft. The climb to the pass was long and rocky. There were small patches of snow to negotiate and we either walked though them, or boldered around them. In the afternoon the softer snow made for easier walking. We were never going to go over a pass in the morning if at all possible. This was all very tiering because we basically climbed over or around piles of rocks. The trail wasn't much different from the surrounding terrain. We rested at the top and enjoyed the views of both the valleys in the north and south. Suess and Chickadee showed up as well as Hiker Jan. I think we sat on this ridge for an hour and talked to these folks.

It seemed like we couldn't get going after that. I always think it is important to try and camp in a high place. I had a spot in mind and we had ten more miles to go after lunch. I like high ground just aound the tree line where there is no water because 1) there are less mosiqutos and 2) I hope the higher you go, the less bear activity. We were shooting for a high and dry spot on the map between Lake Virginia and Purple Lake. Prior to this we stopped and ate dinner. Eating dinner miles before your intended camp site is a good practice in bear country so you do not have food smells in camp. This is a practice we have used thoughout the Sierras. We ate one of the expensive dinners Mom sent us, Mountain House chicken terryaki. It was the best dinner I have ever eaten on the trail.

Eventually we made our camp destination between the two lakes. For the first time we hung the mosquito neting directly from a string; we did not sleep in the tarp. It worked great.

We 14.8 hiked miles today. Not bad considering we did not start walking till 10:45.

Day 55; Wed June 20 2007

(Stud) We only had a 6 mile downhill hike today (1.5 of it off trail) to where we would meet the ferry to Vermillion Lakes Resort--our next resupply point. We said goodbye to Old Corpus before leaving. He happened to be tenting at the same trail junction as us last night and it was good to catch up with him. We'd last seem him back at Crabree Meadows just after we'd summited Mt Whitney. He had just resupplied at Muir Ranch where he was the only guest. "I rented a cabin, the staff made me dinner and breakfast, I sat in the hot springs...it was expensive but very nice." (To resupply at Muir Ranch you must mail yourself a food drop there, they bring it up to the ranch by pack pony and charge you $45 for the delivery service.)

We arrived at the ferry landing about an hr early. A JMT hiker named Graham from England arrived shortly after us and told us about a combined hiking and cycle touring trip he did in Scotland last summer. It sounded like a great adventure--a trip inspired by the book "Hamish's Mountain Walk", by Hamish Brown.

Vermillion Valley Resort is a remote, campy outpost on Edison Lake. There is a small general store & restaurant, a few hotel rooms, some platform tents, a couple of campers, some fishing boats and one yurt for rent. The free platform tent for hikers was full (it only sleeps 4) so we decided to stay in the yurt. A yurt is a small, free standing, round tent-like structure. This one is outfitted with a small fridge, microwave oven, campstove, bed, built-in table and a couple of chairs. It's quite cozy and appears to be brand new.

My mother-in-law sent us our food drop here. It was a 2 day resupply and she sent us enough food for 4-5 days (and then some) plus lots of thoughtful extras like disposible razors, towelettes, bandanas and sun screen. We took out what we needed for the next leg (plus today's snacks) and had the remainder mailed ahead to another resupply town. Thanks Mrs D!

Easy came in on the 5:30 ferry and the 3 of us had dinner together. We last saw him in Independence--and enjoy hanging out with him. His trail name fits him perfectly--although (as a New Yorker) he was disturbed to see on the TV that the Mets are 4 and (for?) 14 this month.

Day 54; Tue June 19 2007

(Dr Bug) Didn't sleep well last night. It seems June 18 was the magic day when all the mosquitos hatch. We spent the night sleeping cowboy. I had bug netting over my head with the 20 degree bag up snug. It was too hot for that and it was difficult to fall asleep. Despite waking late we were on the trail by 6:10. We crossed a very substantial bridge over the San Joaquin River then started up hill for what seemed to be 2 hours. Around 11 am we were taking a water break by a stream when another hiker came down the trail. It was Tattoo Joe. He had given us a ride from Lake Marino to Campo on April 27 when this whole thing started. Joe is a legend on this trail. He is a very tough guy. He hikes with only the bare essentials in all weather conditions. We started hiking with him. He told us some great stories about his thru-hike in the Sierras in 2005. It was a record snow year. There was snow above 8000 ft. Many time he had no idea where the trail was and he used the distant mount!
ains and maps to determine his heading. The only ice equipment he had was an ice axe. We listened to Joe's fascinating stories for 2 hrs, and before we knew it we were standing on the top of Sheldon Pass. Joe left, we sat down, enjoyed the view and ate lunch.

There were times when we walked through dense clouds of mosquitos. It twirled my hiking sticks like a majoret to try and beat them back. Later in the day we gave up and spraid our legs with a deet replent.

At the Bear ridge trial junction we stoped to camp and found, to our suprise, the hiker Old Corpus. He is a neat old guy. He had spent two days a Muir Ranch. Said nobody else was there. The staff treated him really well.

The Bear Creek ford is traditionally very dangerous. Because of the low snow year in the Sierras, we lucked out. I was only ankle deep.

We walked 22.6 miles today from the falls at Evolution Creek to Bear Ridge Trail junction of the PCT.

Day 51; Sat June 16

(Stud) This will be a quick one because I'm exhausted.

Leaving Upper Rae Lakes today we met 2 thru hikers breaking camp: Voyager, 55ish and Galahad (25ish)--both guys. We will likely not see them again as they both started about 2 weeks after us.

We ran into Hiker Jan not too far down the trail and the 3 of us hiked together for a while. We had one challenging ford--and got pummeled with mosquito's looking for the easiest way across. Jan had some deet handy and though we both prefered not using--we sprayed it on liberally.

We all took a break together at a cool suspension bridge. I took a picture of Jan in the same spot she was photographed 5 years ago when she hiked the John Muir Trail. (The JMT and PCT overlap here.)

The 3 of us leap frogged for a while--until D and I got ahead while crossing Pinchot Pass. We had no trouble on the way up or down the pass. When we got to the top of the pass a marmot was perched on a rock waiting for us--as if standing sentinal. We sat down to have a snack and when we turned around 4 marmots were gathered around our packs and Dwight's food bag which was laying on the ground next to is pack. We shooed them away and they hadn't seemed to have gotten into anything.

This is the first day we drank water from streams unfiltered and untreated. Tto this point we have filtered al ater with our pUR Hiker water pump. But there are seasonal streams everywhere--with the sun quiokly melting the remaining snow--so we're thinking everything above 10,000 ft should be ok? I hope we're not making a bad decicion here because I sent our medicine for "the G" (Giardia) back with my Golite pack and 30 degree sleeping bags when we left Kennedy meadows.

We hiked about 20-21 miles today.

Day 50; Fri June 15 2007

(Dr Bug) We scrambled and left the Court House Motel in Independence at 6:30am. Nuts, another thru-hiker, had rented a car and was going to give us a ride to the trail. We were also riding with Wounded Face. A thru-hiker of Hungarian origin with a truely negative attitude about the trail. He announced he would leave him hike in Toulollome.

On the trail at 8:30 and hiking the 4.7 miles back to Kersearge Pass. It was a warm morning, but after a full zero day we were energized and made that streach swiftly. It was another 9.6 miles to Glenn Pass. We had heard from other hikers that the north side of Glenn had the most snow, so we were anxious about the upcoming 12000 ft pass. The approach to Glenn was gourgeous. Pristine alpine lakes surrounded by the now familiar huge rock mountains reaching to the sky. The climb was long and virtually snowless.

After ooohing and ahhhhing over the view from the top we started down the snowy north side. There were two dicy spots. One was crossing a steep snow field; if you slipped it would be a long slide down. The other was an extended descent by bolder hopping because the trail was hidden under snow for a very long stretch. There was too much loose gravel and we slid more that we wanted. No one got hurt so there another sucessful High Sierras pass assent.

We stopped at 3 by a crystal lake and finally ate lunch. Then it was a short hike to a series of lakes called Raes lakes. They are very famous because of their beauty. We made a tactical mistake and got off the trail to check out the camping areas at the second lake. It was enchanting. We found a Hiker Jan there who we haddn't seen in weeks. We were very tired (Susan was up until 2am the night before getting town chores done). That was it, we were camping there that night. STUD tried her hand at fishing with the drop line, but she didn't get any nibbles. I was asleep by 7pm. We only hiked 11 miles today. Feeling guilty about that, but it still a great day.

Day 49; Thur June 14 2007

(Stud) Today was a zero day. Because there are so few retail businesses in Independence, we took a local bus to Lone Pine at 8 am. It's not a big town either but their main street is thriving even if only 6-7 blocks long.

Our "to do" list included: doing laundry, going to the library to use the internet, buying a new filter for the water pump and new fanny pack and socks for Dwight (he left a brand new pair of Smartwool socks drying on a bush and remembered when it just wasn't worth it to go back and the fanny pack has a broken zipper), a Father's Day card for my dad, groceries for the next section of trail, some basic fishing stuff for me (to try my hand at fishing in the Sierras where trout are supposed to practically jump on your line). And of course we also wanted to eat. We accomplished most of these things and even managed to work in a visit to a small museum on local mining history. Dwight couldn't find a suitable replaement for his fanny pack--so we bought a zipper and seam ripper and I replaced the broken zipper when we got back to our hotel room in Independence. It's not the neatest sewing job, but the new zipper is functional and Dwight is happy with it.

While waiting for the bus back to }ndependence, we hung out in the local saloon. It was 4 pm in the afernoon when we got there and it was just us, a couple of locals and some very load music on the jukebox. The female bartender was very entertaining--and it's possible she'd been into the hooch herself.
Dinner was at the only open eating establishment in Independence--Subway. I can't believe how much I'm eating these days. I ate so many ribs last night I set a PR. At Subway I ate a whole meatball sub, a supersized lemonaide, a half bag of freetos (and we're talking the large bag you get at the grocery store--not the single serving size) and 3 cookies. It's possible I may gain weight out here.

Day 53; Mon June 18 2007

(Stud) Today was a near perfect day. It would have been perfect except for a late midday spat with my husband over shade, water, food and ? Oh well, we've only been married 19.917 yrs (but who's counting)--so we're still a work in process.

From our campsite in LeConte Canyon, it was 7 mile uphill hike to Muir Pass; an elevation gain of 3,250 ft. Muir Pass has a reputation for having the appearance of a lot of false summits, so I tried to memorize landmarks on the map so I wouldn't get let down every time it looked like we were near the top of the pass.

The trail up to the pass was beautiful and the now heavily melting snow was turning the trail into a stream in places. In one arewa, the trail was now part of the adjacent lake. Trail side creeks and streams were gushing. I kept wondering how much electricty could be generated if the force of this water was harnessed. Even smaller creek crossings--where we were rock hopping to avoid fording--were intimdating with the large volume of water. I am often getting a steadying hand from Dwight who deftly crosses streams on narrow and slippery logs and unsteady rocks with complete deftness.

For the first time going up a pass we were workimg well as a team. Snow patches were still covering much of the trail on the south side of the pass but if I lost the trial Dwight managed to find it and visa versa. In some cases we followed footsteps across snow fields and in other cases we made our own path or bouldered around them. Going over passes continues to be exhausting even though we feel we should be in better shape by now. We attribute it to both the elevation and the physicality of the process--and that you must do this totally mentally engaged. I figure with all the bouldering, we were only on actual trail about 50% of the time on the south side of the pass.

We stopped a few 10ths from the summit to eat lunch--which seemed like a good decision when we arrived at the top to find a scanky marmot hanging around for handouts. Muir Hut sits at the top of the pass--a small, stone octigon shaped building built in 1930 by the Sierra Club. It's almost behive shape reminded me of a french boree (sp?). Very cool.

On the north side of the pass some movement caught my eye--a snow grouse. White with brown flecks, it was easily camoflouged among the granite boulders. It's nearby partner was brown in color and nervously clucking when we came by--even though they didn't bother to fly away. I love that about grouse--instead of flying away, they simply seem to move a few feet into a slightly more camoflauged location.

In late afternoon we pased by McClure Meadow. I commented to Dwight how beautiful it was--with the lush grass and meadering creek--only to realize he was being so eaten up by mosquitos so he wasn't paying any attention. That's when we finally pulled out the deet. We both hate using the heavy duty bug spray, especially when you might get it on your drinking tube, etc, but the mosquitos we kept hearing about have finally made their appearance.

"ate in the day we did our first big ford at Evolution Creek. With the low snow this year it wasn't bad at all. About knee high for me. I went across in my socks and Dwight went barefoot moving cautiously across the river rock. The water is so clear you can still easily see the bottom even in the faster moving water.

We camped about 1/2 mile shy of the San Joaquin river crossing having hiked about 19.5 miles today.

Day 47; Tues June 12

(Stud) Today was my favorite day of hiking to date. Dumb and Dumber trumped their previous debackle--but that's jumping ahead.

Hiking Whitney yesterday was pretty cool. My main motivations for doing this side trip were: a) finding out how my body would react to the elevation and b) if you're within a few miles of bagging te highest peak in the continental US AND you're in decent shape, you should take advantage of the situation. I have to admit I didn't carry a pack up there. I stuffed my breakfast and a few essentials in my pocket, and Dwight carried water and our lunch in his pack. We left the rest of our gear at Crabtree Meadows and put our remaining food in a bear locker there. The only effects I noticed from the altitude was sluggishness and unusual leg fatigue (as if I'd done a track workout) on the ascent. My favorite part of the day though was not reaching the top of Whitney--but hiking by Timberline Lake early in the morning. The lake surface was clear as glass and perfectly reflected the surrounding mountains and trees. It was so peaceful there. But that was all yesterday...

Today our big task was hiking over Forrester Pass--our first and highest pass (13,400 ft) in the high sierras. We'd heard most of the snow was melted so we left Kennedy meadows sans ice axes and crampons.

The hike enroute to Forrester was beautiful--a struggle to put into words. The mountains here are so dramatic and the views so sweeping--it often seems like you might be in movie set where the background is a painting. In mid morning Dwight stopped at a narrow stream--less than 10" wide and a few inches deep that meandered through a large meadow eventually pooling into a small, clear pond. It was beautiful in every direction and I was snapping photos of it all. Will any reflect the true beauty of this place?

We were within a mile or so of the base of Forrester Pass around noon. I was feeling so energetic today which I attributed to our short hiking day yesterday...or was it just the scenery that was pumping me up? Anyway, the temperature dropped near the pass. It was cloudy and windy and we ate lunch in the crevice of some rocks to get out of the wind. I put on my rain pants and rain jacket for warmth. We had gotten a bit of rain and light hail yesterday--but it didn't amount to much. It looked like it might do the same today.

After lunch it didn't take us long to reach the area near the base of the pass. We are above treeline and are basically nearly encircled by a group of granite mountains on a terrain that is all rock and large intermittnat patches of snow. The snow seems to be over a foot deep in places--and soft enough that we sometimes posthole walking across it.

Eventully we lose the trail. It's covered in snow and we can't seem to find foot prints from those who have come before us. Around us there are any number of mountains between which could be the pass. The map shows the trail to the right side of one of several now frozen lakes. In retrospect it shouldn't have been that confusing, but we wandered all over the aea for nearly 2 hours trying to find the trail over the pass. This involved a lot of scrambling over and between boulders and cautious jaunts across patches of snow including areas where you could hear running water beneath the surface. I actually thought it was fun--but we weren't working well as a team to find the trail and Dwight was getting increaingly frustrated. Also, we heard some rolling thunder and it was spitting light hail.

We eventually went back to where we lost the trail and reviewed the map for the umpteenth time. Dwight had a notion about where the path should be and just started heading in that direction--with a plan to give me a hand signal if he found it. Meanwhile, No Car and Recline (a hiker we just met earlier in the day) arrive on the scene. Both think the pass trail is dead ahead of where the trail dissapeared in the snow and head off in that direction. Meanwhile, Dwight now looks like an ant on the horizon-too far away to see any hand signal he might be making. No Car is pretty sure Dwight is not on trail but thinks he might eventully cross paths with it. So, panicked, I follow No Car and Recline--who have found the trail up the pass within 1/10th ml or so of where Dwight and I first went astray. Luckily, Dwight's rock scramble does eventually cross the trail and we meet up again halfway up the pass. The path up was largely clear of snow-and what snow there is is easy to get!
around.

We all take a celebratory break at the top of the pass, snap some photos and start heading down. There are several patches of snow obscuring the trail which we either
follow footpints across or go around by scrambling downhill until we can locate the next switchback. The trickiest part was a steep 50 yard snow crossing about which Recline later said: "The only thing I could think about was--one slip and I'm dead".

I think we only did around 18 miles today--not including the wandering around. It was exhausting, challenging, at times frustrating--but still my favorite day yet on the PCT.

Day 48; Wed June 13 2007

(Dr Bug) Woke at 5am to the sound of tent stakes rattling. It was not a bear, but Recline, breaking down camp. So we were on the trail by 6am, a great start. Saw four very sturdy bucks grazing - Four and two points. It is early in the season. We climbed to Frog lake. A pristine glacial pond in a cathedral of mammoth alpine mountains. It was time to take a break, and this was the perfect spot. We sat in a post card setting.

The climb up Kerseage Pass was challenging. But after all the heart pounding work at Forrester Pass the day before, this seemed straight foreword, anti-climactic and almost routine. Other hikers complained about this 2000 ft accent, but I felt truely good. I think my body has acclimated to the altitude.

Ran into a hiker named 'Wounded Face'. Other hikers had mentioned him in coversation. He was having a hard time out here. He had just recovered from a wrong turn. Getting lost is no fun. He was going to join us over Kearsage.

The view from the top of Kearsage was not as dramatic as Forrester. It may have been the fact that this was a beautiful sunny day, not the sleet and cloud contrast hues of yesterday.

We met a day hiker named Chris at the top. A bright young man in grad school, out to clear his head after long days of studying.

The walk down from Kearage was 4.7 miles of continuely hotter climate. Onion Valley is the name of the parking area at the bottom of this decent. We hit there about 2pm. We got a ride from a 70 yr old gentleman name John. He had just finished a week long trek from Taboose Pass. This guy has been hiking these mountains for 20 yrs and has logged over 25,000 miles! The stories and insight he shared with us on the ride to Independance was more valuable than the ride. I would hope that I could be that cool when I am 70.

We checked into a motel called the Court House - good and clean. The owners were nice people. Stud found an ad in the Yellow Pages for an all you can eat rib place in Bishop. Another hiker named Achilies found a local to drive us an hour there to eat.

We hiked about 14 miles today. we ate about 6 lb. of beef each.

Day 46; Mon June 11

(Dr Bug) Woke at 4:45 am. Told STUD it was 5:30 so she would get out of the sleeping bag. It worked great. We were hiking at 5:30 for Mt. Whitney Summit. Started off poorly because we had an arguement about batteries for the camera. The remainder of the hike to the summit was very quiet.

This was a 15 mile round trip. The summit was 14,900 ft. We ascended roughly 3,000 ft from our campsite near Crabtree Meadows Ranger Station. Once you get above the tree line, this area is all rock: split, moved and molded by ice and snow. Rock, rock more rock and only rock. It is spectacular, none the less.
The day was always cold, and very clear. The trail itself was not difficult, but the altitude change made climbing labored. On two occasions I experienced headaches. Drinking water cleared them up.

On the way up we met a JMT hiker named Keith, a film editor from Santa Monica, who was completing a 14 day hike. He ate nothing but Clif bars. Carried them all in his bear canister. He gave us 3 he had left over.

The view from the top was great. There were PCT and day hikers, plus 6 mountain climbers! We reached the summit by 11. We ate lunch, talked to some peole and started down. Reached our camp by 3:30pm. Had dinner, started a fire (our first on the PCT), and talked to a hiker called 'Old Corpus', a 66 year old hiker that hikes much faster than we do - awesome. We were in the sleeping bads by seven tonight. This was the best hike on the PCT so far.

Day 45; Sun June 10

(Stud) It was cold again last night sleeping at a elevation of around 11,400 ft--but no wind so still good sleeping weather. Only problem is my hips get sore when I lay on my side--which is constantly waking me up. Several other hikers have commented on the same problem. I eventually took off my rain jacket and used it as padding--and it helped a lot. So I'm going to keep that up unless we get lucky and find a spot with really deep duff.

The first part of the trail this morning was more loose beach sand, lots of bloulders and intermittant sequoia or foxtail pine--with a background of granite. Between the white sand and granite hillside and boulders--it actually looked like snow.

It was another clear day, and seemed warmer than yesterday. The terrain didn't vary much during the day--although thankfully the loose beach sand was not a constant.

Just before lunch we reached a beautiful stream that we could hear before we saw. We passed over several other streams after this. What a wonderful thing it is to hear the sound of water--and lots of it. No more big water carries until northern California.

We detoured off the PCT today to Crabtree Meadow--our "base camp" for climbing Mt Whitney. Mt Whitney is a side trip we couldn't pass up. The meadow is beautiful--an expanse of short green grass nestled into the granite hills beside a babbling creek. Here we are the guests of the very outgoing-but not bothersome-marmots that have the run of the place.

We arrived in late afernoon just before those who summited today started returning. The thru-hikers that went up today included Mike (who just today got the trail name Second Hand--since he has so much hand-me-down clothing), Thirsty Boots, Sun Walker, Lucky Joe, Tiki and Roswell-who we just met today. She is perhaps in her late 20's and is from Olympia, WA where she is a personal chef, shell fisherman and also works for the nonprofit organization "Books for Inmates". We shared a small fire with her tonite as we were eating dinner. Those that went up today are worried about Wounded Face--a hiker in his 60's that headed up late and has still not returned. Based on his late ascent and slow pace--they don't expect him back until 10 pm. Sun Walker said if he isn't back by 2 am--he'll go out looking for him.

We will be up early in the morning to do the ~ 15 mile round-trip hike up Whitney. Hopefully we'll see Wounded Face sleeping soundly in his tent when we head out.

Day 44; Sat June 9

(Dr Bug) Started hiking at 6:30 am. Very cold, water was frozen. Temp was 39 degrees. Used my extra pair of sox for gloves in the morning, worked well. First 2 hrs was up hill; glad we stopped at the bottom of this climb last night. The treadway was very sandy at times. Rocks, sand and sequoia trees. The vistas are beautiful. We see meadows and huge mountains laced with small traces of snow. Ate lunch at a primative coral near a meadow. Ate dinner by an alpine lake called Chicken Springs Lake. There were three peak baggers there from the Sierra Club. We ate with them. They were the first people we have seen all day.

From devils canyon to chicken springs lake was about a 20 mile day. We are now into bear country and need to start seriously hanging or hiding our food. Sue was angry with me today because I planned poorly and we will probably run out of food be we get to Independence.

I have shoes from the Kennedy Meadows mail drop. They are not working well. The sand is rubbing my toes raw. I should be happy because we are in the Sierras, but I am not.

Day 43; Fri June 8 2007

(Stud) It got into the 20's last night and my homemade sleeping bag performed well. I slept warm on our bed of pine needles--and Dwight said he'd gotten his best sleep in a while.

It was still cold when we headed down the trail around 6:30. I decided since I added several clothing items at Kennedy Meadows I might as well use them--so down the trail I went in my long sleeve sun shirt topped with both my Marmot windshirt and Marmot rain jacket, running shorts topped with rain pants, fleece hat and gloves and a bandana covering my mouth and nose. The only clothing item I wasn't wearing was an extra pair of socks and my nylon pants. I'm trying to keep these clean so I can wear them at night and not dirty up my sleeping bag.

Today was our first full day in the high Sierra's. It took a while for the day to get warm enough to start pealing the extra layers--and it stayed clear and cool most of the day. We walked through "meadows" of sage brush and other prickly plants--I noticed that Dwight added a lot of new scatches to his legs. We climbed up a pass that took us to 10,000 ft, and wound our way back down through pine forest.

We had several neat wildlife encounters: at the bridge over the south fork of the Kern River we watched the swallows dart in and out from their mud nests under the bridge feeding their young. From the meadows several cows watched us as we seemed to be hanging out in their space. At cow creek, we scared a young black bear--he spotted us first and quickly scooted up hill. Not much farther down the creek we spotted a grouce with several chicks (?) milling around her. Later in the day Dwight spotted a marmot peeking up over some rocks at us--and then it wandered off as if disinterested.

The only other hiker we saw today was No Car. He was still in his sleeping bag at the Kern River when we got there around 9am. He was letting his bag dry out from the dew of the night before and working on some emails with his Blackberry. We saw him again around 6 pm as we were eating dinner. He was headed to the next creek to get water, then eat and then try to put in some more miles before dark.

We are calling it a full day after 18 miles. There is a lot of elevation gain in the next four miles, so we'll tackle that in the morning on fresh legs.

Day 42; Thur June 7 2007

(Dr Bug) Slept late behind Kennedy Meadows General Store. Morning temp was 42. The 20 degree sleeping bag was great, I was toasty warm all night. STUD spent the morning packing and reorganzing her cold weather items and her just arrived heavy duty pack. We ate breakfast out of the general store. We mailed home our warm weather gear. We had a burger at the grill at 11, then used the internet at the new internet trailer--an old Airstream located near the general store where some folks have set up 3 or 4 internet connected laptops that hikers can use for a donation. After cleaning the tarp we decided to leave; there was nothing left to do (3 pm).

We hiked about 9.5 miles into the Sierras before making camp in some soft pine needles. Our food bags are extra large. The tree branch I hung the food on nearly broke from the strain.

I only saw coyote scat once today. Normally in the high desert and desert areas it is all over the place. Not sure what this indicates.

Many of the hikers in front of us have replaced their shoes. It is now difficult to know who is in front of us by the boot prints on the trail.

Day 41; Wed June 6 2007

(Stud) Strong winds kept up most of the night last night and when we woke up everything was covered in sand. It seemed to make its way into things as well as covering the outside of everything. Since there were dark clouds overhead, we slept under the tarp--but the rain never came. However the tarp flapped around mercilessly all night. Dwight and I agreed--we selected our tenting location poorly.

It was in the low 40's when headed down the trail at 6--and I kept my jacket on the entire 8.5 miles to our destination today of Kennedy Meadows. Normally we're pealing off extra layers within the 1st mile or so.

The trail continued through a burn area, then a pine forest before meandering along the Kern River. As soon as the river came in view, we spotted a beaver swimming along.

It was an easy hike in--although (once again) we managed to get off course as we wandered into a private campground. We went to a high spot--located the trail, and got back on course.

There is a small general store here where many hikers are gathered. We have met many new folks (Rest Stop, Fruitcake, Nuts, Totally Rachel, Grasshopper) and rejoined many met along the way (Mike, Poet, Chris, Poet, Coyote, Thirsty Boots, Grimace, Troll, Oblivious, Apple Pie). The store lets you keep a tab, where we are charging everything from use of the outdoor shower to ice cream.

From here we will start the high Sierras--what many think is the highlight of the PCT. We will take the day off tomorrow to make final gear changes, review our food, plan out our mileage--and generally fret over heading to the highest elevations of the trail.

Tonight I am trying out my home made sleeping bag for the first time. This should be a good test as is quite cold (coldest night in a while) and windy and we are sleeping cowboy style.

Day 40; Tue June 5 2007

(Dr Bug) We met Dozen as we left camp this morning. He had hiked all night to get here. The morning hike was very pleasant in the pinion and coultier pine forest. Saw another mule deer on the trail that was in no hurry to get out of our path.

Unfortunately the trail turned into a huge burn area that lasted the remainder of the day. Mountains and canyons covered in dried grasses and black, chared, dead pine trees.We hiked this type of terrain till 6 pm where we crossed a stream. There we found a hiker named 'old corpus' camping. The skies were getting dark so we decided to camp also. The hasty decision cost us. We pitched our tarp on a very windy beach-like area. The wind blew sand all inside our gear and every crevice of our personal areas. It was not pleasant. Thankfully it did not rain. The rain, wind and dust would have been a killer combo causing a very bad night.

We hiked 21 miles to get to this camp site. We are at mile 686 on the trail.

Day 39; Mon, June 4 2007

(Stud) Our trail angel Sheila (the person that gave us a ride to Ridgecrest, a 2004 PCT thru-hiker) got our day off on a positive start by driving us to Denny's for breakfast. Just as we had at dinner last night, we continued to ask her questions about the high sierra: what gear would be adequate, what to expect at the river fords, if/how they dealt with altitude sickness, bear issues, etc. She patiently answered all our questions. After breakfast she drove us back to the trailhead--a resupply just doesn't get any easier than that. Thanks, Sheila!!!

It was a day of ups and downs, terrain wise. We headed up out of Walker Pass, hiking a trail that rimmed the mountainside and that nearly took us to just below the summit--around 7500 ft, I think. The the trail wound back downhill, in order to pass by a spring. Then we wound back up to another mountain pass, back down to a series of springs--all fingerlits of the same creek. We ended the day ascending to a saddle where there were a number of small tent sites nestled in the trees. The PCT trail maintenance crews use the area as a base camp when they work in the area.

It was a ice day of hiking. Even as we ascended from the desert, there were intermittant pinion pines giving shade to the trail. The number and variety of pines increased at the higher elevations. It got a bit warm, but there was generally a good breeze.

We didn't encounter another hiker until the very end of the day--where we stopped to camp. Here we met Old Corpus--a fellow 60ish from Corpus Cristi, TX. He said he did 1800 miles on the PCT last year--and is back this year to thru-hike the whole thing. "It's addictive", he said.

I had a concern about how I might react if I unexpectedly encountered a snake on one of the narrow rim trails where you have a big vertical drop off to one side. I'm not afraid of snakes, but a sruprise encounter might be different. I got to test that out today when a 2 ft garter snake unexceptedly shot across the trail in front of me. I'm pretty sure I took the Lord's name in vain (sorry, God), but other than that, I get a much more panicked sensation when the trail slips away from underneath my foot on the downhill side. This occurs several times a day.

Other than the garter snake, our only other significant wildlife sighting today was a mule deer that looked a bit malnorished. It jumped off trail to hide behind a bush when it saw us coming.

Day 38; Sun, June 3 2007

(Dr Bug) The desert is a cruel mistress. She rules her domain with patience. Time is her tool. History blends with the present. Nothing rots or decays in the desert. The main ingredient is missing - water. Her sun bleaches your spirit. Her heat melts your resolve. Snakes and scorpions are nagging threats that rarely materialize. The ants are her little soldiers, they are everywhere (I'm sure there are a few in my backpack right now). She teases you with a cloud. It blocks the sun, you say a prayer and hike on. Clouds are fleeting and you are stranded in the shadeless plain. All the plants hurt, ouch. Lizards and jackrabbit are the only creatures that beat the odds. She stabs you with cold nights just to prove who is the boss.

Her beauty is in her nights. The sunsets and late evening skies are pastel blues and reds. The nights stars are grand, full, and almost close enough to touch.

I thank the the desert for letting us pass without harm. I will never call this mistress my friend.

We hiked 23 miles today and some of it was high desert. I feel like we are scratching and clawing our way out of the desert, step by step, mile by mile. We started the day at 6am and made it Walker Pass by 5pm. We got a ride to Ridgecrest CA - a desert town near the China Lake Weapons Station. We purchased groceries for the next 3 days, got a well needed shower and a nights sleep. I think I acheived a personal record for 'black crude dirt on my legs'. One more gift from the desert.

We also ran into a tail maintainer on horse back. He was a true cowboy who was gnawing on beef jerky. I asked if our backpacks would spook the horses. He said 'notin spooked a real trail horse'. He also had a pack horse with saws and maintaince stuff in pack.

Day 37; Sat, June 2 2007

(Stud) Here's an entry you probably shouldn't read if you find the "f" word or the word "sucks" offensive.

The day actually started out good. We got up, headed down the trail and waived good mornimg to father and son--Troll and Oblivious--who were camped not too far down the trail from us. Oblivious is 12, and by far the youngest thru-hiker we've met on the PCT. He hiked the AT with his mom and dad when he was 10. <e is an only child and is home schooled. While his dad is talkative and gregareous--he is generally laid back and often has his nose in a book when not engaged in other camp activities. But he's always got a big grin and is very engaging when you start up a conversation with him.

About 2 miles down the trail we got water from a spring that had been dammed up by connecting a group of boulders with a cement wall to form a pool about 10 feet in diameter and 3-4 ft deep at the deepest part.

Around 8:15 am (we made note of the time), we were walking through an open forest of Jeffrey pine, when we spotted a black bear about 40 yards away. We stopped and watched as it slowly ambled across the trail and up hill until it disappeared behind some boulders. It never noticed us. This was our first bear sighting on the PCT and seeing such an animal in its natural habitat (as we had several times on the AT) never gets old.

A bit farther down the trail we came to a dirt road crossing. We found a WANTED poster at the side of the trail held down by a rock left by
the Piute Neighborhood Watch. They were looking for a dirty, psycho, white male, 5'5", going by several alias' including "short shit". This guy had been breaking into local houses and steeling guns. The sign said he had been known to frequent the PCT, had food caches throughout the area and was armed and dangerous. The poster also said something to the effect: if you shoot, shoot to kill--save law enforcement the time of having to deal with this scum bag. Needless to say, we hiked together through the rest of this section.

Around 9:30 or 10, the beautiful wooded section abruptly ended and we found ourselves back in the desert--with more of it as far as the eye could see. Crap. We were doing a 16 mile stretch between water sources an all I could think about was how we were headed into the desert--which I thought we were finlly done with--just as the day was starting to heat up.

Around noon, we got to a road crossing where Troll, Oblivious and Dozen were taking refuge under a cluster of Joshua trees as they were eating lunch. We scrunched under there with them since there was little shade to be had. While we were eating a ranger pulled up in a truck. He got out, and we noticed he had on a bulletproof vest, was carrying a glock (sp?) and had at least 4 clips of ammunition. He asked if we'd seen anything strange. We told him if he was referring to the guy on the wanted poster--no, we hadn't seen him. We told us this was an area where people on the run hung out. Great.

Dwight and I were the first to head back out in the heat after lunch. It had been cloudly all day and just as we were leaving we got about 10 drops of rain. Two actually hit me. There was monetary excitment on all of our parts that we might actually get rained on, but it was not to be. The sun was hiden behind some clouds for a bit and we enjoyed that while it lasted.

Until around 5 or so we baked in the heat--leap frogging each other as we stopped to take breaks. Around 5, we found Dozen under a Joshua tree eating his "first dinner". Apple Pie was about 30 yards further down the trail under a Joshua tree--they had not seen each other. So the 4 of us joined up and ate and hung out until 6 or so--then packed up. We were all trying to make it to the next water stop--which would have made it about a long 27 mile day for us.

We hiked until 9:30 pm or so and never made it to the water. We had to do a long unhill section in the blasted loose beach sand--on trail that had been eroded into mogals(sp?) by dirt bike riders. Dirt bikes have heavily damaged PCT trails in the area we'd been hiking through in the last several days. We believed they were responsible for the beach sand effect as well. At one point along this section a hiker had used their hiking pole to write "Fucking Bikers" in the sand. If I'd had the energy, I'd have added "Amen, brother" next to it. The only way I got through this section of trail was to concentrate on putting my foot down only in places where another hiker had before me. It sucked, it truly sucked.

At 9:30 pm we found a nearly flat spot next to the trail and threw down. Dwight had not had any water in some time--so he finished what I had left. It could not have been more than 1/4 cup. It would have to do until tomorrow.

Day 36; Fri June 1 2007

(Dr Bug) Got out of camp at 6am today. It was about a three mile hike to the spring. I however got distacted by a mico size spring before then. I spent about 10 minutes trying to determine if the seapage of water was filterable. It was not. I moved on. STUD moved on ahead of me. When I reached the running spring, STUD had stopped and left. I hurried to get water and only filtered 1.5 liters. Later when I caught up to STUD she reminded me we had 16.3 miles to the next water source. 1.5 liters was not enough, I would pay for this mistake the rest of the day.

We hiked through some big wind farms and pine and juniper forests. It got hot in the late morning, but by afternoon, cloud cover had cooled the day. None of this mattered because all day I obsessed over rationing my water. The terrain became highland grass lands and we saw cows for the first time in weeks. Eventually around 7 pm we got to Robin Bird Spring. We got fresh, clean, cold water and ate dinner. Rejuvenated we hiked for another mile and found a great stealth (hidden off the trail) camp site. I got points from the wife because the site was in pine needles. The wife says, 'no more sleeping in the dirt'. We hiked 22 miles today.

Day 35; Thur May 31, 2007

(Stud) We left the Motel 6 in Mojave around 7am after a breakfast of the remaining apple pie that Mike bought us and a delicious ruby red grapefruit we bought at the store yesterday and free hotel coffee.
I almost immediately regretted that we hadn't gone back to Primo's for another pancake special.

We got a quick hitch out of town with a guy in his late 50's that works for Portland cement. He had been working at a cement plant in Harleyville, SC and came out here for a "practice" interview in 1979 for a job he never expected to get. But he did get the job and has been here ever since. He said he has picked up about 20 hikers over the years and dropped us off right at the trailhead--several miles past his destination.

Hiker Jan was at the trailhead waiting for her husband to pick her up--so she can spend a couple of 0 days at home before returning to he trail. She lives about 2 1/2 hrs away in Redding (?). Her husband has picked her up a few other places as well but this will likely be the last since the drive is getting too long.

It was cool and windy as we set off hiking up open pasture land with nearby wind turbines. There was lots of evidence of cattle (cow patties and hoof prints) but we never saw a single cow. We did, however, manage to loose the PCT when we wandered off course onto one of the numerous cow paths that intersected the trail. Like before we figured this out because the character of the trail had changed to be too steep and too much like beach sand (although it does have the latter characteristic in some places). To find the trail, Dwight hiked part way up a nearby mountain and looked back for a trail that was more prominent than the others. Once he spotted it, he kept his eye on it and just headed back to it. I couldn't see him above the brush--so I just followed the sound of his voice back to the trail.

According to our water report, we would have to set off with enough water to take us 24 miles today-with the first sure water being at a spring. With 5 days of food, I decided the max water I could (or would) carry was 1 full Platy--about 2 1/2 liters. It would have to do. As it turned out, someone had cached water at road crossings near the 6 and 8 mile points (which neither of us took) and left some Poweraide and smaller bottles of water under a bush near mile 10. We split a Poweraide--that was nice.

We both agreed the landscape north of Hwy 58 was butt ugly--low scrubby dead stuff, dirt, rocks, more dead stuff, lots of trash near the road. We hiked uphill on this stretch for about 2 hrs--and near the top it became greener with Pinion pines and shrubbery that was still hanging in there in spite of the drought.

We hiked about 20 miles today--never getting to the spring. We should get there early tomorrow.

Day 34; Wed May 30 2007

(Dr Bug) Slept late under the shade of a huge oak and it was wonderful (late is 7 am). Gathered Mike at pinic area and walked 3 tenths of mile to Oak Creek road for the 17 mile hitch hike into the town of Mojave. After 10 minutes we got a ride from and interesting person. Randy wasthe operations manager for the huge wind farm we ha been hiking through. We peppered him with questions. 1) It cost about a million bucks to set a single turbine. 2) The biggest of the most advanced stand about 21 ft tall. You climb a ladder inside the stand and can walk aruond the inside of the turbine compartment on top. 3) At optimum wind speed it will generate 1 megawatt of power. Very cool technology.

Randy droped us of a Premos. A blast from the past burger joint. We had breakfast and it was good and cheap. You know it is good when the local cops eat there. We also ran into the owners of the Kennedy Meadows General Store who said the snow in the passes was all but gone and we would not need our ice axes - goodness.

Got a room at the Motel 6, very clean. Called Tim that night and got our mail drop for Kennedy Meadows done.

One interesting thing about the town of Mojave is: it is the place where old and unused jet planes come to rest. Outside of town there was this desert flat land where hundreds of jets were parked. There is no decay in the desert, there is no water.

We hiked 3 tenths of mile today.

Day 33; Tue May 29, 2007

(Dr Bug) The plan was to wake up at 4 am and put in some 'big' miles before the desert heat. Great plan. We were so exhausted from the 28 miles the day before and hiking at night (our usual down time), yesterday, we didn't open our eyes until 6 am. We were hiking by 7 am. It was going to be a hot day.

The spot where we slept was a dry wash composed of what can only be described as infinity deep beach sand, not the fine dust we had come to know on and around the trail itself. Although it may not have seen water in months (or years?), it looked as if the banks were carved out yesterday. That's how the desert is, change is slow, or not at all. I saw many animal prints in the sand; there is no telling how long they have been there.

The unknown hiker in the tent had a small fire going. It was aweful - smelled like burning rubber. The desert was suprisingly cold last night. The unknown hiker's name was Jeff; we had met him yesteday at Hikertown. He carried a very large pack. Another hiker said Jeff had left his wife due to 'unfriendly' circumstances and all Jeff's posessions were on his back. Tails from the trails.

We got water from the Aquaduct spigot and were off and hiking. The first few miles were flat and sandy. Almost like walking on the beach. Joshua trees, cactus, low shrubs and an occasional house trailer. Why do people live out here? Never saw a single snake here. A few jack rabbits. Lots of cyote yips and howls. We could see for miles and miles. Our trek was in plain view: flat desert, rolling chapparel and finally, green mountains. As we approached, we start to distinguish the outline of tiny (distant) pine trees. These trees were goodness, they were the source of cool shade. By 9 am it was hot (high 80s). We started to climb the chaperral foot hills. We each had 5 liters of water for this 24 miles and that brought our pack weigh to a high we had not felt since starting in Mexico.

Climbing the chapparrel was difficult as expected. At about 8 miles into the hike we sat down for a break. A 'funny' thing happpened, mosquitos started buzzing over my head. First thought, 'mosquitos need water to breed, there isn't any water around here, is there?'. Yes there was, Tylerhorse canyon creek was still flowing. This was contrary to reports it would be dry. Guess we didn't need to lug 5 liters of water out here, could have only carried 2.

There was a young hiker called Riddle sitting in the shade by the creek. She seemed very content and conversed wih us politely. She was in no rush to hike on.

We continued to hike higher and higher out of the chapparrel and closer to the pines on the mountain. We stopped about 12:15 and had a 2 and 1/2 hr lunch in the shade of a juniper bush. I actually fell asleep under this bush.

After lunch we continued to hike into the pines. At the top of the mountain dirt bike trails started to cut into our trail. It made the dirt deep and sandy and we got off trail twice. We finished the evening by walking by a wind farm and wild horses. The day was ended after 24 miles where we slept under and oak tree at cotton wood creek after eating with Mike at a trail head picnic area. This was a good day.