Stud and Dr Bug's Hiking Journal

simmsciara

2012-01-31T16:39:00.001-05:00

Dear Editor,
http://sintraingenieros.es/mmwfgtyint.php?opoxpage=23

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:39:36
__________________
"Caleb did not answer, but walked along by the side of the wheelbarrow." (c) Chelsey xaxaxai3a

Day 19: Monday, June 23

2008-06-26T07:16:00.002-05:00

(Susan) Today was our last day on the trail. We hiked from the Mt Nebo area back to Albright (near Kingwood)--probably not more than 8 miles or so. Since we made the decision not to complete the yo-yo, we needed to figure out how to get back to our car in Pearisburg. We formulated a plan while hiking and it all came together without a hitch: When we arrived back in Albright, we went to Teter's Campground and took a shower. The owner graciously allowed us to use her internet to check local bus schedules--then drove us the few miles into Kingwood where we ate lunch and used the internet at the library to arrange for a one way rental car. In Kingwood we took the Buckwheat Express (a small regional bus service) to Morgantown where the driver let us off right in front of Enterprise rental. The economy car we ordered hadn't been returned and the Enterprise folks talked us into taking a panel van for the same price--and throwing in a half a tank of gas for free. They also didn't tack on any fee for the one way rental as long as we returned the vehicle to another location in WV. So in late afternoon we headed down to Pearisburg with a large empty van (save a couple of backpacks)--and are spending the night at the Rendevous Hotel in Pearisburg, VA where we had left our car. The folks that own the Rendevous are big supporters of AT hikers--and they stay pretty booked up with the hiking crowd this time of year. We got lucky and got the last room available. Tomorrow we will return the van to an Enterprise rental place in Princeton, WV, then head home to SC. Another thru-hike+ completed!

On an AT related note: We also reminisced with Rendevous owner Brenda (?) about Tillie Woods, who operated the Wood's Hole Hostel south of Pearisburg. Tillie passed away earlier this year at the age of 89. Her hostel was the coolest place! A restored log cabin with several outbuildings, an outdoor shower, privy, bunkhouse/barn where the hikers slept in a loft. If you were one of the first 8 folks to arrive on a given day, you could eat breakfast in the main cabin the next morning. On our 2002 AT thru-hike, D and I were #7 and #8 to arrive so we got to spend time talking to Tillie about the little cabin she and her late husband had bought in the 40's when he was a grad student studying elk in the area. Tillie's granddaughter owns the old cabin now and is currently having it enlarged and was getting rid of some of Tillie's older furnishings. Brenda (the owner of the Rendevous) got a number of Tillie's hand-made rugs that were being thrown out, and gave me one as a souvenir. I'll treasure it as a memento of our hike and stay at Wood's Hole.

Day 18: Sunday, June 22

2008-06-25T14:23:00.008-05:00

(Susan) Toward dusk last night the thunder started rumbling and D insisted on putting up the tarp. I really didn't think it was going to rain, but shortly after the tarp went up the thunder got louder and more consistent, then lightening, then heavy rain. We were perfectly dry under the tarp. After the rain subsided a bit,the traffic up and down the road started up again and continued throughout the night. Based on what we have seen where we are camped this evening, it is simply what folks do around here for entertainment. They ride ATVs, cars, trucks, golf carts, and dirt bikes up and down the road for pleasure -- and last night I thought is was because they were on the lookout for trespassing hikers! But, back to the trail. We headed out shortly before 7 am. The trek to the northern terminus of the Allegheny Trail was only about 12 1/2 miles--mostly taking us by large open farms. When we started out there was heavy haze that burned off by 10 and it seemed to be the makings of another hot day. A few 10ths of a mile before the trail finish on the Mason Dixon line on the WV/PA border, a woman who was working in her front yard offered us some water. I gratefully had her fill my 2 water bottles. (Not using a platy this trip). She told us to feel free to use the hose out back on our return trip. She also told us the had driven some overheated hikers home in the past--and Dwight commented she was a "trail angel in the making". The end of the trail (or what is generally considered the beginning) was simply a final yellow blaze on a signpost marking the dividing line of Preston Co, WV and Fayette Co, PA. Seemed odd that a more prominent sign was not posted. There was, however, a nearby kiosk and parking area next to a Columbia Gas substation. We could not locate the brass plaque marking the Mason Dixon line that was mentioned in the hiking guide. We took a couple of "finish photos", and had lunch under the shade of a maple tree. We also hung our wet tarp to dry and laid out our dew damp sleeping bags in the sun. The afternoon was cooler than expected since intermittent cloud cover moved in. We retraced our steps to milepost 13.5 near the Mt Nebo Church (which we were told now has a total of 4 parishioners). A local farmer there, Glenn Miller, allows folks to camp in his yard. We are getting quite the stares from the folks driving up and down the road. ATTENTION: HIKERS ON DISPLAY!!!

We had originally planned to yo-yo the trail, but have decided one trip down the trail is enough. There's a lot more road walk than I expected--and perhaps we didn't pick the best time of year to hike this trail. Fall would be cooler, likely bug free and NO STINGING NETTLES! But then there wouldn't be the mountain laurel in full bloom and the fragrant cinnamon fern would be gone for the season. And fall gear is heavier than summer gear. Pluses and minuses to everything.

Day 17: Saturday June 21

2008-06-25T13:57:00.006-05:00

(Susan) Yet another day of road walk except the first part of the day which was technically on a PCR (whatever that is!). We're not sure if this stands for "Pretty Country Road" or "Pretty Crummy Road" (since the road surface, width and condition vary widely)--but it's some numbering system (i.e. we went from PCR 7/33 to PCR 3/12). The prc we camped on last night started out as a narrow gravel road next to a farm field--but then turned into an active stream bed just before heading into the woods where we camped last night.

We got to the outskirts of Albright and had no luck trying to get a hitch into Kingwood to resupply--so we walked the 3+ miles into town on the side of fairly busy secondary highways. It was nerve wracking at times. We had lunch at the pizza hut, resupplied at Food Town, and paid the parent of a group of cheerleaders (fund raising by washing cars) $15 to drive us back to Albright. They were raising money for new pompoms - seriously. It was an expensive taxi ride, but we considered it well worth it given how hot it was and how harrowing the road walk was into town. From just beyond Muddy Creek, the trail had been rerouted because a timber company apparently retracted right-of-way through their land. We were told this was because they were afraid hikers would mess with their equipment. (I know that's always high on my list!) So instead of skirting the mountain on rail grade trail near the creek, the reroute took us up over the mountain on mostly gravel roads. It was hot and uneventful. It was not until late in the day that we could match our trail guide to our current location and we are guessing that the reroute may have cut out 5 miles. On the yo-yo we may try to hike the old route since an Albright campground owner (Teter's Campground) told us hikers were still going through there with no repercussion. We are camped above a creek in the only area we could find that is not Posted. However, I'm sure we on privately owned land so we're trying to be as stealth as possible even though we are probably only 100 feet from the road. There are a fair number of vehicles going up and down the road and every time one slows down I get paranoid we're going to get spotted and kicked out. Can't wait for dark!

Day 16: Friday June 20

2008-06-25T13:48:00.003-05:00

(Susan) Another day of road walking until the last mile which although is off road is on Posted property. We are camped here anyway (stopped early-6:50) because the trail will leave the woods again soon. After a few cooler days it warmed up again today. No rain except a very short 3 minute shower--just long enough to pull out the rain gear, then put it all away again. We did a quick resupply in Rowlesburg in late morning--about a 3/4 mile walk into town and out. Hoped to find a restaurant open, but there are no longer any in town. The small grocery had a deli though and we ordered a disappointing pizza. The town looks like it's getting spiffed up--we ate lunch in a small park next to the grocery that appears recently completed. Most of main street is boarded up stores except a bank and "Curiosity Shop". In retrospect, I had enough food to get Dwight to the next resupply--which will be tomorrow in Kingwood. But I enjoyed seeing the town.

Day 15: Thursday, June 19

2008-06-25T13:11:00.003-05:00

(Susan) A long day of walking--from about 7:30 am to 9pm -covering about 31 miles. It was all road walk except perhaps 2 miles--time mile from where we were camped to the first road, then a short bit off Close Mtn Rd. At the end of the day the feet were pretty sore. Some highlights: - Around 11am the road went by an unsigned campground on Horseshoe Creek near the hamlet of Leadmine. We didn't think it was the campground mentioned in the guidebook (and it wasn't) but they had a coke machine with a big WVU emblem on it and cokes were only 50 cents. The guy running it--probably in his late 50's--took over for an elderly aunt who ran it for years. He took me into a small chapel where a lot of old family photos were displayed. He also showed me some of the original campground cottages--very small board and batten structures made of chestnut. He recently retired from Consolidated (mining). We spent about an hour chatting with him, his wife and a buddy also recently retired from Consol. We were not far enough into the day to stop for the night but they would have given us a tenting spot for $5. Very nice folks. - Also in Leadmine a couple of children (under the supervision of their mother and grandmother) were selling lemonade and brownies on the side of the rd. Saving money for a trip to Myrtle Beach. Can't imagine they would get many customers on this quiet country road so we tipped big. - We stopped for a break on the bridge to the old Cheat River Campground--now a private getaway for a Morgantown lawyer. The caretaker, Richard, saw us and stopped to chat. (We think he was really making sure we weren't planning to stay for the night.) What a character! He told us the campground ended up in the hands of the lawyer because the owner nearly killed a fellow with a baseball bat after the 2 got into a fight. He kept us entertained for quite some time. He told us many cycling races came right down the road there--and he didn't like it because he was a volunteer EMT and always "had to scrape a couple of them off the front of 18 wheelers". - Given that we road walked with NO TRESPASSING signs posted every few feet, we walked until 9 to get to a shelter 1/2 mile off the trail. We actually missed a turn en route due to oncoming darkness so it took us much longer to get there than expected--and I was taking a painstaking amount of time getting there since the jeep road to the shelter was a muddy mess and I was determined to keep my feet dry! As luck would have it, we made it to another shelter just before it started pouring. I was too tired for dinner. Ate a cheese stick and packed it in for the night.

Day 14 : Wednesday, June 18

2008-06-25T13:02:00.004-05:00

(Susan) We took our time leaving Davis today. Breakfast at the Bright Morning Inn was eggs cooked to order, bacon, excellent biscuits, fruit and coffee. Delicious. After breakfast, Susan Moore, the proprietor of the inn graciously let us use her computer, phone and leave our things in her guest lounge area as we ran around doing errands. We resupplied our food and D bought new shoes at a local outfitter. He and been hiking with a 5” tear along the heal cup of one shoe for several days. I couldn't talk him into duck taping the whole mess directly onto his foot. Before we left Davis we had some delicious burritos at Hellbenders—of course I had to order the one called the “Lost Hiker”. (Our hike has made it's natural transition to becoming all about food.) We finally headed out of town around 1:30. The first part of the hike was a road walk to the outskirts of Thomas—just a few miles down the road from Davis. The “trail” went right by a WV artisan gallery called Mountain Made located in a chicly restored building. Very high end art and craft. I took some pics of dulcimers I thought our friend Charlotte Williams (also a dulcimer maker) might find interesting. The road walk continued to a fire service road that connected to a beautiful rim trail that we are camped next to now. At the intersection of the FS road and the trail was an established campsite with a picnic table, fire ring and a big blue overstuffed lounge chair! In the fire ring next to the chair was a pizza box with the label “Big Daddy”. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry! Dwight actually tried the chair and said it was very comfortable (and apparently waterproof since it wasn't wet). The thunder has been rumbling since before we set up camp—but no rain other than a few sprinkles. Sure hope we have another rain free day tomorrow. Temps have been in the low 60's the last 2 days—perfect for hiking and almost no bugs!

Day 13 : Tuesday, June 17

2008-06-18T17:18:00.000-05:00

(Dwight) This is a partial post--will remove this note when post is completed.

I had a reoccurring dream that our stealth camp site in the small grove of spruce, outside the hamlet of Red Creek was discovered in the morning. In my dream school children were walking by our tarp, as we sleep and throwing rocks and sticks at it.

So, I was a little paronoid about camping on private property, farm land last night...

Actually, in the daylight, as we broke camp, I was impressed with how protected this little spot was. No one could see us from the road, and the thick, mature spruce protected us from last nights cloud burst.

As we walked the road out of red creek, and got a look at the beautiful lush green slanted framland. Flat land in these West Virginia Mts is such a preimum, anything flat enough to pitch a tent on is private property and put to good use.

We hiked in Blackwater State Park. Took a side trail to the lodge and had a great buffet brunch around 10am. After hiking through trail that had transposed itself to creek, we ran into two folks training their beagles to hunt rabits. Here we got a great tip on a place to stay in Davis, the Bright Morning Inn. After hiking thru very soggy state forest we saw Blackwater Falls. There was a huge amount of H2O over the falls, Niagra like. It was short road walk to Davis and a warm bed at the Bright Morning Inn. It was all we had expected. Steak for dinner, It was a great day.

Day 12: Monday, June 16

2008-06-18T14:18:00.000-05:00

(Susan) I had high hopes for today. Expectation: An easy pleasant hike along the Glady River--an extension of yesterday's experiance along the Glady. The reality: A nice pleasant hike until the thunder and rain started rolling in around 9am. It rained on and off during the day--the last downpour coming in around 4pm. It isn't that walking in the rain is that unpleasant. I actually don't mind it when the weather's warm. It's hiking in wet socks and shoes--double AARRGG! The trail turned into a muddy mess--like walking in a clam flat. In spite of the fact that my shoes reached maximum water retension early on--I still found it necessary to avoid every muddy spot possible and rock hop creeks. Oh how I wish I could be that person who heads straight down the middle of a wet, muddy trail!

We made our final crossing of the Glady River around 6:30. There were some established camping spots on the far side of the river, but I was thinking we would find something nicer down the trail. What I didn't realize when we headed on was that the next 8.7 miles were roadwalk where either no camping was possible due to terrain (i.e dropoff to river on one side of road, granite cliff on other side) or due to fact that property was posted no trespassing and was generally enclosed in barbed wire and electric fences.

When it got close to dusk, we started getting anxious about where we were going to spend the night. We thought about knocking on the door of a farmhouse and asking if we could sleep in corner of the owner's pasture, but it seemed to late in the day for a stranger to show up at someone's door. Just as it started drizzling again, Dwight headed out across a small grassy pasture and dissappeared into shoulder high grasses. A few seconds later I heard him calling me. I thought to myself: there's no way in hell I'm going to spend the night in that big tall mess of plants that probably has poison ivy, poison oak, stinging nettles and who knows what else! But given the despiration of the situation, I headed through the dent he made in the tall plants, and popped out the other side of the small pasture into a grove of pine trees! Dwight was already breaking off some lower dead branches off one of the trees to carve out a place for us to put up the tarp. It isn't flat by a long shot, but we are fairly hidden from the road, and are out of the rain. We ate a quick, cold dinner and are calling it a day.

Day 11 : Sunday, June 15

2008-06-18T10:18:00.001-05:00

(Dwight) There are few problems that cannt be solved with time. After 11 hours of sleep at John Camp Shelter, on Shavers mountain, we outlasted the rain.

The sun was peeking through the clouds, Everything was dry but our shoes and sox. There is nothing worse than putting on cold wet sox after a warm dry night in the sleeping bag. A minor glich occurred as I packed - riped a 4 inch hole in my backpack while stuffing it - oooops. Susan mended it 10 minutes and we were off sloshing down the trail. Now, just because the rain had stopped, doesnt mean we dont get wet. Everything in the forest is wet. We got drenched from dripping wet tree limbs, bushes and ferns.

The forest on Shavers Mt. is very wet, it reminded me of the Smokey Mts. Here there is Red Spruce, moss covered rocks and ferns.

About 10am we decended to open fields surrounding the East Fork Rails to Trails trail. A coverted RR track that ran along the Glady river. There were a tremendous amount of wildflowers, yellow, purple and white, and an equal number of butterflies fluttering between the flowers. This was a 3 mile walk into the little Hamlet of Glady. Glady had a few small farms and a Post Office. We ate lunch in the shade of a maple tree at the PO while our shoes dried in the sun. We spent the ret of th afternoon walking on road, then trail that shaddowed the Glady River. About 5pm we stopped and swam in the river. Two hours latter we found a very camp site on the river bank. This was one of our best days on the ALT. We walked 21 miles today.

Day 10: Saturday, June 14

2008-06-15T12:26:00.005-05:00

(Susan) We left Durbin shortly after 7am--all was quiet; nothing open here at this time of day.

The ALT joined up with the lightly used North Fork Rail Trail--which followed the north fork of the Greenbrier River. Very pretty along here--we had it all to ourselves--save a deer who bounced along like it was on springs until it bounded out of view.

After about 4 miles on the rail trail we forded the river in water that didn't go above the lower calf. Slippery--but we took it slow and had no problems--except bushwacking around on the other bank to find the trail.

The trail meandered around a bit (D thought whomever laid it out was doing crack) then headed up Shavers Mtn through endless thickets of stinging nettles and other prickley stuff. AAAAARRRGGG! We took a break for lunch and put on long pants--and the nettles still made it through. When I could take it no more, I bushwacked up a nearly vertical embankment through rhodo thicket, pine trees, and assorted plants about 100' to a road bed. I couldn't see it from the trail, but I could hear cars now and again and was pretty sure the trail followed it for a while. Ironically, the last 5 or 6' up the embankment was, you guessed it, stinging nettle. But I was ready for it. I had big stick in hand and went postal all over it. Dwight initially said he'd meet me where the trail crossed the road came scrambling up after me. First I saw his hiking poles dig into the side of the road, then he popped up after them. "Did you consider discussing that move with me?", he said a little irritat!
ed. I plead Temporary Insanity.

Did I mention it had been dizzling off and on? Not long after we left the road and rejoined the trail, we went though a virgin stand of Red Spruce. A beautiful all-to-brief section. The trail was both well used and well maintained there. Unfortunately, we were soon back in the big stands of stinging nettle--and slogging along when the skys opened up. We were within a mile or so of one of the few shelters on the trail and went there to wait out the rain. We have decided to spend the night--even though we only got in about 13.5 miles today. Tomorrow--several more miles of wet stinging nettles to get off this crazy mtn!

Day 9 : Friday, June 13

2008-06-15T12:26:00.003-05:00

(Dwight) The night on the Greenbrier was nice. The bugs were acceptable. We took a bath in the river, and slept clean. We had a plan for finding our way back-on track. Well the plan wasn't very good. What looked like a good bushwach route on the map, turned us right back down to te river. We thought we had gone off course on a blue blaze trail which was also marked on our ALT map, but the map topography and the lay of the land didnt match. So, our next option was to hike back to last 'good' blaze we found on the trail. This was about a 2 mile walk backwards.

Now, when we got to the location in question, there was the turn we had missed. It was much more obvious from the opposite direction, and at 10am today. So, this morning we logged 3 hrs. of 'bonus miles', otherwise known as miles walked wandering the woods, lost. The remainder of the morning we attempted to get a glimpse of the NRAO radio dish. The leaf cover is so thick and the day hazy but we got a look at two dishes. Hard to tell if they were 'the dish'.

We saw a mother bear and 4 cubs in the afternoon, on Slathen{?) Hollow Rd-a wide grassy trail. They scattered in all directions. One cub up a tree, one cub to the right, mom to the left, and two cubs ran in tandom down the trail in front of us. This made it difficult to follow th golden rule: never get between a bear and her cubs.

Mom bear didn't seem agressive, so we decided to continue down the trail. It was neat to once again watch the pair of cubs motor a getaway as we caught up to them. I dont understand how they will all find each other, I hope they were all reunited.

We spotted a second bear near the NRAO boundary. There are 'no hunting' signs. Maybe it acts as a bear refuge.

For the last 5 miles into Durbin we had trail. The trail had been churned up, and there was a visible foot path. After some discussion, we decided it was horses. Although for miles there were no droppings.

We needed to get the Durbin Post Office by 5pm to get our mail drop.
Susan ran ahead and by the time I arrived she had engaged the post misters and a few town folk. We got the scoop on the town. Groceries at Kindler. Dinner at a bar called Upper Inn Club. Spend the night at a campground on the Greenbeir River. Thats about all this little town has to offer. Showers at the campground were warm, site was bythe river and bug free.

Day 8 : Thursday, June 12

2008-06-15T12:26:00.001-05:00

Well, I won't use the "L" word to describe our current location, but I will say that we found ourselves at what we assume is the Greenbrier River at the end of the day...and while it is beautiful, it is not on trail. We decided to make the best of it - take a dip and call it a day. Tomorrow, when we have more daylight, more wits about ourselves and hopefully have a renewed sense of humor about this trail, we'll try to get back on track.

To back up a bit and explain how we got to this point: We left Cass around 3 after a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad followed by a late lunch. The train ride wasn't as exciting as I'd remembered from when I was a kid, but it was enjoyable and the history lesson interesting.

The trail out of Cass went from gravel road to a grassy roadbed, to a well established trail and eventually to what we're coming to accept as normal: walking blaze to blaze through the woods. At some point the gold blazes stopped and after 15 minutes of wandering around, Dwight located a blue blaze. We knew we would eventually need to start following some blue blazes today--but because the trail guide is written from a N to S-going perspective, it wasn't clear when that would be for us. So since there were no more gold blazes to be found we went with the blue. That led to the next problem--the blue blazes were not only extremely faint, they were 'few and far between'. The map showed the trail following ridgeline, so we decided that if we couldn't locate the blue blazes, we could stay with the ridgeline until we ran out of that. In doing so, we periodically ran into blue blazes and at times a faint indication of trail, leading us to believe we were still on track. After !
descending the ridge a bit we encountered orange markings on trees that have no particular pattern to them. In some cases, there is both an orange marking and blue blaze on the same tree. Since we are in the vacinity of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Greenbank, I'm wondering if it could be their boundary marker. Regardless, we heard the river before we saw it and knew at that point we'd officiaaly lost the trail. Hopefully tomorrow, th trail will find us. <g>

Day 7 : Wedesday, June 11

2008-06-12T14:01:00.003-05:00

(Dwight) Malin Mt. shelter was a gift from God. It saved us from getting soaked last night. No visits from black bears, alhought the shelter had multiple areas of bear scratchings, indicating territory. The walk down Marlin Mt. was wet, but the cool air. The front of the cooler weather included some hail.

Early morning hiking was thru grass covered forest service road, canopy covered ridge trail and rododendern covered low lands.

We ate lunch the Seneca Spring shelter. This is a rebuilt three sided picnic structure with a stone floor and fireplace. The spring was, cold and clear, piped from the side of the mountain. Best on the trail to date. In the afternoon we spotted a black bear. He would periodically run from us in the direction of the trail. We would eventually catch up to him and he would gallup down the trail again in a futial attempt to escape. In time, our frustrated bruin angled his way away from the trail and returned to his mountain tranquility.

We in and out of Seneca State Forest and by a timbered built picnic shelter and a decomishined steel fire tower. Then road walked for about 4 miles to where the trail merged with the Greenbrier River Trail going north.

I dont know if it was all the road walking and the gravel Greenbrier Trail, or the 20 miles, but my feet were dog tired and I was so glad we reached Cass at 5pm.

At Cass, the park houses were full, and the local lode was booked. I know I was very deflated as the lodge folks gave us the bad news. But without asking, D.W. at the rt66 Outpost (lodge) called around and got us a room at the Cass Inn, only 1/4 mile down rt 66 - perfect. Best night of sleep 'onthe trail' so far.

Day 6 : Tuesday, June 10

2008-06-12T14:01:00.001-05:00

(Susan) Things are looking up on the ALT. We left our little cabin at Watoga St Park shortly after 7am and retraced our steps back to the trail. From WSP to where we are camped tonight the trail seemed not only to have greater use, but there was noticable trail maintenance in the form of cleared blowdowns (north of Beaver Creek) and someone has recently been pruning from horseback betn Huntersville and Marlon Mtn.

Other events of the dau:
-Saw several mocassin flowers (Pink Ladyslipper) south of Beaver Cr. Flowers all faded out except on one plant.

-Soaked bug bitten legs in Beaver Cr. Seemed to really reduce the itching-or is this the "placebo effect"?

-Saw a bear along the ridgline on Buckley Mtn. Bounded over the hill when we saw us coming. We must smell worse than I thought.

-Arrived in the hamlet of Huntersville around 2. Four guys were huddled around the hood of a p/u under a big oak tree proving, Dwight said, that the days of the "shade tree mechanic" are NOT dead and gone.

-We got a cool drink {Dwight actually drank a quart of sweet tea) and resupplied at the Chevron in Huntersville. The trail goes right by there. The owner told us a thunderstorm was forcasted for around 5 pm (it was almost 4)--bur that no tonados were expected. Wonderful! While we were sitting out front of the Chervon drinking our beverages and watching folks pump gas, we met a guy who told us that the recent temps were the hottest in the 6 yrs he's lived here.
We also met a Forest Service worker who apologized for the condition of the ALT. "I've tried to take a few crews up there but my boss won't let me--he says it's not a priority."

-We left the Chevron around 4 and hiked the 5 miles to Marlin Mtn Shelter (one of the few on the ALT) arriving around 6:15. The rain arrived at 6:20. How's that for timing. Let's hope it cools thing down.

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Allow us to help those in need, sell back your spare PocketMail and make some extra pocket money.

Day 5 : Monday, June 9

2008-06-11T18:33:00.001-05:00

(Susan) We left our breezy campsite in a grove of mnt laurel around 7. The only small complaint I have about the site was that chiggers joined the group a biting insects that have been our companions on this hike--so I can add chigger bites to my mosquito, gnat, big house fly(?), sweat bee and spider bitten body. The bites compliment all the scratch marks and abrasions from the blowdowns, twigs, branches etc littering the trail. But "I'm not bitter", as my friend Roger would say <g>.

We had a short hiking day going only 8 miles from Meadow mtn to Watoga St Park. No significant problems with finding our way along the trail today. After a short hike further up Meadow Mtn this a.m., we walked ridgeline for a while on a grassy woods rd then hiked down off the mtn. The remaining hike was largely level through woods along Beaver Creek which was surprisingly missing from our guide book as a water source. (Unmentioned water sources mean you carry more water than needed with the expectation you next source is farther away.)

Along the trail today we saw a sign that simply read "Cemetary" and we took the short side trail to the Alderman family cemetary with stones dating back to the early 1800's. It was evident this small family graveyard is still being lovingly cared for today.

The route to Watoga SP also took us by Beaver Creek Campground in Calvin Price State Forest. The campsites there were beautiful--clean, shady, flat, nicely treed--and not a single one was occupied.

We hiked into Watoga SP from the Honeymoon Trail--past several charming log cabins--and of course we had to take one for the night. They were just too cute. We've also had two good meals at the restaurant here--so I guess you could saw we are spoiling ourselves. Oh, and we got a shower and washed out our clothes. The hiker funk has definitely set into Dwight's shoes--I know because I slept down wind of them last night.

Day 4 : Sunday, June 8

2008-06-09T19:07:00.007-05:00

(Dwight) This is a day of good and bad. The hiking was difficult because there is no identiable foot path. Trudging thru dense leaves, over branches and down trees, while trying to scan the forest ahead for trail blazes is exausting.
We hiked about 16 miles today.

Some of the hiking was pleasant, thru mowed fire breaks. We hiked the ridge of Upper Meadow Mt. for many miles. When the thick canopy allowed, the view of the thick green adjacent rugged ridges was stunning.

At 5pm we crossed Anthony Creek, hot and stinky, I mean truely skanky, we stripped naked and swam. I'm comfortable with the fact that very few people hike this trail. Probably none, during the summer. (not worried about exposing myself to an unsuspecting hiker.) I think this trail is heavily used by hunters in the fall, as evidenced by the abundant, used shot gun shells under foot.

Back to the bright spots of the day: We saw our first black bear, a healthy looking young adult, foraging in the heat of the day, in a firebreak road, 50 yds in front of us.

We flushed 2 wild turkeys as we crossed a grassy meadow into Monongahalia National Forest and found a wonderful campsite on a mt. crest north of Bear Branch creek. It was open to wind, to keep the flying insects manageable, and lots of pine duff and moss, for soft bedding.

Day 3 : Saturday, June 7

2008-06-09T19:07:00.005-05:00

(Dwight) The little fire we built last night was fun. The smoke helped to keep the bugs away. Also it is a 'natural' deoderizer. Our clothing smells like sweat, not rank, body oder.

We hiked the ridge of Peters Mt. all morning. The oaks created a thick canopy but didn't provide opportunities for a view. About 9:30 am, we reached the Raptor obseratory on Peters Mt--a windowed cabin purched high above the tree tops. It had glass windows for viewing in all directions. It was very well built, with benches and a wrap around porch. Charts of sightings were pasted on the walk. We took a long break and absorbed the panorama. Only saw one turkey vulture, not migration season.

We meet 4 folks walking to the observatory as we continued on. They were birders coming from the parking lot at the base of the Mt. They had the smell of clean clothes and soap. They are the only people we have encountered on this trail since we left tha AT.

It was hot hiking til Laural Branch, the start of a 25 mile missing section of the trail. Did I say we were hot and tired? So, we stuck out our thumbs to try and negotiate the 25 miles of blacktop road in our future. Got a ride from the first car, a nice local woman named Valerie. Left us at a gas station/restrant at Paint Branch about 7 miles down the road. A nice little place in the beautiful rolling farming valley, in the shadow of Peters Mt. We drank pop, ate ice cream and watched a parade of locals,tourists and motorcyclist stop for gas and a cool drink.

Our next hitch took us to Sweet Spring, a community of a few houses and a local landmark. A huge brick building (plus several smaller buildings) in the Jefferson style, designed by Tommy J. himself. It was a place for the well to do to go in the early 1800's and rejuvinate in the hot springs there. It had later been used as an old folks home. It was abanboned by the state in the 1980's. It looked like the campus of grand resort, in serious dislrepair. We had heard the they rented rooms from bikers in Paint branch, so we wandered are the crumbing campus looking for anybody (on a Friday night).

We found Warren, the developer for the resoration peoject, washing his car. We asked for a room. His associate Amanda, lead us to a restored farm house on the property. We found a shower, and a clean bed in a neat old place, where we did some exploring latter in the evening.

Day 2 : Friday, June 6,2008

2008-06-09T19:07:00.003-05:00

(Dwight) I've got too much food, my pack weights too much. We can't find enough water. It's not supposed to be this hot at 3,000 ft in June. If I could figure out an easy way to abort this trip, I'd bail out. Oh yeah, our email device is failing, so the blog messages are going to be shorter than usual.

Day 1 : Thursday, June 5, 2008

2008-06-09T19:07:00.001-05:00

(Dwight) If the entry to the Allegheny Trail was a peak of the trail to come, then.... Great sign to ID the start of the trail. Lots of noticable blazes, no dicerable trail. That is, very little evidence anybody else has walked thru these woods. Cool, but difficult and slow. You are focused on finding the next blaze, praying it has not faded in oblivion! slow walking. Getting lost is only a question of when, not if.

Day 1: Thursday, June 5

2008-06-06T14:32:00.002-05:00

(Susan) OOOHHH NOOO! Our Pocketmail device is already malfunctioning so we hope we can do this journaling. Keep your fingers crossed.
This morning we finally figured our what was "raining" down from the trees above us: tent worm excrement.
yep, they were up there munching then pooping away. Luckily we had put out tarp up just before going to bed due to the sound of distant thunder. It never rained proper, but those tent worms kept at it nearly all night long.

We hit the trail just before 7, and arrived at the junction with the groundhog trail just after 8.
Since the ALT guide pages have the trail ending at the parking area at the terminous of this trail, we headed 1.9 mile down hill to its terminous at Sugar Camp Farm.
Although well marked, the trail had little indication of use. When the trail arrived at the outskirts of the farm, we walked through chest high grasses and D had an unfortunate encounter with stinging nettles. At the small trailhead parking area, a new sign indicated the Allegheny Trail was 5.9 miles away--leading us to conclude that this trail is not officially part of the ALT--but just the closest access point. So that was some unnecessary mileage!

We headed

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Day 0: June 4,2008

2008-06-06T14:32:00.001-05:00

(Dwight) We started hiking out of Pearisburg Va. around 3:20pm. The woman in charge, wasnt interested in what we were doing until it sank-in, we were going to leave the car for 7 weeks.

The hike up Peter mt from the New River was a familiar slap in the face from our friend, tha AT. Up, up, up, rocks and roots. It was humid, till around 5:30pm. We were both beat and needed a break. We ate dinner. The first few days of hike are always awkware. You fumble wih all those tasks you did second nature on past hikes, you can never find anything in your pack. You trip down the trail. Near the ridge line we encounter our first mountain laural. Unfortunately it looks like they are past peek. The May apples have finished blooming and it looks like we have missed the spring bloom in Virginia.

We crossed paths with 6 AT thru hikers. They think they are at the back of the pack.

We walked about 8 miles today and are approx 7 miles from the Allegheny trail. As we walked the AT Susan and I reminissed and talked about how much of this trail we have forgotten. I think this is and indication that we will enjoy walking the ALT in both direction, getting a chance to see things we missed on the first pass.

Another Tondreau Headed to WVU

2008-06-02T16:23:00.004-05:00

(Susan) Well, it's official: my niece Ellie, oldest child of my brother Chip and sister-in-law Linda Cordavana has officially graduated from Paul VI Catholic HS in northern VA -- and will be headed off to WVU in the fall. My brother, a long-time closeted WVU fan (suppressed due to his being a VA Tech grad) now has a legitimate reason to order WVU paraphernalia and sing the WV fight song ad nausium - which he did several times yesterday at my niece's graduation party. Of course my sister Lisa and I helped round out the chorus. So, congrats Ellie, and GO MOUNTAINEERS! In addition to attending Ellie's graduation, my sister Lisa and I took a spin on the C&O Rail Trail where I had a grim reminder of why it's a bad idea for me to ride a boy's bicycle. We also got to catch my niece Alexis' ice hockey game -- and will stick around tomorrow for to watch her softball playoffs. Then it's off to Pearisburg, VA where we'll get this party started. Thanks to all the folks who sent us emails of encouragement in response to my email about getting on trail again. Comments ranged from "wouldn't it be easier to drive" (good tip, Fred) to "Sometimes when I dream at night, I dream that I'm you and living the good life." Yeh, we think it's the good life too-although rain is forcasted for our first 2 days on the trail so maybe we'll be re-evaluating that soon.

Getting our gear on

2008-05-30T22:50:00.005-05:00

(Susan) With our rather last minute decision to hike the trail, we have been running around trying to get our house and gear in order. Funny how you forget that some of your gear is totally spent. Eg: Dwight's food bag (which is generally suspended from a tree at night) had so many holes in it, I'm not sure how it was actually holding food. So it was back to the sewing machine for me, and out to the yard (cutting grass, replacing outside lights, fixing the sprinkler system...) for Dwight. As usual, we are trying to make the hike as light weight as possible. To that end, D spent time this morning cutting the margins off the trail maps. That had to cut out a fractional part of one ounce! And my friend Diane helped lighten my load by cutting about 6-8 inches of my hair. But first we're off to DC for my niece Ellie's HS graduation--and then we'll be hitting the trail early next week.

hiking a YO-YO on the Allegheny Trail.

2008-05-29T19:18:00.002-05:00

(dwight) Well, we are heading back to the trail. The Allegheny Trail runs through the mountains of rugged eastern West Vrginia.The trail starts in the middle of nowhere, east of Morgantown on the PA border, and ends in more wilderness, west of Pearisburg VA. We couldnt find good logistics for transportation, so we decided to park at one end, walk to the north, then turnaround and walk back to our car. A yo-yo in hiker lingo. The round trip is about 700 miles.

Blog Comments / Future Postings

2007-08-23T08:03:00.000-05:00

(Stud) Over the course of our trip, we've had very little opportunity to read and respond to blog comments. When we return home, I'll go back and read through comments and respond to any questions that folks may have had. I've read through some of them and am happy to see that we have more readers than just my mom and dad!We appreciate your interest, and look forward to reading the comments and hearing from you all. In terms of future postings, we hope to resume when our new Pocket Mail device arrives. It was supposed to have been sent to Cascade Locks--but unfortunately was not a the post office when we arrived yesterday, and likely will not arrive before we leave today. We will have even fewer internet access opportunities as we head north, so hopefully we'll be able to get the PocketMail forwarded up the road so we can get some more postings out.

Washington: Last Leg of Journey

2007-08-23T06:22:00.000-05:00

(Stud) We arrived in Cascade Locks, WA around noon yesterday. We now have 2100+ miles under our belts; and less than 600 miles left to our journey. The last few days have been "testers", and I guess we passed since I'm still around to write about it. A not so brief summary:.

8/19: We slept cowboy last night--and I awoke around 1pm to Dwight saying: "it's raining". I was using the tarp for a pillow, so I quickly threw it over everything while Dwight jumped up and started tying it up. Luckily he'd positioned our groundcloth between 2 trees, and he managed to get it in place before anything got to wet.

It was still misting rain in the morning when we headed out. Helen, Norman, Speedstick and Rest Stop were camped nearby, and we were the first to get going. Around 10, Speedstick and Rest Stop caught up, and the four of us hiked together for the rest of the day with the rain continuing on and off. It was a 24+ mile hike to Timberline Resort (at the base of Mt Hood) where we arrived it late afternoon. By the time we arrived there it was cold, windy, overcast and a thick fog shrouded the resort. I felt like I had hiked into a Dickens novel. The main building was built in the WPA era--and it's a huge post and beam structure with amazing ironwork, huge fire places, beautiful artwork. We ran into Rocket Cop and Lidsl in one of the restaurants there, and they'd managed to get a small room with 2 twin beds. (I had inquired about rooms, but they were totally booked.) Lidsl had dried out all his gear--wet from last night--and he offered to give up his bed. Rocket Cop was OK with the rest of us jamming in the room--so we were five people in a room than was probably not much bigger than 10 X 12. Dwight and I slept in one twin bed, Rocket Cop in another and Reststop and Speedstick on the floor. Lidsl, who'd we only just met that day, headed back out in the miserable weather...we owe him big!.

8/20: It was so nice to have slept in doors last night! I didn't sleep that well, but still was so happy not to have had to head back into the cold, misty night. I got up early to write a birthday letter off to my mom, and joined the other hikers waiting outside the restaurant for the breakfast buffet to open--and what a delicious buffet it was!!! Waffles, eggs, bacon sausage, fresh fruits, pastries, cheese..."lovely" as the Brits would say.

We headed out in the misty rain around 10:3o or so. Met a boy scout troop leader on the trail that had done the PCT with his family in 1969 when he was 10 or 12 years old. They did in on horseback--a family of 6 and they took 12 horses. It was written up in both Life Magazine and National Geographic. He told Dwight there was a lot of road walk back then (including in the area of the high Sierras). Those would be some neat articles to find and read.

The rain continued throughout the day thoroughly soaking us. I was wearing my light plastic poncho (about the weight of a garbage bag) since I'd sent my rainsuit on to Cascade Locks. At Sandy River, we spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to ford--with Dwight heading upstream and me heading down. Who'd guess that down stream was actually the best place to cross--but we luckily found a couple of logs and I went across on all fours. I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but with the logs so slippery, I didn't want to risk falling in--although in retrospect, I'm not sure I could have gotten any wetter. Just after the ford, we ran into Thomas (Suess) going south. We'd hiked with him and Chickadee in the Sierras, and when Chickadee got off at Echo Lake, he hitched to Manning Park (northern terminous) and started hiking south. So we had a 20 minute reunion, then headed on. Helen and Stormin Normin caught up to us and the four of us hiked together. There were some trail reroutes--and the notices posted at the trail crossings were not very clear on direction. Not helping the matter was that the rain totally soaked our guidebook pages and they stuck together in one gloppy mess. Around 7 or so we got to a 4 way trail intersection--with another reroute posting. After some discussion, we picked a direction we thought was right, and headed on. We'd already regained a lot of elevation, but this took us up another 1000 feet or so and just didn't feel right to me. But with darkness setting in, and us all being "chilled to the bone" as Norman said, we called it quits for the day.

Setting up in the rain and not getting our dry things soaked in the process was a tedious and time consuming endeavor. We put the tarp up first, then got under it, took off our wet gear, then laid out the ground cloth and sleeping bags, and layered on some dry clothes. With my jacket wet, that left me with my sunshirt any nylon pants. We ate cold food after getting in our bags--and called it a day. 8/21: We were really late getting going this morning. Rain had stopped although it was still dripping rain from the trees and I was terribly unmotivated. Got little sleep last night because the bottom half of sleeping bag was wet (I think from touching wet gear), and campsite was on a big slant--so I spent most of the night in a fetal position sliding down hill, then scooching back up, sliding down hill, then scoothing back up.... Thankfully, it wasn't really that cold. Hell on Wheels and Stormin Norman passed by the tarp around 8:00 and continued on the trail in the same direction we were headed yesterday. They said they would leave us notes along the way to indicate any turns they made. I think we got going around 8:30 or so and headed in the same direction as they did--even though I thought we were probably off trail. In a mile or so we reached a marked junction, and spent at least 15 minutes studying the overview map to figure out where we were. Long story short, we'd gone about 4 miles off trail. Based on the arrow Helen and Norman left, we could see they'd decided to head down to a forest service road and then hitch to town or make their way back to the PCT. We decided to retrace our steps back to where we made the mistake--and with the help of some day hikers we met enroute, we figured out the intersection where we went wrong. (BUMMER: We almost made it out of Oregon without taking a wrong turn!) When we arrived at the fateful intersection, Rest Stop was there doing (what else), taking a break. The 3 of us headed on together, and around noon, stopped at a sunny spot and put out all our gear to dry. Speedstick arrived a short time later and joined the gear drying session. Then the 4 of us hiked together to just pass the Indian Creek Campground where they headed on after we found a great little spot to camp around 8pm on a ridgeline just off the trail . We ended the day with dried out gear, a beautiful orange sunset and a delicious mocha mousse dessert that came in the mail drop Sharyn and Paul sent to Timberline. Proof that a good day generally follows a crappy one.

8/22: Absolutely beautiful hiking today on the Eagle Creek Trail. So glad we took this alternate. The trail had a tropical feel about it with trees and rocks draped in moss, ferns and several waterfalls. The coolest part was Tunnel Falls, a waterfall so tall, I couldn't get it in one frame of my camera and where the trail actually went behind the falls. We arrived in Cascade Locks just after noon, and stopped at the first restaurant we came too. There are lots of hikers here either zeroing or neroing: Gary, Tiki, Rocket Cop, Lidsl, Speedstick, Hoover (Ryley), Rest Stop, Scott, Sandy and Thomas (who went as far as Timberline, then turned back north again). We did our resupply at a small grocery store, picked up the mail drop from Tim (got back my rainsuit, rain hat, gloves and warmer sleeping bag), had dinner, got icecream then waddled back to the Best Western where we're spending the night.

Why No Postings?

2007-08-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

(Stud) Hello to all that may be keeping up with our blog. We are currently in Sisters, OR. A few weeks back we started having problems with the PocketMail device we use to post information to our blog--and then it died altogether. In the interim, I have been keeping handwritten notes on most days, but won't be able to post them until we pick up our new PocketMail in Cascade Locks, WA--where we should arrive in 6 to 7 days. Our hike is going well--although we are getting a bit homesick and are ready to see friends and family. My shin splints are healed; many thanks to all of you who inquired about it. Yesterday evening we passed the 2000 mile mark...only about 650 miles or so left to go! We just left the Three Sisters Wilderness Area yesterday--it was the most beautiful hiking in OR so far--although hiking in the lava rock was terribly unpleasant (think about hiking on the rocks in the bottom of your grill). I need to complete this entry before the library automatically boots us off. Check back in 7 days or so.

Day 96; Tues July 31 2007

2007-08-01T14:03:00.003-05:00

(Stud) Our campsite was comfortable last night except, once again, the ants made their way into our sleeping bags. Periodically I would wake up in the night to feel one crawling around on me, but I never seemed to be able to grab hold of it before it scooted away. I eventually gave up and let them have their way with me. Dwight reported a much better sucees rate of "stalking", squishing then throwing them out.

This morning's hike was largely along hillsides though dense fields of wildflowers. I think we must be near or just past the peak wildflower display in this section. Cow parsnip is the dominant flower, but we are also seeing paintbrush, statis, purple aster, fireweed, sunflower, goldenrod, tufted loosestrife and ???

After lunch we headed on a downhill course toward the Siead Valley. The hiking here was through the woods with much vegetation closing in on the trail just like the wildflowers earlier in the day. We saw very little of the poison oak that was supposed to be such a problem in this section.

We leap frogged Old Corpus and Gary most of the day and are camped next to the Clider Creek, 10 miles from Siead Valley--a tiny town that the trail passes through. Gary is camped a few feet away and Old Corpus found a spot a few miles back.

We hiked about 27 miles today and my shins are feeling 100% better. Yeah!

Day 95; Mon July 30 2007

2007-08-01T14:03:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) This was a day packed with many activities. It started with a great nights sleep at the Etna Motel. Up by 6:30, and after packing the backpack I finished off the grapes from yesterday and 3\4 of a gallon of chocolate chip ice cream. It is embarrasing how easily it went down! Then it was off to breakfast at the local coffee shop. A sauage and spinich croisant and a cup of coffee. Then we stood in front of the old timey pharmacy to try and hitch a ride the 15 miles out of town. The other hikers in the crew joined us. Susan went into the pharmacy and got an ice cream float when it opened. I ate an orange. We tried to get out of town for about an hour with no luck. Rest Stop suggested we walk down the street to a B&B and pay them to give s a ride, We did.

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Day 94; Sun July 29 2007

2007-07-29T23:43:00.001-05:00

(Stud) It was an interesing party someone was having at Paynes Lake last night. Since I heard the name "Karen" shouted over and over again, I'm thinking the party was for someone named Karen. There was a lot of singing that included the theme songs from several 1960's TV shows including Giligans Island, Green Acres and Beverly Hillbillies. There was also a rousing rendition of Friera Jacque. (Forgive me Father for not knowing how to spell this.) I think they may have been changing some of the words to suit the occasion since the songs were getting a big laugh--but we couldn't hear that clearly from the other side of the lake. Dwight was sure they were going to party all night long, but the revalry stopped around 10pm-and Dwight was already asleep by then.

We were on the trail by 6:15, and met Troll and Oblivious packing up about a mile down the trail. They were camped just past what the guilde referre to as the "glatial bowl". I was expecting a really cool granite formation of some sort, but it only seemed to be a big bend in the trail.

The morning sky was particularly beautiful and I took many pics to capture the moment. There semed to be a heavy haze layer and the smell of smoke which we learned later was due to a fire that has been burning for over a month in the town of Happy Camp. It's apparently under control and won't have any impact on our hike.

Dwight, Troll, Oblivious and I hiked together for the 5 miles to the road crossing where we hitched to Enta. Enroute we heard a lot of cowbells in the distance, that coincindentally were attached to a big herd of cows grazing trailside. They took off running as we approached and we continued to hear the sound of cowbells for the next 15 minutes as they fled the area.

The hitch into Etna was 15 mlies, and just before the road crossing someone had left a cooler of soda's, beer and fresh fruit. This has been a good section for trail magic.

We waited about 30 minutes to get a ride--and it was the second car by on a very lightly traveled road that picked us up. It was two guys who had been car camping and they had nearly the entire vehicle--a short bed pick up with extended cab--filled up with car camping equipment. Dwight bungied the packs to the luggage rack--one of those safari looking things--and the guys crammed into the pickup bed and I got into the cab where the driver had carved out a spot for me. The driver was playing a CD of hari chishna (sp?} music--the same song played the entire 15 mile commute..."hari chrishna, hari, hari chrishna; hari chrishna, hari, hari chrishna" was sung over and over again. The driver, a tennis pro named Don, was really getting into it--to the point he was continuously turning it up and by the time we got to Etna was clapping his hands along with the music. Hands are optional when drivng, right?

In Etna, a quaint town a few blocks long, we checked into the Hotel Etna (small, nice, family run place), ate a late breakfast, Dwight did laundry, ate some snacks, ate an early dinner, did our resupply at the grocery store, ate some icecream, brownies and fruit we bought at the grocery store and now are headed to bed...

Day 93; Sat July 28 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.017-05:00

(Dr Bug) It is 8:45pm and we are camped by a beautiful Paynes lake. It is surrounded on three sides by granite rock walls. Trout are slapping at the water surface. And if I could think of a way to get those day hikers camped on the other side of the lake to shut up, this would be heaven.

This was a day of climbing; I would estimate that 80% of the day was spent walking uphill, in the dustiest trail in memory. The good part was the views were spectacular. White granite with spare coverings of fur trees. Black volcanic mountains, red ultramafic mountains, and we climbed to many crests to get a look at them all. We walked out of the Trinity Wilderness and the Trinity Alps into the Russian Wilderness.

The Troll and his famous son Oblivious caught up with us at dinner time; Clair and Patrick joined later. We enjoyed their company; Troll always makes me laugh.

Water was not a problem today, there were plenty of springs and creeks, although they were not well documented in the guide book.
We hiked 25 miles today and have only 5 miles tomorrow into the town of Etna. This is exciting; I'm looking forward to this town stop.

Day 92; Fri July 27 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.015-05:00

(Stud) When I woke up this am, the shins felt considerly better. I don't know whether to attribute it to the ibuprofin I took after dinner or that they are just healing. I hope the latter because I'm getting kind of tired of this ailment and am just about out of ibuprofin.

We camped less than a tenth a mile away from the creek we were trying to get to last night. This morning, while Dwight pumped, I stretched out my calves. We expected to pass Troll and Oblivious still sleeping but they must have gotten up early and down the trail in front of us.

We hiked until 1 pm with only 1 short break to get water. At one point the trail markers, which have been consistant in this section dissappeared and we thought we were off trail. We dedided to wait 15 minutes before backtracking and luckily saw a trail marker with 4 minutes to spare. Maybe we're finallly getting the hang of this trail.

After lunch we had a 1500 ft climb. At one point we heard some clicking to the left of us. I thought it was one of the many yellow and black grass hoppers the have been buzzing around us like helicopters the last few days. But Dwight jumped back a few feet nearly knocking me over like a bowling pin and said, "it's a rattler". A big, mad one too. It moved into the bushes but didn't stop rattling so we moved along quickly getting as far to the oppisite side of the trail as possible.
WeKd been seeing a lot of cow patties and finally the cows that went with them. As soon as they saw us, they took off running the opposite direction. (Apparently, they could smell us.) Curious thing: we have passed through dozens of stock gates on this hike, but none in this section. There is no fencing here whatsoever. What keeps these cows together?

Around 4 we stopped at a creek that had several nice pools. As we were washing up, another couple came along--Clare and Patrick. We'd seen them earlier, just as they were getting up for the day. They are also thru-hiking. Patrick just founf out he has "the G", or so he was told at the local hospital. It sounded like more of a guess on the doctors part who told him the Flagela (sp?) wouldn't hurt him if it really wasn't Giardia. They also told us Troll and Oblivious were actually behind us, but they caught up to us at dinner and we ate together.

We are camped at the side of a pasture where "eau d'cow pattie" wafts in the air. Dwight actually had to remove a few to make room for our ground cloth. I draw the line at picking up cow dung!

Troll and Oblivious are camped nearby. We hiked 26 miles again today and my shins feel much improved.

Day 91; Thur July 26 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.013-05:00

(Dr Bug) Rolling on the trail by 6am. Susan leaves Troll a danish and a note by his sleeping bag wishing him a happy birthday.

Susan was walking better today. It seemed the vitamin I before bed helped.

We stopped around 9:30 to get water in a wonderful mountainside creek that had created a field of wild flowers: Canada Thistle, a blue flower (Hare Bell?) and many Pitcher plants.

It was day of climbing up to the point where the long rocky uphill trail was reminicint of a High Sierra mountain pass. There were many mountain side springs and creeks. We didn't stop hiking till 8pm. Got in 26 miles; not bad for a girl with bad ankles. Susan also found a great campsight where it was flat and the soft duff was thick.

Day 90; Wed July 25 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.011-05:00

(Stud) I'd write that I woke up on the wrong side of the sleeping bag this morning, but the would imply I actually slept last night. The only people that should spend the night at Castle Crag State Park are the stone deaf or folks that own a sound proof camper. The interstate and a heavily used rail line are so close, it sounds like they're going right though your camp site. And it sounds that way all night long. Also, at the camp site next to ours, a family came in at 11PM, set up a supersized tent that had 200 ft of metal tent poles with shock cord that needed to be clicked together, then blew up their air mattresses with what sounded like a vacuum cleaner. The dad immediately went to sleep and started snoring--so I guess this place is ok for the "dead tired" as well. Oh, and the ground was like concrete (which I guess is expected in this setting). To add to that, this morning we learned that while the food lockers did protect our food from the bears, we weren't so lucky!
with the mice. Both my pack and Dwight's food bag had holes chewed in them and the mice got to my tortillas and pita bread and D's ramen. I guess we were lucky; the damage could have been much worse. So, before setting off, we hiked back down to the grocery store and replaced the food we had to throw out.

Once back from the store, we headed back to the trail using directions from our guide book. We got to he first trail intersection OK, but from there couldn't make heads or tails out of the instructions, even after we both read them about 4X apiece. Finally Dwight figured it out by studying the microscopic sized map for a while. In retrospect, the instructions, which covered several paragraphs of information, were as simple as: "Take trail A to trail B. This will dump you back on the PCT". What ever happened to the KISS approach? My two big beefs about the guide books: 1) maps too small, 2) words too many.

My right shin still feels like crap so we weren't moving too fast today. After last night and this morning's mouse fiasco, my attitude wasnKt the best, so it was nice to run into Troll and Oblivious who were taking a break in the middle of the trail. "I don't think I'm going to get in too many miles today...I just don't feel like hiking", Troll told us. They had gone into Shasta City last night; Troll's dad had met them there. So the 4 of us lumbered on together and eeked about about 20 miles.

Day 89; Tue July 24 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.009-05:00

(Dr Bug) A great start at 6am today. The sloped crevice where we camped last night was not the best so both were up and ready to go. It was however, the first time I slept on top of the sleeping bag without bug netting in shorts and T shirt. It was hot and no skeetters!

We climbed and climbed, then climbed some more today. The incline was managable, the trail was mostly pine straw and not rocky. Thank God it was mostly shaded by the large pines.

We stopped and washed at Squaw Valley creek around 10, lunch at 12 and a short break around 3. We got some great vistas of Shasta. This mountain is above 14,000 ft and is a 'cloud catcher', like Mt. Washington in the east. Weather seems to fly over the other lesser mountains, but hangs on Shasta and creates more clouds. It looks like it would be a technical mt. to climb.

Our decent to Interstate 5 and the Castella PO seemed like an eternity. High up, we could hear the traffic for hrs. before we got there, about 4 hrs. of walking.

We arrived at the interstate entrance ramp at 4pm. The PO closes at 4:30, and as luck would have it, the first car that comes by gives as a ride. We make it to the PO 15 minutes before closing. There we pick up two envelopes from Tim forwarded from Belden containing the maps and data book, plus extra food we mailed to ourselves from the extra big food drop (overflow) from Susan's parents and our friend Cindy Tufford. They also gave us a note on a yellow stickie from Charlotte and shirley, who had apparently driven through the area, to look for another note at the gas station/grocery next door.

So next it's over to the food market. The note from Charlotte and Shirley...had been thrown away. "We can't keep these [messages for hikers] forever", the manager said. Thanks, buddy.

We did, however, buy burritos and additional supplies for the next 99 mile leg. We were sitting on a picnic table eating, when a young guy joins us with his own burrito. Turns our he works for Clif Bar (we eat them on the trail all the time). Mike gives us 7 bars from his car! ahe especially like the story we told him about the John Muir Trail hiker we met near Mt Whitney that did the entire trail (JMT) on 4 Clif bars a day.

We ended the day with a shower in Castle Crag State Park 1 mile up the road and are camped at the site they set aside for PCT hikers. This was a pretty good day. We hiked about 20 miles to get to Castella. Susan is being a real trooper with the shin splits. I don't think it would possible without "vitamin I".

Day 88; Mon July 23 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.007-05:00

(Stud) Today was all ridge walking--and thankfully, with exception of the beginning of the day--under at least partial shade.

The left shin is much better, but the right one is still swollen and painful. Toward the end of the day, when all the benefits of the ibuprofin had worn off, I was back to hobbling down the trail at snails pace. We were in a downhill stretch then and even though the grade was minor and the terrain good, I resorted to walking downhill backward to get relief from the pain.

It was hot, hot, hot today. Even the breeze blew hot air. We did pass a fair amount of water today, and I twice soaked my shins in ice cold water. That was nice.

I passed up the last opportunity of the day to get water and that was stupid. Didn't feel like carrying it up hill, and for that I got a dry dinner and left both Dwight (since he shared what he had left) and I thirsty at days end.

Day 87; Sun July 22 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.005-05:00

(Dr Bug) On the trail by 6:20am. After about 2 miles we reach Peavine Creek, we tank up. This will be our last water source for the next ten miles. Susan's shin continues to be painful. She now using "vitamin I" to max recommended doses (Ibpropin).

The terrain is very interesting, rolling hills which don't seem to roll in any one direction, like you would expect. The trees are white pines and douglas fur. (The Native American guy we met yesterday referred to the as "the dougs".) The understory is covered with brush and it is lush green. This all seems to indicate that this part of the state gets more rain than any we have traveled thus far.

We see Mt. Shasta at at every turn where there is a vista. It is a snow covered granite monolith towering over the rolling pine covered mountains.

The afternoon sun is now very hot but thankfully there is plenty of shade and up hill walking is not that difficult.

I saw a same bear in the afternoon. He must have just been kicked out by mother this year. He seemed somewhat confused. He first started to climb a tree. Then surveyed the situation and slowly backed down the tree, and finally ran like hell.

Later in the evening, as we were walking the trail I noticed a blast of cold air and mentioned this to Susan. she said, 'Yea, I think we have been passing water we can't see all day'. She was reading my mind. To me, that cold blast ment a spring was below the trail in the dense brush... I guess we both have been out here a long time.

We hiked 22 miles today and I know it was painful for Susan. One ankle is getting better, the other is not. We stopped walking abouut 8pm.

Day 86; Sat July 21 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.003-05:00

(Stud) We hitched out of Burney around 9:00 this morning. It took us longer hitching out than coming in, but still not more than 20 minutes. Just after we started to hitch we met an interesting fellow--probably in his 60's. I believe he said his name was Thomas George. He started talking to us because we were hitching. "My Toyota p/u broke down several years ago and I get away the same way you do". He told us he'd only ever had 2 problems [hitching]: once a truck swerved off the road and tried to hit him and once a truck ran over his bag that was sitting on the side of the road. "Probably because of my color", he said. I asked him what nationality he was--his skin was light brown and he did not have an accent I was familiar with. "I'm from right here" he said and he gave 4 geographic points that were the boundary for his people--the Pit River Indians. "I'm a man of many
colors", he said. "I've been lower than the lowest rung on the ladder and was the town drunk for 14 years." More recently he'd represented the Pit River Nation in congretional hearings where several different native american tribes were going up against commercial interests to fight geothermal development at Medicine Lake. I recalled later that he never used the term "Native American" during any part of our discussion which was much more lenghty than what I have witten here. You meet some interesting people on the trail.

The ~7 mile hike to Burney Falls State Park was nearly flat. I took 3 ibuprofin (600mg) just before we left, and the shins didn't feel too bad--certainly better than coming into Burney a day and 1/2 ago.

At the State Park we had lunch at a picnic table next to the new general store--a nice log structure. The park was busy with weekend tourists. Dwight got a couple of hotdogs at the store (since we planned to have lunch there--but I had plenty in my food bag so I just ate out of it). We both got supersized soft drinks and icecream since we just can't seem to get enough of this stuff on the trail.

After lunch the terrain was more rolling. I took another 3 ibuprofin (the pharmacist advised me not to take over 2400mg per day). Once we got to the dam at Britton Lake we reached the section of the trail where we have no maps or data page. Are only reference is Yogi's pages which just briefly mention water sources along the way. But this section is well marked with triangular metal blazes, so we have not had problems with route finding.

I'd guess we hiked about 20 miles today.

Day 85; Fri July 20 2007

2007-07-29T16:57:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) We didn't hike a single mile today. Thru-hikers call that a 'zero day'. This will be our 7th zero day on the PCT.

Because of Susan's shin splits we are going to take the day off and stay at the Green Gables Motel in Burney one more day.

The day started with a trip to the barber shop for a trim of the beard. Then a trip to the Safeway for food for the up coming 90 walk to Castella. Then back to the motel to get Susan and lunch at the pizza place. Then shopping at Rite - Aid for last minute items. A call to sister Sharyn for medical advice about Shin splits and a call to brother to ask for the data book to be mailed to Castella. After all this we when for a swim in the pool and then to the BBQ place for dinner. I didn't get much rest but Susan stayed off her feet most of the day. This is a typical 'day off' the trail.

Day 84; Thur July 19 2007

2007-07-21T09:12:00.001-05:00

(Stud) We took the chance of not putting up the tarp last night in spite of the remaining clouds--and luckily no rain. Its been cooler the last few nights and I'm hoping my decision to send my warmer sleeping bag to Tim wasn't a poor one.

Tried stretching out my shins and took 2 ibuprofin before getting out of my sleeping bag this morning. As I headed down the trail working on my power breakfast of a Lucky Charms & Honey Nut Cheerios, I could tell the shin situation was only getting worse. I hobbled along slowly with Dwight patiently behind or in front. It's no fun dinking along at a slow pace when you feel great, but Dwight has been a real sport about it. Over the past few days we've taken several breaks and he's massaged the lower part of my legs--concentrating on the calves as Anneki (Heidi's sister) suggested. Anneki played college basketball so I figured she knew what she was talking about. Massage doesn't seem to relieve much pain, but it feels good while in progress.

We ran into Hell on Wheels (Helen) and Stormin' Norman mid morning when they were taking a break. They slept at the water cache (Cache 22) last night and Norman said he woke up with a dead mouse under his sleeping bag. First I've ever heard of that happening. Since both Norman and Helen have battled shin splints, they gave me some tips for how to deal with mine: 1) take ibuprofin (check) 2) take small steps downhill (helped Helen, but didn't help Norman 3) get Super Feet inserts for shoes (helped them both) 4) wrap shin in ace bandage (helped Helen but Norman said it made it more painful. Mine already has the sensation of wearing boots that are too tight around the ankle, so I think I'll skip that.) 5) Massage (check) 6) taking a day off 7) shorter hiking days and 8) Once it starts getting better, taking breaks as soon as the pain starts to return.

It was nice hiking today; not too hot, mostly level trail through oaks and pines. The trail was still a bit wet from the previous days' rain and it really helped keep the dust down. For the past 2 days we had our first reprieve from "the pigpen effect"--no dust cloud following us down the trail. Had it not been for the shin situation it would have been an enjoyable day.

After 14+ miles of hiking, at highway 299 we started to hitch into Burney--what some described as the hardest hitch on the trail. But a woman turning onto 299 from a nearby crossroad spotted us--and give us a quick ride in. She even gave me an ice pack for my shins in spite of me trying to tell her it wasn't necessary.

We checked into a local motel--the Green Gables--where the manager gave us an on-the-fly hiker discount. We were able to do a lot of our food resupply at the nearby Rite Aid and ate dinner right across the street at the recommended Outpost Restaurant where they had a filling prime rib special.

Just before dinner we called my sister-in-law Sharyn--a physical therapist--for advise on the shins. She suggested RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) as well as stretching. She thought the change in shoes may have been the cause since I described the arch as more pronouced than the running shoes I'd been using which have nuetral arch support. I had been icing and elevating since we'd arrived in Burney--so I also did the stretching Sharyn described before heading off to dinner.

Tomorrow we'll take a zero here. I know the recovery won't be immediate, but maybe I'll get lucky and will push through it in a week to 10 days. It sure makes me more sympathetic toward other hikers with the problem and also wonder how folks live with constant pain.

Day 83; Wed July 18 2007

2007-07-21T09:09:00.009-05:00

(Dr Bug) Happy 20th anniversary to us!...Married 20 years. Time flys...

So, Susan had a great idea yesterday: use one of the guest tents at the Heitmans. We did, it rained all night, our tarp didn't get wet (a plus), the old tent we chose leaked like seive and much of our gear got wet (a minus).

It was still raining when we got up. I was antzy and did not want to wait for breakfast from the host. There were 12 hikers there and things seemed very disorganized.
After saying goodbyes and a worthless lecture from Georgi about thunderstorms (it was a gentle 'lady rain'), we left. Got coffee and a pastry at the general store, talked to Heidi, Troll and Oblivious who were both just arriving as we were headed out. Good to see them all, we were wondering about how they were doing.

At 9:30 we started hiking in hard rain. By the time we reached Hat Creek Rim, the rain was slowing. It rained on and off until lunch at about 1pm. This is normally a very hot and dry hike, but the cloud cover made it easier. The cloud cover was very dramatic and we had a great view of it from the rim.

We needed to walk about 18 miles to the water cache. This took all day and we arrived at about 6pm. Susan's shins were hurting bad and the walking was painfully slow. Stopped a few times during the day to massage her legs; don't know if it helped.

After dinner the trail dropped down to flat valley and we found a great camp site in a grove of pines. Despite bad shins we managed to hobble 24 miles today. When we get to Burney, Susan will need to rest.

Day 82; Tues July 17 2007

2007-07-21T09:09:00.007-05:00

(Stud) We had 12-14 miles into Old Station today on one of the flattest terrains to date. Given that town food was calling I'd normally be flying down the trail, but it seems I have shin splints. It started a few days ago in my left leg, and today I started having problems with my right leg as well. For now, I'm walking a bit slower and taking ibuprofin and hoping it will just magically dissappear.

We arrived in Old Station around noon and had lunch at the deli/small grocery next to the tiny PO. A retired couple, Georgi and Dennis Heitman, live here and open up the home to hikers. We happened to be at the deli when Dennis stopped by to pick up some other hikers--Rest Stop, Hell on Wheels and Stormin Noreman--so we went along as well. Dwight would have preferred to stay in the small hotel there, but I'd read and heard so much about the Heitmans, I wanted to come here. They have a log home that Dennis built, along with several other outbuildings including a very cool tree house which has cots for hikers. They also have some tents set up in their back yard that hikers can use. We were able to shower, do laundry, and use the internet. They have a refigerator full of free soft drinks and they fed us a dinner of chili, salad, rice and corn. I soaked my feet and ankles in the ice cold creek running through their back yard for as long as I could stand it. All of the He!
itman's services are free but tips are accepted. It continues to amaze and puzzle me that folks do this for hikers.

Besides the hikers mentioned above, the 4 Bears, a family from Alaska section hiking, are also here, as well as a thru-hiker named Chigger who is trying to recover from bronchitis and strept throat. (Chigger is friends with folks we hiked with on the AT: Shera and Just Another Joe. Amazing how small the long-distance hiking community is.) Riley also arrived later in the day. Georgi Heitman takes pictures and keeps an index card of info on all hikers that stop by--and they've had around 45 thru-hikers so far.

Day 81; Mon July 16 2007

2007-07-21T09:09:00.005-05:00

(Dr Bug) Very tired today. Stayed awake a good bit last night because of movement around the camp after dark. Ultimately, I decided it must have been a park deer looking for a place to bed down for the night. So this will be a short entry.

Walked about 25 miles including most of Lassen National Park. Took a side trail to Terminal Geyser, ate our dinner by a beautiful lake in the company of a new and very young park ranger. Walked through some very unspectacular forest. Missed an all you can eat lunch at the Drakesbad (Dude) Ranch, and treked over some of the dustiest trail you could ever imagine. Washed myself twice today (rivers and lakes) and still I am covered with multiple layers of dust.

Day 80; Sun July 15 2007

2007-07-21T09:09:00.003-05:00

(Stud) We reached the official halfway point of the trail today without fanfare. I do believe that had Dwight not stopped at the post marking the 1,325 mile point, I would have walked right by it as I was in my normal daydream mode. There was a journal in a metal box there and I looked through to see the names of folks we have met along the way--many several days or more in front of us now: Second Hand (Mike), Tattoo Joe, Thirsty Boots, No Car, Chris (now Snowman), Cyote, Galahad, Voyager, Riley, Speedstick, Yetti, Hell on Wheels and Stormin Norman. But surprisingly, names of folks we assumed were in front of us were missing--like Lucky Joe, Troll and Oblivious. We also noted that, in general, there were a lot less through hikers in front of us than we'd been led to believe. Not that everyone would stop to sign the register--but we felt most would--and although I didn't count the names, I'd estimate there were less than 30 thru-hikers that had signed in before us.

To celebrate reaching the halfway point, we hitched 8 miles into Chester to eat dinner. We got picked up by a local couple that first drove by, then turned around and came cack and got us. They dropped us off at a local burger joint and we got a burger, fries and soft serve dip cones. We first tried to order an 8 piece bucket of chicken (I had talked Dwight down from 12 pieces) but they said it would take 1/2 hr to make. Then Dwight ordered a jumbo burger, and that was going to take 20 minutes, so we settled for the regular size burger just to get the food faster.
Riley came in while we were there and sat down and ate with us.

The hitch out took longer, but just at dusk a young mother in a compact car, with her 6 or 7 yr old daughter in back, gave us a lift. She said she picked up hikers last week hitching into Chester after dark. "If I didn't pick them up, who would have?" What a trusting person.

About halfway back to the trailhead, the little girl pinched her nose, and with a wrinkled up face said: "Mommy, something stinks in here". She got no reaction from her mom who was engaged in conversation with Dwight in the front seat. As kids tend to do, she repeated herself, and I said: "Sorry, that's probably me". But she repeated herself again a few more times getting louder and whinier, at which point her mom finally glanced in the rearview mirror and calmly said: "Honey, they're hikers". This answer apparently satisfied the child, and she went back to watching a movie on her portable DVD player without another word.

Back at the trail head, we hiked on a few miles until we reached Clear Springs. We washed up a bit, found a flat spot a few 10ths of a mile down the trail and called it a day. The new Smartwool socks my mom sent in the Beldon mail drop, which I've only worn for 2 days, are already full of dirt. And my feet are filthy black. Unavoidable on this trail. Somehow you hope the new socks will act like a talisman--keeping away all the dust and dirt the trail coughs up. Dare to dream.

I think we hiked around 26 miles today.

Day 79; Sat July 14 2007

2007-07-21T09:09:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) 9 am and we are on the trail: washed, resupplied, fed but minus our maps.

There was a great breakfast at the Braatens. Susan cleaned the hiker kitchen and Brenda Braaten shuttled us to the post office. We had a great food resupply from Mr & Mrs T. A supprise package of goodies from Cindy and Dan Tufford and Susan got a new hiking skirt from her always resourceful sister Cathie. What was lost in the mail was the maps for northern Calif. from my brother Tim. He sent it on 6/28 but the package is AWOL.

The Belden Postmaster was nice enough to come to the PO on her day off, Saturday, to double check! The PO was a tiny little red stain washed wooden building, with the charm of an old timey general store. I don't think the Post Master would mind if I described her as a northern California hippy. She even had an accostic guitar behind the counter - I guess things could get pretty slow there. The maps were not located, I filled out a forwarding request. This was the smallest of towns (pop. 14); the people were wonderful.

The trail followed a fast running stream called Chips Creek for miles. At one point Susan was sure we were lost and worried about it for the next two hours. We walked for about 7 miles before seeing a trail marker and that drove her nuts. Meanwhile the creek was feed with many streams and springs. We enjoyed them all, dipping our bandanas in the cold water, then securing them around our necks to keep cool. We took an early lunch by one stream. The trail is now extremely dusty and we wash our legs whenever possible. Although the afternoon was warm, we stayed relatively cool as the trail wound though spruce, ponderosa and lodge pole pines. In the morning there were some black oaks but they faded away as we gained elevation. We crossed Milkhouse flats - an upland meadow, and filled our water bottles in the fridged Frog Springs. Around 5:30 we stopped at Cold Springs for dinner. This area had a brand new corral, hitching posts and water trough for the equestrians.

We hiked an additional 3 miles before making camp short of Humbolt Peak around 7:45 pm. We hiked 22 miles today.

Day 78; Mon July 13 2007

2007-07-14T09:45:00.007-05:00

(Stud) We hiked until nearly dark last night--and took the first flat spot we could find. There was bear scat in the area, but the desire to stop for the night outweighed the possibility that we might get a bear visit--and luckily we had a "bear-free" night.

It was an uneventful day, and another day where we had no human contact until we got near Beldon, where we ran into a section hiker from Las Vegas named Death Valley Bob. He's been biting off small sections of the PCT for 10 years and said he'll probably still be working at completing it for the next 10 years to come.

We went through an interesting mix of environs today--kind of like yesterday, but in reverse. Pine and cedar woods gave way to an open area of mostly low manzanita and other dense shrubbery with sweeping view of the next section we'll be hiking in. In many places the shrubbery was so thick it had grown together to totally obscure the trail. This worked out pretty well for me because my mosquito bite covered legs got a free scratching.

Beyond the manzanita was more pine and cedar, then the addition of hardwoods (live oak, black oak, dogwood, big leaf maple) as we descended on 36 switchbacks to Beldon and the Little Feather River. Poison oak as well. I may be just one big scratching machine.

The 15 mile stretch we were doing today ended at a railroad track with a stopped train blocking our route into Beldon. Our guide book said to either go over the stopped trains or wait for them to move--so we quickly went up and over the connection between two cars--which was a little unnerving to me.

We reached Beldon around 1pm--and the entire town seems to be in one building--which looks like it was part of the set of a old west movie. Nothing (saloon and restaurant) was open and apparently there is no fixed schedule there.

Some very nice trail angels that live nearby and open up their home to hikers--Brenda and Laurie Braaten--came and picked us up at the trailhead. (We called them from a pay phone as instructed in Yogi's book). They had also picked up our mail at the post office: a food drop from my mom, a new hiking skirt from my sister Cathie to replace my favorite Kelty skirt that shreaded back in the desert section (even though Cathie had done a great repair job on the old skirt, she found a new one on EBay), and a very generous "goodie box" from our friends Cindy and Dan Tufford. Between the box sent from my mom and Cindy, we were able to combine the next two legs (so we won't be getting off the trail at Chester) PLUS we will be sending enough food on to resupply a future leg. Thanks so much to all!!

Our maps for the next section didn't arrive, but the post lady is going to make a special trip into the PO in the AM to open up for hikers--so we hope to find that the package was possibly missplaced and wil be found in the morning.

Day 77; Thur July 12 2007

2007-07-14T09:45:00.005-05:00

(Dr Bug) 4:12 am: There is a crack and thud in the direction where our food bag was hung last night. "Was that our food?". "No", Susan replys, "branches have been falling all night, go back to sleep". I couldn't sleep, a bear could be gobbling up my trail mix! Besides, I have been winning, a bear can't get the best of me, and take MY food! I jumped out the sleeping bag, put on a head lamp, and grabbed a weapon, my trusty hiking pole. Bravely I stumbled, tripped and gropped my way to the food hang.

This forest looks alot different at night; low intensity lighting, shadows. I had a hard time finding the hang. Then I realized - forgot my glasses. No wonder I was having vision issues. Besides, I wanted to see the fear in that bears eyes when I appeared wealding this telescoping, ultralight, hiking pole\weapon. After all it has a titanium tip!

Back to the sleeping bag I went. It was harder to return than I expected! But eye wear was retreived. Now that I could actually see, I'd be at the scene of the crime in no time. Well, not really. Things still look different in the dark, even with corrective lens. ...one big tree, turn left, another big tree...(gee, all these trees look big - should I be going north or east?). Oh! There's the bag, right where I hung it. Susan was right, must have been a tree branch. Oh well, back to sleep. Let's see, go south, big tree, more big trees, unfamiliar dead tree, a bunch of little trees, never before seen, hummm, "WHERE AM I?"...."Susan, where are you?". "I'm over here honey", she replys in a normal tone of voice that implies 30 feet distance. (Good, now I can protect her now that I know where she is...)
With my berrings corrected, I return to a warm sleeping bag after placing my trusty titanium tipped hiking pole at my side. Food safe.

We started hiking about 7 today. Wandering around in the dark stole some of my beauty sleep. After about 4 miles we reached Feather River, a good size rocky river in a deep gorge. Susan and I climbed down, took off most of our clothes and Susan went swimming. I washed myself and some clothes. The 10am sun was warm and it felt great to be clean. We ate a second beakfast, then started the uphill hike out of the gorge.

The ground was covered in oak leaves for the first time I could recall. Susan said they were live oak. There was also copious amounts of poision oak and after yet another lesson in identification, I decided the best thing for me to do was avoid all contact with plant life for the entire day. Poision oak is the "shape shifter" of plants. A little while later Susan spotted a dead bear. It looked young, maybe a year or two, it was sad.

After up over and down, we crossed Bear Creek. This started a seven mile up hill stretch. It sounds worse than it was; the forest was shaded, oaks, pole pines and later white pines.

There was an upcoming section of 12 miles with no water. I was constantly referring to the maps, making sure we were to fill up before that stretch.

At the end of the day we climbed Buck Summit. The view of the surrounding forest was comprehensive. Mansenita, white pine, spruce. The vegetation was very thick. We camped on the top of the ridge and hiked about 25 miles today.

Day 76; Wed, July 11 2007

2007-07-14T09:45:00.003-05:00

(Stud) Not much happened on the trail today. There was no rain last night-probably because we put up the tarp-but we did wake up to a cooler and overcast day. Other than the smell of smoke during the night last night, there were no other repercussions (for us) from the fires we saw yesterday. The trail did bring us a bit closer to the last fire we saw yesterday. It seemed no bigger or smaller, but apppeared not that large or out of control.

It tried to rain several times in the AM, managing to spill a few drops here and there. Finally around noon, it lightly rained for about 15 minutes. Because it was so overcast, it was the first time, since the beginning of the hike, that I hiked without a hat on. Then it cleared up, the sun came out, it heated up again and the hat went back on.

The route today was mostly through pine forest and much of it appeared to have been selectively logged in the last few years. Lots of slash on the ground. The grade was pretty easy, which accounts for us hiking about 30 miles today

Some flora and fauna notes: yesterday I saw some white lilies on the trail--one with an albino spider on it. Is there a California day lily? Also, we saw some magnificent ground cover late in the day today. Gave some thought to sleeping on it. Thick, green (no flowers) and very low to the ground; leaves 1/2" X 1/4" and shaped like holly at the end. In some places it completely covered the trail.

We didn't see another person all day today. I believe that's only the second time thats happened since we've been on the trail.

Day 75; Tue July 10 2007

2007-07-14T09:45:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) Had a great nights sleep in the bungalow. Finished the journal entries before 8am, had breakfast at the local dinner (Red Moose) and was on the trail by 11am. Sierra City was a restful stop. There was a three mile climb up from rt 49 to Sierra Butte. We did it in an hour. I was so jacked-up on the 7 cups of coffee and post breakfast pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, I ran up that mountain. When we got to the first saddle there a beautiful view of the town below and the surrounding area. When we got to the next saddle we saw the smoke. I had been watching a thunderstorm approaching from the south and passing on the east. We only felt a few drops of rain, but lighting was enough to discourage us from taking side trail to and all steel fire tower for a nice view.

There was plume of smoke in the distant north - guessing it was lighting at this point.

The trail was spruce, pole pines and white pines; the flowers were still colorful but parched and dusty. The mountains and soil mostly volcanic. Some of the taller volcanic buttes still had some snow on them. They looked wonderful, the white soft snow contrasting with the jagged black rock.

We started to hear and see prop planes in the sky. At first I thought it many, then decided it was only two that were circling. The plume of smoke grew only so slightly. We comtinued to walk toward the smoke on the mountain side. Then we saw the helicopter. It circled, dove and tightly circled the smokey area. We hoped out loud that this was not a fire started by a careless hiker.

We skipped lunch - the Ben and Jerry's for breakfast factor. It rained ever so slightly. The trail carried us closer to the fire. At the closest point we could see two planes circling, copter moving in low, about 20 vehicles on a dirt road about a mile from the blaze. I had wondered out loud if there was proactive procedures for fires this small. This was my answer.

Later in the late afternoon as we hiked over more ridges we saw three more lighting fires. Two smaller fires that were yet to be attended to, and a third which may be about 5 miles northwest of our camp site. The copter worked until dark, then silence in the air. Maybe here in the west, after a very dry spring, lighting storms are very dangerous things.

We hiked about 19-20 miles today. It was good walking; we were energized by the town stop and the excitment in the air.

Day 66; Sun July 1 2007

2007-07-10T12:21:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) We camped last night at a wooded plateau just south of a spur trail to Raymond Lake. Yesterday was a 25 mile day and I was pooped. This may have been one of the most beautiful camp sites yet. Although we camped in the protection of tall mature pines, only 40 ft away, was the granite rock cliff edge where there was seriously 100 mile visibility to the south-east. This is a vista we had not experienced since Baden-Powell Mountain.

I retreived the food sack from the hanging spot in a large sequia tree approximately 80 steps north of or camp. I try to note land marks and count steps when hanging food. Embarassingly, I have wandered the woods in the past, attempting to retrace the path to our well concealed food.

I used the light cotton cord to hang the food. It's longer than the poly yellow rope. I was happy it did the job.

The morning walk was alternating forest and traversing steep open canyons. The mountain side was step, loose volcanic gravel. The path was narrow but not truely dangerous.

As the day progressed we dropped into more dense conifer forest with an occassional accent of a volcanic ridge. This became a busy area with clean smelling day hikers as we approached Carson Pass: a trailhead with a thru-paved road and a visitor center. Enroute we saw a group of rock climbers on a mountain called Elephants Back.

There were picnic tables and a group of thru-hikers at the visitor center. The center didn't have any food, only water, maps and guidence for tourists. This was the 15 mile mark. We ate dinner at picnic tables, a real treat to be able to sit and eat.

The 5 mile hike after dinner was not difficult - only one hard uphill climb at the end. The mosquitos were bad as it was mostly pleasant meadow walking. We met some trout fisherman along the way.

We camped with a big pod of hikers: Helen Wheels, her husban Norman, Riley, Billy Goat and late arriving Heidi and her dogs. They had a camp fire and that was nice.

Day 67; Mon July 01 2007

2007-07-05T12:55:00.009-05:00

(Dr Bug) It was a very quiet and restful night. I continue to be impressed by Heidis dogs and how well behaved they are on the trail. This was one of the more crowded camp sites we have slept at since Rodriguez Road crossing at the start of the Anza Borrego Desert. When you camp with a group of folks over 50, you can generally expect two things: a little snoring, and some very early risers. As expected, Billy Goat started russling around at about 3am. He was on the trail by 5 am. Which means he gets 6 or 7 hrs of sleep a night. Most hikers get 8 or more.

We were on the trail by 5:40. This was due to our anticipation of the coming day. Today we were going to meet friends in Echo Lake. Shirley and Charlotte are long time friends of Susan's family. Chalotte and Mrs T have known each other since they were 15 yrs old. Along with my brother in Hemet CA, they have been supporting us from the Sacramento area.

The trail around Showers Lake showed that we were already in a higher use area. There were many well established camp sites along the lake and lots or side trails.

I think, as a couple, we are now offically 'spooked' about getting lost on a side trail. We now pause at even well marked junctions, consulting the map, and consider the possibility that even the the most unlikely spur trail could be the PCT. If you can imagine a well rehursed comedy team, debating over unlikely logic, with incorrect results, you've got the picture. But somehow, we progress foreward.

The ten miles we covered today were completely under the canopy of large moss covered pines. We had some rocky scrambles, but generally, this is the most top soil I can remember seeing on this trail. The flowers are still in bloom, however they are less dramatic dotting the forest understory rather than the covered volcanic hillsides of the Sonora and Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.

We ambled in to the Echo Lake Resort area. Two familiar faces sat at the picnic table outside the general store: Helen Wheels and Storm'in Norman. Two of the nicest people we have met on the trail. They call northern England their home. I love their accents and would be pleased just to listen to them read a phone book. But they are wonderful folks to talk to and I'm glad they are having a great trail experience. Just before we arrived a gentleman drove by and offered our british couple the night in his cabin complete with food and beer. It seems his son thru-hiked in a past year and this was his way of giving back. This thoughtful piece of trail magic could not have happened to a nicer couple.

Our personal trail magic was just starting. Shirley and Charlotte arrived in their camping van loaded with big hugs and more fresh fruit than two people could eat in a week.

Our drive, talk and eat-a-thon was followed by lunch at a restaurant Placerville. Five trips to the all-U-can-eat soup and salad bar, and we were back on the road to Sacramento. For some reason hikers have a reputation for an unsatiable hunger and the ladies continued their hospitality by preparing a wonderful home cooked meal. Steak, green beans, sauteed onions, mushrooms and a green salad. Top this off with apple pie al-a-mode and you have two bloated but happy hikers. Add warm showers, fresh clean cotton Hawaiian shirts and real cotton sheets and the day was a thru-hikers dream.

Day 64; Fri June 29 2007

2007-07-05T12:55:00.007-05:00

(Dr Bug) Had a great sleep and breakfast at Kennedy Meadows Resort. Got a ride back to the trail by an old 'hand' named No Sweat. He actually used the word "shucks"--and had a lot of great stories.

It turns out KMR is like a little village. Cabins, dinning hall, generate their own electicity, fire engine, saloon, barns and 150 head of horses and mules. The cabins are booked 1 and one half years in advance, sending horses out almost every two hours, a farrier and about 70 employees. We really enjoyed our stay there.

Well, I made a bonehead move right at the trailhead. There were two trails and I impatiently choose the wrong one. Not the PCT, but a trail that when straight up the mountain to a peak on the PCT. It was very steep. I climbed to the top, but Susan turned back. It was not an easy hike down for her; she spent some time on her butt. I took the PCT back down and we eventually rejoined back at the trailhead 2 hours later--about noon.

Interestingly we found a container of camp stove fuel at the trailhead. We left it there.

After hiking 2 hrs. we got back to the spot in PCT we had tried to short cut to. There was a hiker named Riley. He had lost his fuel bottle. We knew where it was. Susan offered him our fuel. He followed us like a puppy dog the remainder of the day.

The trail was relatively easy and Susan and Riley talked for hours while I hiked alone. Later in the evening at Boulder Creek we all had dinner. Susan and I hiked on for another mile.

Despite getting off track we hiked about 16s mile on the PCT and ended our day around 8:30 pm.

Day 52--Sand in my shoes; Sun June 17 2007

2007-07-05T12:55:00.005-05:00

(Dr Bug) I envision the PCT as a desert; 90 percent sand. It is a desert which is 2,665 miles long and 12 inches wide. Little rain, little top soil, mostly sand and dust. This is kind to your feet because it is soft and relatively level walking. But sand and dust are quiet demons as it gets between your skin and sox and wears at your skin like sand paper. This has consistantly been the most problematic aspect of this hike. Two or three times a day take your shoes and sox off and try to clean everything of sand and dust. Use new clean sox every day, or every other day. North of the high Sierras the sand is, at times, being replaced by lava dust. The dust is not as destructive, but more persistant. At times open abrasions appear at the bottoms of my toes, in the heel, and at the top of the feet where dust and sweat come to rest. I'm also impressed how quickly my feet heal.

These days I'm a man who walkes 10 to 12 hrs a day. I guess this is part of the job.

Day 63; Thur June 28 2007

2007-07-05T12:55:00.003-05:00

(Stud) It just occurred to me that yesterday we passed the 1000 mile point-only 1600 miles and a few more pairs of shoes to go.

Today was a special day--interesting trail and an abundance of trail magic. Yesterday as hiked into and camped in alpine area unlike any other we have seen to this point. It has that "Sound of Music" feel. There are even tufts of small white flowers--could they be Edleweiss (sp)? The vegatation here gives the mountains a velvety look in the distance with granite outcroppings that ring the mountain summits like the hairline of a monk. Our campsite was was near the top of treeline where the substrate had chaged to volcanic gravel.

We had a fairly short distance to go today--8 or 9 miles--to get to Sonora Pass. The trail across the pass was mostly above treeline and consisted of a footbed volcanic or granite gravel. At one point it had the appearance of walking a rime trail in a big gravel bowl. In a normal snow year, this is apparently one of the hairier passes that many have to take an alternate trail around, but (of the snow remaining), we only had one difficult snow field which I rock scrambled around and Dwight glissaded down.

On the way off the pass we met a buff looking 21 year old guy named Frank that was a couple of days away from entering the San Jose Police Academy. He was having problems with the elevation and was moving a bit slowly and was ending his weekend hike earlier than planned. Besides elevation sickness, his sleeping bag wouldn't zip and animals had gotten into his food bag--so it just wasn't his weekend. We hiked for a while together and told him about our thru hike. Although he took an altenate trail down to the highway crossing, he waited for us at the road side then gave us a ride to Kennedy Meadows Resort and Pack Station where we had a planned resupply (trail magic #1).

This was the second "Kennedy Meadows" of the trail--the other being at the south end of the high Sierras. This place is a pack station (similar to Red Meadows). They have a number of charming cabins built in the 30's or 40's, a restaurant/office/grocery store, saloon and the neatest horse facilites I've ever seen. Although no cabins were available, they rented us a room over the store for $35. The second floor of the restaurant/office/grocery store is like an old boarding house with small rooms and shared bathrooms. It is generally used for seasonal employees, but they will rent out extra rooms from time to time. It was actually very quiet and we seemed to have most of the floor to ourselves. Also, the showers had great preassure and they let us use their laundry facility for $1.

We ate lunch just after we got there. Later in the day we went to the grocery to resupply and after getting all our groceries, the clerk asked if we had looked in the hiker box. Turns out a guy who'd abandoned his hike due to the fire in S Lake Tahoe (which did not impact the PCT), left all his food for other hikers. We were able to to put back 95% of the food from the store and resupply out of his box. (Trail magic #2) Also, a young fellow named Flow Easy who thru-hiked in 2006 came by with stove fuel, duck tape and fresh fruit. (Trail magic #3)

We also had dinner in the restaurant and have found out about an employee there who might be able to give us a ride back to the trail in the a.m. So has been a good day.

Day 65; Sat June 30 2007

2007-07-05T12:55:00.001-05:00

(Stud) We continue to enjoy the eruption of new plant life that has brought along with it many wildflowers we have not seen before. My brother_in_law, Tim sent us additional camera memory to Kennedy Meadows Resort so I am now able to take pictures again. The memory ran out over a week agoso we have several days where opur own memory will need to suffice for what we saw along the trail.

Today was an odd mix of meadows, pine forest and areas of intesrting volcanic rock formations that seemed to erupt from the earth. We hiked along with Riley much of the day, at 27 yr old CTo for a small firewall co in Vancouver, BC. We also saw Sun Walker who is sufferung from shin splints but still probably managed to get several miles on us, and Lthe other Bily Goat--a fellow in his 60's from near Eugene, OR. He wears a shirt with Meals on Wheels logo to promote the organization and carries informational cards for anyone interested in helping our. He said the organization has lost a lotof government support--money that has been diverted to the war in Iraq. when at home, he dlivers meals to 25 needy folks a day.

Wev also saw many ay hikers the day; many be most we have seen on any. It loks like we may have come close to our goal of 25 miles today. We are camped on a very windy ridge in a grove of pine trees. Dwight was just comenting hoe he eil miss cowboy amping whe we get to WA and it will likely be more rainy-but then again, we seem to bring droght wheree er we backpack..so time will tell.

Day 62; Wed June 27 2007

2007-06-29T10:47:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-29T10:46:00.010-05:00

(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

2007-06-29T10:46:00.009-05:00

(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

2007-06-29T10:46:00.007-05:00

(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

2007-06-29T10:46:00.005-05:00

(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

2007-06-29T10:46:00.003-05:00

(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

2007-06-29T10:46:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-22T17:24:00.011-05:00

(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

2007-06-22T17:24:00.009-05:00

(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

2007-06-22T17:24:00.007-05:00

(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

2007-06-22T17:24:00.005-05:00

(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

2007-06-22T17:24:00.003-05:00

(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

2007-06-22T17:24:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:04:00.011-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:04:00.009-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:04:00.007-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:04:00.005-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:04:00.003-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:04:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-15T08:03:00.000-05:00

(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

2007-06-07T11:09:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-07T11:08:00.003-05:00

(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

2007-06-07T11:08:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-07T11:07:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-06-04T07:52:00.009-05:00

(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

2007-06-04T07:52:00.007-05:00

(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

2007-06-04T07:52:00.005-05:00

(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

2007-06-04T07:52:00.003-05:00

(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

2007-06-04T07:52:00.001-05:00

(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.

Day 32; Mon May 28

2007-05-31T07:41:00.009-05:00

(Stud) We spent most of the day at Hikertown waiting for it to get cool enough to hiking in th desert. Around 1 in the afternoon, Bob let us borrow the car and 6 hikers stuffed into a small Khia and drove miles to a Western Sizzler. Besides me and Dwight it was Mike, Sophia and Duddley DoRight (late 20's from Ottowa, Canada) and
Achilles (20ish--a PT from Wash, DC--we "met" him when we night hiked right over him when he was sleeping on the trail several night's back).

We left Hiker Heaven around 5--with a plan to hike the 16 miles to the first water cache. The hike was almost entirely flat along dirt roads and on top of the cement covered LA aquaduct. The day cooled downed nicely to the point we all put on wind breakers--and there was a strong and steady wind. The moon was nearly full and we only turned on our headlamps to verify we were headed the right direction when we saw the infrequent PCT signs.

We arrived at our destination without around midnight--exhausted. It was an easy hike--so I could only figure this was due to being up later than usual. There is one other tent set up nearby-but we'e not sure who it is.

(Dr Bug) Hikertown has roosters and chickens. The roosters announced the start of the day at 3:45 am sharp. We are on the edge of the Mojave desert and by 8 am the temperature was 80 degrees in the shade. We plotted our stategy for the up coming desert walk. It is broken down into two sections. First, a 16 mile walk to the only water in middle of the Mojave. A water spigot originating from the Los Angeles Aquiduct. Then a 24 mile section through desert, then chapperal and finally some higher elevation pines.

The idea was to hike the first part in late afternoon and evening, then get up the next day (as early as possible, maybe 4 am ish).

Day 30; Sat May 26

2007-05-31T07:41:00.007-05:00

(Stud) We provided additional ammunition for the trail names Dumb and Dumber today--again, a toss-up as to who better deserves which name.

We started the day out great--both getting a good nightKs sleep on the thick blanket of dried holly leaves. We headed down the trail around 6:15 and a few hours and 6 miles later arrived at the first water cache of the day at a ranger station. We just happened to arrive the at the same time as Joe Anderson who was dropping off 6 hikers who'd spent the night at his house last night. Joe is the trail angel who, along with his wife Terry, supplies several water caches in the area and operates a free hiker hostel. He offered to take us to his house for pancakces and waffles. Tough to pass up free food and hospitality--but we'd had breakfast, so we thanked him for all the water caches and went on.

Around noon, we arrived at another Anderson water cache. It was near a road crossing where we could hitch to Lake Elizabeth--about 2 miles away. The first vehicle that came by picked us up. An African Aerican fellow in his early to mid 60's picked us up. He introduced himself as "David Kennedy--David Charles Kennedy. I never pick up hitch hikers, but you looked like honest folks", he told me. I should note that Dwight was riding in the bed of the pickup, and I was in the cab. Dwight was lying down so the gentleman wouldn't get ticketed for having a paaenger in the bed of his pickup. David pointed out various sites to me enroute and went past his planned destination to take us to the lake.

Lake Elizabeth was not exactly what we'd hope for. The water was murky and had lots of algae and other organic stuff floating around. But it was nice and breezy there. I washed out my socks in the lake thinking that in spite of the gunk in the water thinking algea might be preferable to dirt. (Or is it a toss up?)

We didn't want to get back on the trail until after 4 (when it would be cooler), so after eating our lunch, we hitched to the Rock Inn. David had pointed this historic landmark out to me enroute to the lake. We were picked up by a young mom--who was also a falconer. She trains falcons to kill gulls that circle over landfills. She feeds the falcons by capturing rattle snkes in the desert. Seriously, I'm not making this up. She said, "my husband would kill me if he knew I picked up some hitch hikers". But after we told her about the trail-which she was not familiar with--she said she'd fess up to her husband about picking us up because she'd had a positive experience.

At the Rock Inn, a very cool 2 story rock building with a restaurant/bar downstairs, and 7 inn rooms upstairs, I had dessert and Dwight ordered a salad. While we we eating we were joined by the 89 yr old manager, Rosie, who is also the mother of the proprieter. She takes pictures of all the hikers that come in. We must have talked for 2 hrs and found out all about her family (she's very proud of her son son, she lives with her 79 yr old sister and has 5 great, great grand children), the inn (very popular with the biker crowd), and her earlier career (she owned/operated what we'd now call a day care center). I'd be happy to be half as sharp as she is when I get to be her age.

After leaving Rock Inn we got a hith back to the trail with a woman who had a new toilet in her back seat. She was enroute to pick up the guy that was going to install it for her. We had a small problem though: we could not remwmber where the trail was. She drove us up and down the same stretch of highway several times--but we couldn't find the trailhead. She was pretty sure the trailheads were on a different road, and headed that direction, but D and I were convinced the trail was on the same road as the Rock Inn. Eventually we just had her let us out near where we thought the trail should be.

We wandered down the road a bit and saw a fellow out on his front porch. I asked him if he knew where the PCT was. "Sure", he said. "Let me get a map"--and he came back with a map and 2 bottles of water. To make a long story a bit shorter--the woman had been right about where the traiheads were located--and this fellow ended up giving us a lift there, and telling us "the pleasure was mine".

So we made it back to the trail around 5:30, hiked for an hr or so then made dinner (mashed potatoes and beef jerky--not too excting), hiked until 9:30, and are camped under a 3/4 moon.

Day 29: Fri May 25

2007-05-31T07:41:00.005-05:00

(Stud) Here we go again--Dumb and Dumber. After packing up, we left the oasis of the Saufley's home around 9:30, then had a late and long breakfast with Stamp Lady and Medicine Man. We started heading out of town around noon--approaching the hottest part of the day. We found out later that someone is serving free Suchi at the Saufley's tonight--yet another reason we should have hung around in addition to my umbrella still being nearly broken beyond use. (My GoLite umbrella is one of my primary sun protectors, but the strong winds have turned it inside out so often, one spoke(?) is broken and the fabric is largely torn away from all the spokes. But I am determined to fix it!).

So, we start heading out of town around noon. I'll note that we have no maps for the next 50 miles of trail. We bought the guide books second hand--and a few sections are missing. So after going a few 10ths of a mile I ask Dwight: "Are you sure we're headed the right direction"? "I think so", he said--"think" being the operative word here. So, back to town we went. I asked the guy behind the counter of the hardware store if he knew which direction the PCT headed out of town--and Dwight had been right--so off we headed for the seond time.

After a mile or so of hot road walk, the trail headed up a 5 mile section of hot, shadeless hill with our packs heavy with resupplies. Emphasis added on "hot", "uphill" and "heavy". In the distance--at the very top of the hill--there appeared to be a single tree (just like a kid's drawing). I said to myself: Lord, please make that tree be on the trail.

When the trail peaked out, there was indeed a small stand of oaks. Two dirt bike riders were hanging out in the shade there--a couple of guys our age. We shared shade and chatted with them for over an hr. One was a "Mr Mom" and handy man from Malibu. "You know, Malibu", he said, "where rich people live and you can charge them whatever you want". The other guy was a movie camera lens technician. He's repaired cameras for the TV shows House and Monk. It was fun talking to them and slightly allieviated the pissy mood I was in for starting our hike in the heat of the day.

It got cooler and shadier as the day went on. We stopped and made dinner just before dusk, then resumed hiking. In less the a half a mile, we reached the Anderson's crazy "Oasis Water Cashe". This couple has carved out an area underneath several manzanita (?) trees. In addition to leaving several gallon jugs of water (in an otherwise waterless area) they have left some plastic lawn chairs, skeletons hanging in the trees, a cooler of cokes and a pink plastic flamingo. Just a few feet down the trail we found another open area under some manzanita trees--so we grabbed a coke and set up camp under a growing moon. Nothing like trail angels to brighten a day.

Day 28; Thur. May 24

2007-05-31T07:41:00.003-05:00

(Dr Bug) We hiked through a small National Park enroute to Auga Dulce this morning. This park was great because it had labels on may of the local tree and shrub species. We got some education.

In this land of shrubs and relentless sun, Auga Dulce is a village of shade trees. I liked it. The trail went straight through town. Main street had a grocery store, hardware store and resturant. We had breakfast first thing. The TV was on at the bar and it was a reminder of how much useless information it bombards us with. I don't miss it.

We walk up to Hiker Heaven after eating. This is five star hiker hostal run by Donna and Jeff Saufly. We found open cots in one of several screen tents and took showers while Donna did our laundry. It was a beautiful yard filled with all types of activities. Dogs were all over the place, hikers flowed in and horses hid from the sun in the shade of the back yard.

We borrowed their Bronco and drove to an REI to buy new shoes and socks. For the evenings meal we had chicken, rice and salad which was cooked by the mom of a 2005 thru-hiker. It was undeserved kindness from very generous people.

We hiked about 3 miles into town today.

Day 31; Sun May 27

2007-05-31T07:41:00.001-05:00

(Stud) Today was a long hiking day--about 28 miles into Hikertown-which I'll get back to in a minute.

We got started around 6--after a not so great night's sleep on hard packed sand. The early part of the day was through dense chapparel, and we saw lots of hummingbirds--with no clear idea of what was attracting them to the trees they seemed to be interested in.

Our first water came from what the water report called a "guzzler"--a large underground cement holding tank with a heavy steel cover. We think this water is generally used to fight back country fires. Dwight dropped his water filter hose down into it the cement holding tank and pumped out pretty decent tasting water.

We stopped for lunch under a stand of oak trees--and met a hiker named Dozen--a guy in his mid to late 20's from So Cal, but now living in Maui (sp?) because he thought it would be a neat place to live. His trail name came from having dropped 12 lbs of weight from his pack.

My lunches are getting better: a bagel with cream cheese and genoa salami. The cream cheese looks a bit nasty after a couple of days in a hot backpack, but still tastes fine.

After lunch we walked though a beautiful area a rye grass and oaks and fairly level trail. The rye grass was a combination of green pruple snd golds, gently swaying in the afternoon breeze. We spent the rest of the day descending to desert on a oddly meandering trail--apparently skirting a large private ranch. Our timing was good here because hikers that came through this section earilier in the day said it was miserably hot. We had a nice breeze--and I thought the section was actually enjoyable with lots a fragrant wildflower in bloom.
We arrived at Hikertown around 6pm. It is a private residence at the side of a rural highway. Since the property is adjacent to the PCT, the caretaker convinced the absentee owner to allow hikers to camp in the yard, get water, use an outdoor shower and internet and just get oput of the sun. Along one side of the property the owner has created a old western looking town--with a bunkhouse (where hikers can hang out), feed store, a few other buldings and some chickens running around. One end of the bunkhouse is a private room where Dwight and I stayed. Everything--including use of the caretaker's car--is done by donation only. The caretaker--Bob--is a super nice guy.

Tommorow we will begin hiking across the Mojave-not leaving until late in the afternoon to avoid the heat of the day. That should give my swollen feet some time to recover.

Day 27: Wed, May 23

2007-05-24T14:19:00.007-05:00

(Stud) It was cool and windy this morning when we started out; it reminded us of a fall day with the wind blowing leaves from the trees. Around 8:30 we ran into Stamp Lady--she and Messanger Man were just breaking camp. He was staying behind for a while so the 3 of us hiked on together to the next ranger station-our next possible water stop. Stamp Lady is probably 50ish and is the Post Master of a one post-person town just a ferry's ride from Seatle, WA. We arrived at the Ranger Station around 11am and the caretaker there told us where to get water and gave us directions to Saufley's--a hiker hostel in Agua Dulce--our next resupply town. The Ranger Station has been closed for 8 years due to lack of federal funding and difficulty finding workers--according to the caretker who lives there for free and gets a small stipend to watch over the place. We left the Ranger station at the hottest part of the day as we headed back into desert-man was it hot! We took some relief !
under a large bush for a while, then toughed it out to get down to a highway where there was supposed to be a restaurant at an RV park. The RV park was pretty sad--it had definitely seen it's better days. The restaurant was no longer in operation there because the couple running it "up and left". A young guy that seemed to be the manager told us "the lady sitting next to the red truck will call a local piza place that will deliver out here if you want". We asked if there was a Coke machine and he told us it was broken, but that he had 2 Pepsi's in his frig if we wnated them. I thought that was pretty nice.

We found the lady next to the red pick up-where she was sitting around a barrel of burning trash with her significant other...seriously. And it had to be in at least the high 90's. But she nicely called the pizza shop for us--and 1/2 hr later they arrived with a pizza and two 32 oz cokes. Stamp Lady, who'd been behind us on this leg, arrived just before our pizza did--so she joined us for a few slices.

It was much cooler when we resumed hiking, and we ran into Stamp Lady's husband down the trail a bit. They decided to stop for the night, and we hiked on toward Agua Dulce--stopping around 9:00 or so. We came through a canyon after dark and saw several of the Arroyo frogs they're trying to protect. We also saw a lot of horse poop--so we labeled this our "Toads and Turds" section.

We are cowboy camped in a large open area near an interstate and not far from a sign the says "You're in Cougar County"...and it's not referring to a school mascot. Hopefully we're not camped in a commuter parking lot!

Day 26: Tues, May 22

2007-05-24T14:19:00.005-05:00

(Stud) After yesterday's off-trail experience I knew today had to be better day--and it was. We had to watch our water more closely today because it was scarce along the trail and we both ended yesterday with no water for dinner due to my oversight. The first water of the day came from a small seapage at the side of the trail. Dwight took a stick and made a hole about 5 inches wide and deep to pool the water, then pumped from this small hole. The water tasted organic, but fine when you haven't had any in a while. The next source came from a small pool at the base of a rock. We tanked up here because this was followed by a 10 mile stretch without water which we would be doing during the heat of the day. The last water came from a spigot at a Ranger Station. We were lucky to get this because the ranger there estimated their well would be dry by early June.

We had an exiting wildlife siting today. We had been following hoof prints down the trail for a while and came around a curve to startle what we think was a long horned sheep. It quickly jumped into the brush. We only got a fleeting look at it so we can't be sure-but they graze somewhere in this area.

Our hike today was mostly through a mixed forest of oak, pine and chaparrel. The only other hikers we saw thoughout the day were Tony, Ronnie and a couple we had briefly met in Big Bear City: Oats and Moon Shadow. They ere all at the Rander Station when were stopped to get water there in the late afternoon.
Late in the day I came across a coulter pine cone that was sitting on the trail, perfectly teed up like a football and nearly the same size. I took the bait hook, line and sinker and ran up, gave it my best kick. Holy crap!!! It was like kicking a glob of cement! Dwight thought I was exagerating until he kicked it some more to get it off the trail. Luckily, no lasting physical damage though.

We spent the night on a thick bed of pine staw at Big Buck Trail Camp. Slightly off the trail, it had intermittant fire rings and benches as it's only amenities. It was in a beautiful grove of pine trees and we had the entire place to ourselves as we went to sleep with the setting sun.

Day 25: Mon, May 22

2007-05-24T14:19:00.003-05:00

(Dr Bug) In early morning we came apon nicely built Little Jimmy Spring. It had benches, a view and clear piped water. Tony was there doing his laundry. We filled our water bladders and headed on.

This was the kind of day where I didn't want to do much thinking. The weather was warm and clear and I was happy to hike behind Susan and get lost in my thoughts. And that is exactly what I do, never more than 3 feet from her backpack I followe her like a lost dog. Done it a million times. Only this time STUD was also lost in her own thoughts and we wandered off trail and got lost. The trail (we thought we were still on the PCT) became more difficult and steep. We were were climbing up and down an 8,000 ft mountain,and at one point straight down a rock slide--a hillside of gravel. That's when STUD yelled, "this can't be @#$%& PCT".

The view was tremendous! We pondered maps, walked up and down, then, in the most democratic way you can in a marriage (let the wife decide), we turned around to retrace our steps and find the real PCT.

Ultimately we decided that we had taken the Mt Williamson Peak trail. We lost about 2 hrs of hking time and a half day of energy. This was the most challenging trail we had been on this hike. (Stud did some freaking out on the rock slides).

For the rest of the day we never got back on track. Both of us were hiper sensitive to the trail - 'have we gotten off he trail again'. We talked ourselves out of stopping for water near the end of the day and ultimately we spent the night without water, no dinner and so tired we were asleep by 7pm. We walked 16 trail miles today. No idea how many total miles.

Day 24: Sun, May 20

2007-05-24T14:19:00.001-05:00

(Stud) We took our time getting out of Wrightwood today. We had a big breakfast at Mountain View cafe, came back and organized our food and readied up our packs. Dwight tried to get in touch with his mom and brother--but no luck there. I got in touch with my mom for a few minutes from a pay phone until it said to deposit a quarter which I didn't have.

Billy Goat and Captain American arrived around noon. Billy Goat is PCT trail legend--having done the trail at least 7 times. He's also done the AT, but calls this PCT "home". When I first asked him where he was from, he said "I live on the PCT". We talked a lot about trail logitics. He is skipping over the Sierras and jumping ahead to northern CA. This will put him in WA in August when there is no rain. He will do the Sierras in Sept when all the snow will be gone, and the water so low that he won't be fording any rivers. When you hike straight through, you'll have to deal with bugs, some snow and ford up to seven rivers a day in the Sierras.

We finally hitched out of Wrightwood around 2pm getting a ride from a couple from Palmdale. We got back on the trail at Inspiration Point were we got off yesterday. Just a few minutes down the trail we arrived at the Grassy ? Visitors center. There was an exhibit on pine cones that we attempted to memorize--so I can say with reasonable certainty that the predonant conifers on our hike today were Jeffery, Sugar and Sequoia. I also learned that the black and white banded snake I saw sunning itself by the side of the trail the other day was a King Snake.

We were a slow movng train today. We ran into lots of day hikers--and talked to most of them including a Boy Scout troop training for Philmont. Most of our day was spent climbing Mt Baden Powell--named after the founder of the Boy Scouts. It was a 4 1/2 mile hike up to the peak that took us to 9300 ft. Even though the grade was not particularly difficult, we did a lot of huffing and puffing on the way up--particularly since we just resupplied for 5 days. I think we both felt like a couple of pack mules.

Due to our late start, we only hiked about 11-12 miles. I expect it will be a pretty cold night as we are camped at over 8000 ft.

Day 21

2007-05-20T13:45:00.007-05:00

(Stud) We seem to be selecting our campsites better. The past two nights have been comfortable sleeping weather when we stayed at a higher elevation--above water. In both cases, our 1 to 2 mile hike down to water first thing in the morning brought temperatures cooler by 20 degrees.

We arrived a natural hot springs around 8 in the morning. The 3 guys we met yesterday--Mike, Tony and Ronnie--were still asleep in their bags on a sandy beach area. This place could rival any resort. In this beutifull wilderness canyon, someome has used river stones to pool the warmest water in a large outdoor hot tub. This cascades to a lower pool with walls made out of sand bags. Water in this pool is a combination of the hot springs and the cooler canyon stream. This pool ajoins the pooled water of the canyon's creek. Cottonwood and willow trees shade the bank.

There seems to be an unwritten protocal here--which we witnessed after our visits to the pools: you strip down naked and get in the hotest of pools, then you move to the the lower pool and then the cool canyon water. People seem to limit themselves to a reasonable amount of time (~10 minutes). When one party is finished, robed and out of the way, the next party will take their turn. The willow trees provide both shade and privacy to the pools.

I met a couple of interesting folks here: a late middle aged Asian American named Kwan, and a native american whose name I didn't get. Neither were PCT hikers. When D and I first went down to the pools, there was a necklace of sorts hanging from the nearby willow tree. It consisted of a string of seeds or dried berries from which hung a small leather bag that had a large crystal tied to it. I watched a guy with a Mexican poncho pick it up and put it around his neck. He was wearing some type of woven cap that had feathers hanging from it. Kwan told me this fellow was Native American and had previously lived in the canyon for 2 years and was an animal vet in a nearby village. I spoke with the native american guy and he confirmed what Kwan said. "I had stuff stashed all over this canyon", he told me, "my tent...you name it. But after a while, living this way gets tiring". He had a couple of dingos with him--both abandoned dogs he'd adopted.

Kwan said he'd quit his job as a pool maintenance guy 6 years earlier and had been treking, fishing and the like since. He said, for the first time in 6 years his wife had asked him "when you gonna come home". He laughed and repeated it and said it made him happy. "First time she asked me that in 6 years!"
I wondered, does a whole subculture exist around this oasis in the desert? We were only there a few hours and met such unique folks. I think in al my years of backpacking, it may be the coolest areas I've come across.

Before we left, the native american guy had taken his turn in the pools. While he was in, he played a flute-like instrument--mostly native american sounding tunes. But he ended with Amazing Grace.

We headed out around 9 or so and started making a progressively hot walk on a trail that continued north along the wall of the canyon. Ever since seeing the prayer flags for the guy that fell to his death up here last year, I'm walking more cautiously--doing less gauking around--or at least am stopping before gauking around.

We arrived at a huge dam around 11:30 am. This must be one of the biggest govt boondoggles ever! There is hardly any water in site--and yet there is a big monolyth here in the beyond unlikely chance it is ever needed. Dwight commented: "Too bad they can't move it to New Orleans".

From 11:30-2:30 we hung out under the shade of a downed cottonwood tree near the dam. I wished we had stayed at the hot springs--it was pretty hot and unpleasant there. We made it about another mile down the trail, found some more shady trees, and took another nap. It was just too hot for hiking.

When we got going again around 4:30, the hiking and trail was much more pleasant. The trail got progressively greener and less desert like. We stopped to make dinner around 7--then hiked til well after dark. We got a bit lost ina road walk section as the guide book had an east/west direction inversed. This would have been obvious during daylight.

We ran into some trail magic around 9:45--a cooler of fruit left by "Team Turtle". We heard they are a 70+ yr old couple who have been doing this for years.

At 10pm we stopped for the night at Arrowhead Lake-threw down at a flatish spot on a small side trail off the PCT.

Day 23, Sat May 19

2007-05-20T13:45:00.005-05:00

(Stud) On tne trail around 6, we finished the ascent we started last night--just up, up, up through the chaparrel. We ran into Mike taking a nap by the side of the trail--he didn't get a restful night's sleep due to the slant he was on, so he was already trying to catch up on lost sleep. We hiked with him on and off throughout the day.

It was really a beautiful hiking day once we emerged from the chaparrel to a pine forest. It was sunny, not too hot, shady on and off, and a good breeze. A nice pine scet in the air.

Part way through the day we met a couple sectioniong the PCT little by little--Liela and Max. They had woken up at 3 in the morning, and driven up from San Diego to do this one 16 mile section. Max was quite the trail ambassidor, and even talked a couple of cyclists we ran into when the trail crossed a road into starting a PCT hike. They gave us a ride into Wrightwood when we reached Highway 6 at Inspiration Point.

The last several miles of hiking today was by a ski resort--of course buttoned up at this time of year. There were a couple of man made lakes for making snow. I noticed some hikers taking a break on an empty chair lift.

We arrived in Wrightwood around 1--With Liela and Max driving us around until we found the recommended Pines Hotel--campy, clean but with a shower long overdue for replacing. The manager let us use the washer and dryer here for free.

We resupplyed at the small local grocery where we ran into Mike who was heading back out to the trail. Food seemed very expensive--or is it because we're eating so much more?

I got some new socks at the Hardware Store that also carries camping supplies. This sandy soil is eating through our socks like crazy. And as much as I love my Smartwool socks--the thickness of the seems to retain a ton of dirt and sand. I pre-rince them for 10 minutes before every wash and dirt is still coming out.

No way to check email because the library was closed when we got here and will be closed tomorrow.

We had a nice dinner at a Mexican Restaurant before heading to bed.
This is a good hiker town--nice and compact.

Day 18

2007-05-20T13:45:00.003-05:00

(Dr Bug) Yesterday we saw some bear skat on the trail so when we camped we hung our food fr the first time.

When we awoke it was 38 degrees. Very cold. Hard to sleep. STUD wore all the clothes in her bag plus some of mine and was still cold.

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Day 22, Fri May 18

2007-05-20T13:45:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) We spent the night on a small penisula in the Arrow Head Lake. A quick inspection reveiled evidence of teen party activity, it looked great at 10pm last night. At the mile mark we ran into Mike and hiked with him till the influence into the lake. We ate breakfast and pumped h2o. The original plan for the day was to take a 3 hr lunch in the heat of the day, but couldn't stop and hiked 17 miles strait to rt 15. You see, the streach was dry, hot and desert like, and there was a McDonalds on rt 15. There was more chaparrel and sage. a desolate ranch, many rocks.

McDonalds was an oasis. We sat in a booth and ate for 2hrs. Then we walked over to some shaded lawn and talked to Billy Goat and Captain America, two hiking ledgends. We ended the day by hiking another 10 miles and finding a flat spot at 10pm on the accent up the San Gabrial Mountains. This was stupid and dangerous because we were tired and one side of the trail was always a shape drop off on one side. There was a hiker sleeping in the trail and we tripped over him. It was on a shape curve with a drop off. That was a bonehead place to camp on his part. Everything turned out OK. We found a side path in a relatively flat area and made a quick cowboy camp. We were 7000 ft up with the open stars of the night above us and streaming lights of the interstate highway below. This was a 27 mile day, our longest yet.

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Day 19

2007-05-20T13:43:00.003-05:00

(Stud) We had thought about taking a zero day in Big Bear City, but since all our in-town chores were done we decided to get back on the trail. Just as we were leaving Motel 6--I saw Freebird, a hiker we'd met in Warner Springs, out in front of one of the rooms. I'd heard he'd found the bandana I'd dropped on the trail that sucko day we'd left Cabazon--a snot covered bandana I wouldn't have touched with a 10 ft pole if I'd found it. Sure enough, he not only had it, but he'd washed it. He had no idea it was mine and was getting ready to put it in the Hiker Box at the hotel. A Hiker Box is a place where you put things you don't need, and other hikers can take from it freely. I was happy to have my purple bandana back--funny that something so insignificant can make one happy.

Freebird was not doing so well. He'd suffered heat exhaustion in the section between Cabazon and Little Bear City and was planning to call it quits. I tried to give him some encouragement--as I'm sure others had as well--but he needed some
time to mend. He said he stay
in Big Bear City at least a week before considering getting back on.

We also ran into Allegheny--a hiker from Va who'd been missing for a few days when he mistakenly took a side trail off the PCT north of Idllwild. His hiking partner had sent word down the trail asking if anyone had seen him. No one had seen him so the general consensus was that he'd taken a wrong side trail--which is exactly what he did. He said he
realized his mistake when he came to a town that wasn't on the trail. Within a few days he was back on track.

Our little hiking pod is temporarily beaking up! We had to bid GottaHike! (Leslie) adieu today as she is leaving the trail for several weeks to attend her husband's family reunion in Germany--plans that had been in the works but not finalized until recently. The three of us have been hiking together since Lake Mareno-and really have had a good time. We'll miss the leavity she brougth to our group. Now who will we tease everday about their not so lightweight hiking gear? Hopefully we'll reconnect when she returns to the trail next month.

Before parting Leslie endowed me with lots of yummy food she wouldn't be needing--her homemade granola, dried oranges, dried tomatoes, sesame sticks, taffy, pre-cooked bacon, hummas--basically whatever I wanted that she had left. Dwight and I have gotten a lot of new food ideas from Leslie.

We hitched out of town in late morning-getting a lift from Trail Angel David Schmidt, who happened to be headed to work when he saw us trying to get back to the trail. He frequently gives hikers lifts to the trail--and sometimes keeps in touch with them for years after. Before parting he gave us part of his lunch--his home made beer can chicken. We had it on totillas for dinner tonite. It was delicious!

The hike today was easy and pleasant. Much of the trail went through a heavily shaded pine forest--at one point providing expansive views of the town of Big Bear Lake.

In late afternoon a cyclist skidded to a halt behide Dwight. This after we'd seen signs that read "No bicycles or motorized vehicles of any kind" at every trail and road crossing. He told us he was a trail maintainer but we found this hard to believe. Why would anyone who loved the trail enough to maintain it break the rules of the trail?

We are cowboying on a small knob about 15 miles from where we got back on the trail today. As I am finishing this up, the sun has slipped over a distant mountain and left a orange glow behind.

Day 20

2007-05-20T13:43:00.001-05:00

(Dr Bug) The morning began at 5am. The red glow over the mountains to the east anounced the sun. We were camped on a peninsula in a sea of mountains. It was the best camp site on the PCT so far. We were at mile 282, the morning temperature was in the 50ies. The altitude was above 7000 ft. Started hiking at 5:45 and got in 10 miles before 10:30. We had discussions earlier in the week above cold air sinking into the valleys at night. This was true last night. As we hiked into a valley we noticed the temp had dropped a good 10 degrees.

We stopped to pump water around 10:30 from Holcombe Creek. later we hiked through an area which had burned 8 years ago and still was dominated by charred remains. At Holcombe camp we may to hikers, Tony and Ronnie. Tony we trail maintainer who had worked on trails we had hiked in the east. Ronnie was the unusual little fellow with a foriegn accent who was lying on the ground, begging us to take his cheader cheese-literally. He had purchased 2 lbs of cheese an decided to eat it all before it melted in the heat. He was so pathetic, we took his cheese. We cut around the teeth marks and added it to our tortillos at lunch. At the bridge over Deep Creek we wash, and washed some clothes. Then layed on the warm rock. We walked through the Deep Creek Gorge till mile 300. Found another awsome camp site in the open high chapparral.

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