498 miles left!!! We went into Portland for a day, dropped of Shilo to my mom and now were heading to cascade locks!
Here comes the last leg of the trail!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, September 23, 2011
Just some notes on trail
One of the coolest animal sightings happened the other day. We saw an owl. It silently flew from one branch to another and I saw it from the corner of my eye. We watched it for a few minutes and moved on.
On sept 7 we broke our record. We pulled a 32 mile day into crater lake. We consider Oregon the promised land because a lot of hikers say thAt compared to everything else we've climbed over it's flat and so far we haven't been disappointed.
Shilo (James' dog) joined us on the trail at highway 3 (right outside of etna, ca) when my sister came to see us. So far she is doing great! We are only planning on taking here through Oregon though so that if the weather holds and we have a chance of finishing we can book it to the border.
There are a bunch of fires so we might have to skip around some sections since road walking doesn't sound like fun.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:On the trail in Oregon
Friday, September 2, 2011
Oregon!
We made it to Oregon on the 31st of august! We're taking a day off and then will then we're going to push big miles to get to cascade locks. Right now were still hoping to finish the trail even if it takes till mid october. We are behind the pack but we have high hopes. James and I are really enjoying ourselves and we're a little sad that it may be coming to an end if the weather changes.
I just got this new app so that I can upload blogs on my iPod so I think I'll be able to up date this a little easier.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I just got this new app so that I can upload blogs on my iPod so I think I'll be able to up date this a little easier.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The High Sierras
Well, we made it through the high sierras! Right now we're at a trail angel's house (Superman) in South Lake Tahoe, mile 1094! The High Sierra's were everything we had hoped and heard about. Yes, there was a lot of snow and I mean a lot of snow. The mountain passes did require all of our attention. Our gnarliest pass was Mather but it was also our favorite. We had rock scramble up to the top of the pass and then cross two snow shoots and then throw ourselves over a snow cornice at the top of the pass. Right before we made it to the snow cornice I post holed and hit my shin on a rock. Clinging to the snow, another person in our crew used his poles to help me pull myself up. The pain in my shin hurt like no other. I looked over at Cerveza and asked her if I could cry and she told me "You should wait tell you get to the top and then you can cry all you want." I put myself together and tried to forget about the throbbing pain in my shin and continued up to the cornice. I never did end up crying, but my shin did take over a week to heal.
Probably the scariest creek crossing was Wright Creek, a day after Mt. Whitney. The current was very strong and since it was one of the first creeks we had to cross it really got us mentally prepared. The last hundred miles we've been crossing deep creeks but the currents haven't been that strong.
Most of the way we've been lucky to even see the trail. Its been under so much snow we end up using our maps to find out where we need to go and then just cross country it to that spot. We've been lost many times, but have gotten comfortable with that feeling.
We've lost quite a bit of weight. I've lost about 15 lbs and James lost about 20 lbs. We're trying to eat everything we can, but we just can't seem to keep the weight on. In the desert I didn't lose anything, but right when we started climbing over all the mountain passes the weight started to fall off of us and to top it off we were short on food from the section between Kearsarge Pass to Mammoth Lakes.
Last week we were just in Yosemite. Both James and I had a problem with our trekking poles so we hitch hiked down into the valley to the Yosemite outfitters. The hitch was totally worth it. Next to the fact that Yosemite Valley was a mad house it was a beautiful place. James was kind of sickened by the amount of cars and people, but the geography is like nothing else. After filling our bellies and getting James trekking pole fixed (they didn't fix mine) we hitched back to the trail to start the next section.
One interesting thing that happens on the trail is that there is a lot of hype. It is scary sometimes but it all seems doable as long as your paying attention. I've gotten to the point were I'm extremely happy that we got a snow year. It's so much more of an adventure. Each day we face challenges and each day we solve them. I know it's not for everyone, but I sure do feel that all of this is doable and not as bad as everyone saying....then again we may just be hitting at the right time. But I recall before the sierras all the people scaring each other about the conditions and I've learned that the hype is not true. The only other explanation is I'm way more hardcore then I think I am, but I highly doubt it (I'm still scared of heights;)
Here is a little taste of the passes and crossings. If you'd like to see more I got more on facebook. www.facebook.com/djalowe8
Sonora Pass Video
Waterfall Crossing
Probably the scariest creek crossing was Wright Creek, a day after Mt. Whitney. The current was very strong and since it was one of the first creeks we had to cross it really got us mentally prepared. The last hundred miles we've been crossing deep creeks but the currents haven't been that strong.
Most of the way we've been lucky to even see the trail. Its been under so much snow we end up using our maps to find out where we need to go and then just cross country it to that spot. We've been lost many times, but have gotten comfortable with that feeling.
We've lost quite a bit of weight. I've lost about 15 lbs and James lost about 20 lbs. We're trying to eat everything we can, but we just can't seem to keep the weight on. In the desert I didn't lose anything, but right when we started climbing over all the mountain passes the weight started to fall off of us and to top it off we were short on food from the section between Kearsarge Pass to Mammoth Lakes.
Last week we were just in Yosemite. Both James and I had a problem with our trekking poles so we hitch hiked down into the valley to the Yosemite outfitters. The hitch was totally worth it. Next to the fact that Yosemite Valley was a mad house it was a beautiful place. James was kind of sickened by the amount of cars and people, but the geography is like nothing else. After filling our bellies and getting James trekking pole fixed (they didn't fix mine) we hitched back to the trail to start the next section.
One interesting thing that happens on the trail is that there is a lot of hype. It is scary sometimes but it all seems doable as long as your paying attention. I've gotten to the point were I'm extremely happy that we got a snow year. It's so much more of an adventure. Each day we face challenges and each day we solve them. I know it's not for everyone, but I sure do feel that all of this is doable and not as bad as everyone saying....then again we may just be hitting at the right time. But I recall before the sierras all the people scaring each other about the conditions and I've learned that the hype is not true. The only other explanation is I'm way more hardcore then I think I am, but I highly doubt it (I'm still scared of heights;)
Here is a little taste of the passes and crossings. If you'd like to see more I got more on facebook. www.facebook.com/djalowe8
Sonora Pass Video
Waterfall Crossing
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Kennedy Meadows, Mile 702
It has been hard to find Wifi the last few hundred miles. So there is a lot to catch up on in this blog. And excuss the typo's please.
After leaving Wrightwood, we headed up Baden Powell. Since I was hurt we were hoping to do an easy day so that I would re-injury myself, but that was a no go. Baden-Powell was a heavy hitter. The snow covered the trail to the point that we had to climb up the side of the mountain to reach the summit. I had just sent my Yak tracks home so I didn't have any extra traction. Funny how things work out that way. James and I had heard horror stories of Fuller Ridge and other passes which turned out to be quite easy so since we hadn't heard anything about Baden Powell we weren't to worried so I sent my traction home. Well, the joke was on us. We made it, but were extremely tired by the end of it. That day we only did 12 miles, but the good news was I didn't have any muscle pain so the next day we started back into making big miles.
The next town was Agua Dulce were we stayed at the Saufly's (a trail angels house). This is were we meet up with Cerveza and Spoon man. We really hit it off with this two hikers. We also meet Tickit there, another awesome hiker who can sign and play music like a badass. Tickets blog is www.powertohike.ca. We didn't stay long at the Saufly's because we knew that the next stop might suck us in for a while and we were right.
That stop was the Anderson, a vortex on the trail. It's only 24 miles away from the Saufly's but a hippie daycare spot that can suck you in for days. The moment we stopped in the town we were orginally planning on just stopping at the gas station and maybe just stopping into say "hi." But like many hikers before us we were sucked in. The Anderson's live in a town called Green Valley, the place were the show Justified is filmed. After I freaked out about that for an hour, Terri Anderson took me on a tour around the town showing me places they filmed! It was awesome! That night there was an epic jam session. Drinks were being passed and joyous laughter was heard blocks away. The next morning we packed up our things and headed to the front of the house to catch a ride to the trail head. Joe Anderson loaded us up into his car and we headed back but were stopped by Terri Anderson in a van who told us we had forgotten to get our picture taken and sign the registery. Joe told us that she was right and we couldn't leave so he then turned around to go back. Cerveza and Spoon Man were still there and they had decided to take another zero day so we just said screw it and stayed. Why fight it? Like everyone told us The Anderson's is like trail speedbum, you can pack up each day but that doesn't mean your leaving.
The full story of the Anderson I'm going to keep to myself, but if anyone wants to know the details just ask.
When we finally got out of there we headed into the desert, the real desert, The Mojave Desert. James had been talking about night hiking the desert to a bunch of hikers and so when we showed up to Hikertown (the last stop before the Mojave) 8-mile (another hiker buddy of ours) was waiting for us. We planned to hike the Mojave at night with glow sticks, red bulls and alocholic drinks. We conviced Ticket, SpoonMan, Cerveza, and Cuppa Joe to head out with us. We hiked and hiked that night on a flat road. That day we made it 28 miles and when we woke up the Mojave was pretty much done.
After that we got a taste of night hiking and we were hooked. 8-mile and us have continually hiked at night and have missed much of the heat. It's been very enjoyable.
When we made it to Mojave the Town, mile 552, we decided we didn't need to rest so we tried to hitch in and out. But that was little harder then we thought it would be. We made it in okay, but hitching out was a little hard. No one wanted to pick us up and the sun was setting. I didn't care what kind of car passed so when a cop pulled over I thought maybe we were going to be in trouble, but instead Officer Dotts wanted to give us a ride instead. My first time in the back of a police car!
I should also note that by the time we reached Mojave, niether of us care much about weight anymore. I carried a cantolope and oranges and James carried out other heavy treats. The next town, Onyx mile 650, we carried out vegtables that I fried up two days out on the trail in butter and chili powder and made fajitas. We just don't care anymore.
So I think we're all up todate now. Yesterday we reached Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the High Sierras mile 702. Now we are trying to mentally prepare. We're going in as a group with Ticket, Cuppa Joe, Cerveza, 8-Mile, and hopefully a few more. We just got our Bear box and in Lone Pine we're getting our ice axe and traction stuff. I'm a little scared but what can we do.
We rafted down the Kern River yesterday on swimming pool floaties, to mentally prepare for the river crossings coming up. It was probably the scariest thing I've done so far. The river was very strong and had some very narrow rapids. It was not quite the zero day I was looking for, but I'm sure that rafting trip is going down in PCT history. In a group of 15 we headed down the river. It seemed fine at first but then all hell broke lose when we hit the first crazy rapids. Growing up on the Siletz I knew I could do this, but I didn't know if I WANTED to do it. I stuck with it the whole way down but lost my sunglasses and have a lot of new brusies. I would not recommend rafting the Kern River especially on swimming pool devices. Mine popped in the first rapids and then I had to body surf it most of the way. The good news is I feel very ready for some high Sierras river crossings.
So as of now, I am having a blast. It's menatally and phyically challenging but it truely is my dream coming to frution.
Okay that's all for now I should get back to walking.
After leaving Wrightwood, we headed up Baden Powell. Since I was hurt we were hoping to do an easy day so that I would re-injury myself, but that was a no go. Baden-Powell was a heavy hitter. The snow covered the trail to the point that we had to climb up the side of the mountain to reach the summit. I had just sent my Yak tracks home so I didn't have any extra traction. Funny how things work out that way. James and I had heard horror stories of Fuller Ridge and other passes which turned out to be quite easy so since we hadn't heard anything about Baden Powell we weren't to worried so I sent my traction home. Well, the joke was on us. We made it, but were extremely tired by the end of it. That day we only did 12 miles, but the good news was I didn't have any muscle pain so the next day we started back into making big miles.
The next town was Agua Dulce were we stayed at the Saufly's (a trail angels house). This is were we meet up with Cerveza and Spoon man. We really hit it off with this two hikers. We also meet Tickit there, another awesome hiker who can sign and play music like a badass. Tickets blog is www.powertohike.ca. We didn't stay long at the Saufly's because we knew that the next stop might suck us in for a while and we were right.
That stop was the Anderson, a vortex on the trail. It's only 24 miles away from the Saufly's but a hippie daycare spot that can suck you in for days. The moment we stopped in the town we were orginally planning on just stopping at the gas station and maybe just stopping into say "hi." But like many hikers before us we were sucked in. The Anderson's live in a town called Green Valley, the place were the show Justified is filmed. After I freaked out about that for an hour, Terri Anderson took me on a tour around the town showing me places they filmed! It was awesome! That night there was an epic jam session. Drinks were being passed and joyous laughter was heard blocks away. The next morning we packed up our things and headed to the front of the house to catch a ride to the trail head. Joe Anderson loaded us up into his car and we headed back but were stopped by Terri Anderson in a van who told us we had forgotten to get our picture taken and sign the registery. Joe told us that she was right and we couldn't leave so he then turned around to go back. Cerveza and Spoon Man were still there and they had decided to take another zero day so we just said screw it and stayed. Why fight it? Like everyone told us The Anderson's is like trail speedbum, you can pack up each day but that doesn't mean your leaving.
The full story of the Anderson I'm going to keep to myself, but if anyone wants to know the details just ask.
When we finally got out of there we headed into the desert, the real desert, The Mojave Desert. James had been talking about night hiking the desert to a bunch of hikers and so when we showed up to Hikertown (the last stop before the Mojave) 8-mile (another hiker buddy of ours) was waiting for us. We planned to hike the Mojave at night with glow sticks, red bulls and alocholic drinks. We conviced Ticket, SpoonMan, Cerveza, and Cuppa Joe to head out with us. We hiked and hiked that night on a flat road. That day we made it 28 miles and when we woke up the Mojave was pretty much done.
After that we got a taste of night hiking and we were hooked. 8-mile and us have continually hiked at night and have missed much of the heat. It's been very enjoyable.
When we made it to Mojave the Town, mile 552, we decided we didn't need to rest so we tried to hitch in and out. But that was little harder then we thought it would be. We made it in okay, but hitching out was a little hard. No one wanted to pick us up and the sun was setting. I didn't care what kind of car passed so when a cop pulled over I thought maybe we were going to be in trouble, but instead Officer Dotts wanted to give us a ride instead. My first time in the back of a police car!
I should also note that by the time we reached Mojave, niether of us care much about weight anymore. I carried a cantolope and oranges and James carried out other heavy treats. The next town, Onyx mile 650, we carried out vegtables that I fried up two days out on the trail in butter and chili powder and made fajitas. We just don't care anymore.
So I think we're all up todate now. Yesterday we reached Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the High Sierras mile 702. Now we are trying to mentally prepare. We're going in as a group with Ticket, Cuppa Joe, Cerveza, 8-Mile, and hopefully a few more. We just got our Bear box and in Lone Pine we're getting our ice axe and traction stuff. I'm a little scared but what can we do.
We rafted down the Kern River yesterday on swimming pool floaties, to mentally prepare for the river crossings coming up. It was probably the scariest thing I've done so far. The river was very strong and had some very narrow rapids. It was not quite the zero day I was looking for, but I'm sure that rafting trip is going down in PCT history. In a group of 15 we headed down the river. It seemed fine at first but then all hell broke lose when we hit the first crazy rapids. Growing up on the Siletz I knew I could do this, but I didn't know if I WANTED to do it. I stuck with it the whole way down but lost my sunglasses and have a lot of new brusies. I would not recommend rafting the Kern River especially on swimming pool devices. Mine popped in the first rapids and then I had to body surf it most of the way. The good news is I feel very ready for some high Sierras river crossings.
So as of now, I am having a blast. It's menatally and phyically challenging but it truely is my dream coming to frution.
Okay that's all for now I should get back to walking.
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