now that thai food sitting on the table isn't teasing me, i can think a little more clearly. we are still in tahoe area, trying to figure out how we are getting around this fire up ahead. there's 100 miles of trail closed, and i'd really like to walk around somehow, but a 100 mile highway walk sounds grueling. where's our road bikes?! it may be a hitching situation. plus, the air quality around here is already pretty bad, and walking through days of thick smoke sounds also grueling. if we do hitch, i guess we'll get back on schedule! probably would get off trail north of sierra city around quincy, and then back on around chester. tough year for fires.
despite some hazy muggy days this last section, desolation wilderness is beautiful. aloha lake. go there. maybe a little later than this time of year because of the mosquitos. i'm convinced that you all would smell the deet on my from a mile away at this point. it just works so well, and nothing else does. there were so many lakes to jump in on friday, and we just picked a few or else we would have never gotten anywhere. but lake aloha is certainly the best. lots of granite, warm water, not mucky, and no mosquitos in this mosquito nursery land.
the fires have made the sunrises and sunsets surreal, red sun and days that feel cloudy because the sun can't shine all the way through. and i think it contributes to the mugginess.
as pteradactyl said, hiking with her dad was awesome. not only could he keep up, he hiked much faster than me, and ran up an extra peak to look around. peak bagger. that same day, we also ran into a few hikers, one of whom had hiked much of the pct last year and had brought treats for thru hikers. the friend that was with him, for those of you who have known me for a long tim, was chris loeffler who i went to middle school with! weird coincidences. he didn't know i was on the trail, but lives in san francisco and was out hiking for a few nights.
well, at this point we've hiked over 1000 miles, come almost half way, and i think northern california is where my motivation wanes a bit. especially with the fires. i know there's so much more to see, but we haven't been hiking with folks we know (i think all our friends are behind us), and it's just not, as alex said, the same as the high sierras. but we're hoping to possibly see my brother tomorrow (the logistics are difficult, but it would be a great bday present!), and keep sending us your love. comments here are nice, and emails, and phone calls, and, well, care packages! i haven't been writing as much to send to anyone to transcribe, but i will certainly keep trying. those long days just make me want to sleep at the end, or read a good book. which, of course, i don't carry. so i just settle for the oddly entertaining guidebook, trying to sound objective but often sounding full of opinions quipped in the oddest ways.
Sunday, July 13
Saturday, July 12
naps!
i took a nap today. i think it's my first nap on the trail (or rather, off the trail at our amazing friend's house who hiked a month and a half on the pct and invited us here). 6 toes naps all the time, which i am so envious of. i also hiked seven miles, got a ride from bill the sheriff who's wife hiked the pct two years ago, ate a burger, drank a bear, ate two fajitas and cornbread with honey butter, took a shower, washed clothes, and took a nap. and now...amazingly, i'll get to eat thai food!!! alex and rosie are driving up right now. i can't wait. i've been craving thai food, and indian food (which i kinda got to eat in a not-lightweight foil pocket), mostly i think because they have different kinds of fat than good old american diner food. anyone want to meet us with take-out from an amazing restaurant? ok, i will have to write more later because this food awaits. and thru hikers don't wait for food to get cold.
Barker Pass and Tahoe City
We came out today at Barker Pass, a trailhead not far from Tahoe City at mile 1,126.7. A couple hundred more miles and we'll be halfway done with this trail. Actually, with the millions of fires blazing along our path, we might already be done with half the trail we'll be allowed to walk this year. If you haven't been following the news (which I certainly am not following) you might not know that One Hundred of the PCT are closed. Let me repeat. One Hundred miles. Shit. Our options include making up some alternate road walk or hitching around the dang closure. Either way sounds awful to me. Twenty miles of dirt road walking utterly ruined my feet - I don't know what One Hundred miles would do. They'd probably just fall off in protest.
Anyhow, the trail since the High Sierra has been a little anti-climatic. I'm sorry to actually admit that, but the High Sierra were stunning and the rest is reduced to simply beautiful. But my dad came and hiked with us for four days out of Tuolumne Meadows, and it was wonderful to have him along! I actually was hoping he would have posted his account of the journey by now . . .
I'm a bit tired of writing, and luxury of all luxuries, I'll be able to finish this up later tonight! If, that is, I'm not too busy hot-tubbing or watching a movie . . .
Wednesday, July 2
tuolumne meadows
can you believe it, we've had visitors!! i thought the day would never come. i guess marta didn't quite mention...that she didn't get that last chunk of writing in the mail, she got it in person! i saw that she wanted to visit us in independence, and marta and johann and the baby showed up at 3am (typical), and we hung out at the campground. six toes (alex) and i had to hike out the next day, but it was so worth it for us, as short as it was. and marta even brought my favorite dessert. yummy five day old danish potatoes from nielson's. haven't figured out what our first visitors get, but they're extra special.
and... they beat my family out here. came into red's meadow and met my parents riding up on their bikes! there were a few other family members of other hikers there, but none on their bikes. we met them briefly that afternoon, and again here in tuolumne meadows, where we've been treated to a much neaded break away from the trail for two nights. each in our own huge queen sized bed. they're soooo comfortable. and living food. and good company.
and...there's more. six toes pteradactyl's (still alex) dad is meeting us tonight to hike with us for 4 days starting tomorrow. you all really can't space yourselves out a little more? we expect this many visitors as we get closer to home...
and... we got not one, but two care packages here! lisa and kelsy are amazing. really. sounds like other people are wanting to send stuff, but don't really know where to send it to, so i'll try to update that list. and on that note, i've heard we may not have internet for a few weeks, so don't rely on the blog to leave us messages, best to use the phone.
if anyone's interested, i think i'll have to come back and hike the john muir trail in a few years. like we've been saying, the mountains are amazing.
and... they beat my family out here. came into red's meadow and met my parents riding up on their bikes! there were a few other family members of other hikers there, but none on their bikes. we met them briefly that afternoon, and again here in tuolumne meadows, where we've been treated to a much neaded break away from the trail for two nights. each in our own huge queen sized bed. they're soooo comfortable. and living food. and good company.
and...there's more. six toes pteradactyl's (still alex) dad is meeting us tonight to hike with us for 4 days starting tomorrow. you all really can't space yourselves out a little more? we expect this many visitors as we get closer to home...
and... we got not one, but two care packages here! lisa and kelsy are amazing. really. sounds like other people are wanting to send stuff, but don't really know where to send it to, so i'll try to update that list. and on that note, i've heard we may not have internet for a few weeks, so don't rely on the blog to leave us messages, best to use the phone.
if anyone's interested, i think i'll have to come back and hike the john muir trail in a few years. like we've been saying, the mountains are amazing.
Thursday, June 26
Catching the Coat-Tails of Spiff & Polydactyl
Johann, baby Gustav, and I were in California for a wedding, and managed to cross paths with the dynamic duo on their pit-stop in Independence, CA before they hiked out of Kings Canyon and back into the mountains. It was our luck that they had packages to pick up and had to hang around for the weekend until the post office opened on Monday morning.
We shared a campsite with Sye, who slept in a sleeping bag out in the warm night. Alex slept in a hammock at the hiker-friendly Courthouse Motel a half-mile down the road. She joined up with us in the morning for a breakfast of apricots, cantaloupe, cherries, pastrami, cheese, yogurt, and fresh juice. (There were also some Danish potato pastries, but a week of inadequate refrigeration left the custard filling a little fizzy and alcoholic. Perhaps the proper word is "rancid"? But the marzipan was still good, and anyway hikers aren't terribly discriminating.)
While the PCT isn't quite cut off from civilization, (hikers do have periodic access to pay phones, internet, Tecate, or a showing of The Incredible Hulk), it seems that exciting foodstuffs are still a little hard to come by. Actually, anything unavailable at a gas station mini-mart is less than common. Which is just one little reason these two get so happy from your thoughtful and creative care packages.
After a nice hot morning, watching the two as they went about their refueling routine, reading mail, opening packages (Alex tested potential new
shoes and Sye donned a screen-printed mythical walrus shirt), and mailing supplies two weeks down the road), we drove them out of the town, up into the mountains, towards the trailhead. Those are two serious super-troopers. They scuttled up that mountainside as if it were flat as a flapjack.
We walked away with some trail mail, fantasies of following them on their journey, and a few gig of photos. We uploaded the photos to a photo-sharing website, www.flickr.com/photos/gaytrees, so all can enjoy them. And for the meanwhile, we'll continue to fantasize and follow them through the photos and their posts here on Blogger.
Journey on!
We shared a campsite with Sye, who slept in a sleeping bag out in the warm night. Alex slept in a hammock at the hiker-friendly Courthouse Motel a half-mile down the road. She joined up with us in the morning for a breakfast of apricots, cantaloupe, cherries, pastrami, cheese, yogurt, and fresh juice. (There were also some Danish potato pastries, but a week of inadequate refrigeration left the custard filling a little fizzy and alcoholic. Perhaps the proper word is "rancid"? But the marzipan was still good, and anyway hikers aren't terribly discriminating.)
While the PCT isn't quite cut off from civilization, (hikers do have periodic access to pay phones, internet, Tecate, or a showing of The Incredible Hulk), it seems that exciting foodstuffs are still a little hard to come by. Actually, anything unavailable at a gas station mini-mart is less than common. Which is just one little reason these two get so happy from your thoughtful and creative care packages.After a nice hot morning, watching the two as they went about their refueling routine, reading mail, opening packages (Alex tested potential new
shoes and Sye donned a screen-printed mythical walrus shirt), and mailing supplies two weeks down the road), we drove them out of the town, up into the mountains, towards the trailhead. Those are two serious super-troopers. They scuttled up that mountainside as if it were flat as a flapjack. We walked away with some trail mail, fantasies of following them on their journey, and a few gig of photos. We uploaded the photos to a photo-sharing website, www.flickr.com/photos/gaytrees, so all can enjoy them. And for the meanwhile, we'll continue to fantasize and follow them through the photos and their posts here on Blogger.
Journey on!
More Trail Mail
Alex writes:
June 16, 2008
Mile 734.3
On top of a saddle at 10,400 feet
We're in the mountains!!! Have I mentioned I LOVE the mountains? I mean love. Head over heels, drooling and bumping into things love. There are big pine trees, pinyon and ponderosa and some I don't know, and big sequoias, and there are giant slabs of granite all around, on the sides of hills and under our feet and off to the side of the trail. There are meadows that are green, bright brilliant zingy green, and there's hellebore! Hellebore is the most poisonous plant that grows natively in Washington State, and Sye and I first really noticed it when we started using its leaves to wipe our asses years and years ago. Know why there's hellebore here? Because there's water EVERYWHERE!!!! I ran out of water today during a supposedly 4 mile dry stretch, according to the Data Book, but lo and behold, I came across a trickle of a creek right away, and then another one soon after. I LOVE water! Even the sound of it makes me smile.
The first real river we hit was the South Fork of the Kern River about 3 to 4 miles before Kennedy Meadows, the entry way to the High Sierras. Coming upon that river was incredible, perhaps one of my favorite moments on the trip thus far. We'd been hiking through a recently burned area and the trail was totally exposed. It was dry and hot and suddenly I could hear it, that wonderful gurgling and blupping, and I immediately wanted a drink and wanted to pee and wanted to immerse my whole self in that river, and I also just felt better. I could hear the water off and on for about 30 minutes before I could actually see the river, and when I finally did get to it, I had the most glorious swim. I found a spot with a swift current on one side and an eddy and pool sort of in the middle, and I could ride the current into the pool. It was like a slip 'n slide or water park ride all for me! Then when I got to Kennedy Meadows, I drank orange soda and then a Vitamin Water, ate pretzels and crackers and a half pint of Chunky Monkey. That was a good day. That was also the end of our desert stretch. Did I mention that I like mountains? And water. And Chunky Monkey.
Sye writes:
6/17/08
We're camped here at 750 miles, at the edge of Chicken Spring Lake (wonder how it got its name) and we're now, undoubtedly, out of the desert. I guess I'm a little shocked it's all behind us, and that now we're camped at 11,250 feet, fighting mosquitoes off with head nets and a breeze, and will be at the meadow below Mt. Whitney tomorrow. There's still a lot to say about the desert, about how there were no mosquitoes, and we really only had to set up the tarp once for rain, how hiking in the mornings and evenings was amazing, how we saw all different kinds of cactus flowers, and wildflowers, and lizards, and ants. So many busy ants, sometimes next to my head while sleeping. And there was the wind. But the desert seems to bring out the trail angels -- places to stay in extreme weather, caches of water & beer & soda, people in small towns who just want to chat. I have a feeling we'll see less of that friendliness from strangers, but what I really want to tell you about is where we are now. On a lake that looks much like the Enchantments in WA, in sub-alpine meadows and peaks of rock and golden crags. We're hiking slower, maybe because everyone said we would or because of the altitude, or because we don't need to get to Independence for a few days extra because the post office is closed on Saturday and Sunday. So our days are slower, with a lot more gandering at the scenery. And while I worry that we're getting to many days behind schedule, I should really just enjoy these mountains while we got them.
All the folks we spent a lot of time hiking with through the desert are in front or behind us, and I miss their company. Everyone's new again and already has their adventures in common and I suppose we feel a bit like outsiders. But everyone says, you always see people again on this trail, even if it's a few hundred miles later.
Alex writes:
June 17, 2008
Chicken Spring Lake
Mile 750.7
Today was our estimated summit date for Mt. Whitney. I guess we're 2 days behind schedule. Not bad. We've spent the last couple days wandering, or so it feels. We're only doing ≈ 16 mile days through the High Sierra, mostly because Yogi kept suggesting it, but I'm sure glad we're not pushing for 20+ miles per day like we were through Southern California. First off, it's way too beautiful to rush through. Second, I just feel so lazy -- and I'm not the only one. I want to stop all the time and rest or look at the views or take a nap. I'm thinking maybe it's the altitude. We've consistently been above 10,000 feet for the last couple days -- maybe we're just adjusting.
We got to the first alpine lake today, Chicken Spring Lake. Beautiful lake in the middle of a rocky circle with a nice meadow on the outlet side. Spiff and I promptly jumped into it upon arriving. That is, after all, the only thing to do when encountering a lake. It was 7 PM and we made it in before the sun went behind the ridge, but it was all in shade when we got out. We're sleeping above the lake tonight and we can hear the frogs chorusing down below.
Another thing I like about the Sierras: the snags are golden. Not weathered white, but weathered golden. Their wood's all twisted and spiraled too. I think they used to be fox-tail pines, but I'm not certain.
June 19, 2008
Upper Crabtree Meadow, Ranger Station
Mile 767.3
We climbed Mt. Whitney today.
I passed lots and lots of day hikers on the way up, and felt like a rockstar. I wasn't even trying. Perhaps my body is changing a bit.
Jumped into a little unnamed lake above Guitar Lake on the way down. I'm happy to be lake jumping again.
Sierras look like waves from above. Beautiful.
I'm tired and I'm going to sleep. We climb Forester Pass tomorrow.
June 20, 2008
Climbed Forester Pass today. Lost the trail multiple times because of snow. Had to route find, which is always fun and a lot of work. We dropped down into a valley full of water. We're probably at 8,500 feet. Crazy after nearly a week above 10,000 feet.
Kinds of Pine Trees we've seen:
Coulter Pine
Jeffery Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Sugar Pine
Western White Pine
Pinyon Pine
Foxtail Pine
Lodgepole Pine
Songs I've been singing in my head throughout the trip:
"I want you / I want you so bad it's driving me mad it's driving me mad"
--The Beatles
"Ain't no one in the whole world knows my name"
--Gillian Welch
"I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more / just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles and fell down at your door."
-- ?
"This is what it sounds like when doves cry"
--Prince (but the live Ani cover, sorry Lucy)
Sye writes:
6/22/08
Took a day in Independence and went to a movie theater with a bunch of hikers! What a luxury to sit back and be over-stimulated and entertained by an overdone action film. We're a few days behind schedule, but don't want to rush out of the beautiful mountains yet. Should be leaving Tuolumne Meadows a few days behind schedule. We can't wait for our visitors!! -Spiff
June 16, 2008
Mile 734.3
On top of a saddle at 10,400 feet
We're in the mountains!!! Have I mentioned I LOVE the mountains? I mean love. Head over heels, drooling and bumping into things love. There are big pine trees, pinyon and ponderosa and some I don't know, and big sequoias, and there are giant slabs of granite all around, on the sides of hills and under our feet and off to the side of the trail. There are meadows that are green, bright brilliant zingy green, and there's hellebore! Hellebore is the most poisonous plant that grows natively in Washington State, and Sye and I first really noticed it when we started using its leaves to wipe our asses years and years ago. Know why there's hellebore here? Because there's water EVERYWHERE!!!! I ran out of water today during a supposedly 4 mile dry stretch, according to the Data Book, but lo and behold, I came across a trickle of a creek right away, and then another one soon after. I LOVE water! Even the sound of it makes me smile.
The first real river we hit was the South Fork of the Kern River about 3 to 4 miles before Kennedy Meadows, the entry way to the High Sierras. Coming upon that river was incredible, perhaps one of my favorite moments on the trip thus far. We'd been hiking through a recently burned area and the trail was totally exposed. It was dry and hot and suddenly I could hear it, that wonderful gurgling and blupping, and I immediately wanted a drink and wanted to pee and wanted to immerse my whole self in that river, and I also just felt better. I could hear the water off and on for about 30 minutes before I could actually see the river, and when I finally did get to it, I had the most glorious swim. I found a spot with a swift current on one side and an eddy and pool sort of in the middle, and I could ride the current into the pool. It was like a slip 'n slide or water park ride all for me! Then when I got to Kennedy Meadows, I drank orange soda and then a Vitamin Water, ate pretzels and crackers and a half pint of Chunky Monkey. That was a good day. That was also the end of our desert stretch. Did I mention that I like mountains? And water. And Chunky Monkey.
Sye writes:
6/17/08
We're camped here at 750 miles, at the edge of Chicken Spring Lake (wonder how it got its name) and we're now, undoubtedly, out of the desert. I guess I'm a little shocked it's all behind us, and that now we're camped at 11,250 feet, fighting mosquitoes off with head nets and a breeze, and will be at the meadow below Mt. Whitney tomorrow. There's still a lot to say about the desert, about how there were no mosquitoes, and we really only had to set up the tarp once for rain, how hiking in the mornings and evenings was amazing, how we saw all different kinds of cactus flowers, and wildflowers, and lizards, and ants. So many busy ants, sometimes next to my head while sleeping. And there was the wind. But the desert seems to bring out the trail angels -- places to stay in extreme weather, caches of water & beer & soda, people in small towns who just want to chat. I have a feeling we'll see less of that friendliness from strangers, but what I really want to tell you about is where we are now. On a lake that looks much like the Enchantments in WA, in sub-alpine meadows and peaks of rock and golden crags. We're hiking slower, maybe because everyone said we would or because of the altitude, or because we don't need to get to Independence for a few days extra because the post office is closed on Saturday and Sunday. So our days are slower, with a lot more gandering at the scenery. And while I worry that we're getting to many days behind schedule, I should really just enjoy these mountains while we got them.
All the folks we spent a lot of time hiking with through the desert are in front or behind us, and I miss their company. Everyone's new again and already has their adventures in common and I suppose we feel a bit like outsiders. But everyone says, you always see people again on this trail, even if it's a few hundred miles later.
Alex writes:
June 17, 2008
Chicken Spring Lake
Mile 750.7
Today was our estimated summit date for Mt. Whitney. I guess we're 2 days behind schedule. Not bad. We've spent the last couple days wandering, or so it feels. We're only doing ≈ 16 mile days through the High Sierra, mostly because Yogi kept suggesting it, but I'm sure glad we're not pushing for 20+ miles per day like we were through Southern California. First off, it's way too beautiful to rush through. Second, I just feel so lazy -- and I'm not the only one. I want to stop all the time and rest or look at the views or take a nap. I'm thinking maybe it's the altitude. We've consistently been above 10,000 feet for the last couple days -- maybe we're just adjusting.
We got to the first alpine lake today, Chicken Spring Lake. Beautiful lake in the middle of a rocky circle with a nice meadow on the outlet side. Spiff and I promptly jumped into it upon arriving. That is, after all, the only thing to do when encountering a lake. It was 7 PM and we made it in before the sun went behind the ridge, but it was all in shade when we got out. We're sleeping above the lake tonight and we can hear the frogs chorusing down below.
Another thing I like about the Sierras: the snags are golden. Not weathered white, but weathered golden. Their wood's all twisted and spiraled too. I think they used to be fox-tail pines, but I'm not certain.
June 19, 2008
Upper Crabtree Meadow, Ranger Station
Mile 767.3
We climbed Mt. Whitney today.
I passed lots and lots of day hikers on the way up, and felt like a rockstar. I wasn't even trying. Perhaps my body is changing a bit.
Jumped into a little unnamed lake above Guitar Lake on the way down. I'm happy to be lake jumping again.
Sierras look like waves from above. Beautiful.
I'm tired and I'm going to sleep. We climb Forester Pass tomorrow.
June 20, 2008
Climbed Forester Pass today. Lost the trail multiple times because of snow. Had to route find, which is always fun and a lot of work. We dropped down into a valley full of water. We're probably at 8,500 feet. Crazy after nearly a week above 10,000 feet.
Kinds of Pine Trees we've seen:
Coulter Pine
Jeffery Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Sugar Pine
Western White Pine
Pinyon Pine
Foxtail Pine
Lodgepole Pine
Songs I've been singing in my head throughout the trip:
"I want you / I want you so bad it's driving me mad it's driving me mad"
--The Beatles
"Ain't no one in the whole world knows my name"
--Gillian Welch
"I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more / just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles and fell down at your door."
-- ?
"This is what it sounds like when doves cry"
--Prince (but the live Ani cover, sorry Lucy)
Sye writes:
6/22/08
Took a day in Independence and went to a movie theater with a bunch of hikers! What a luxury to sit back and be over-stimulated and entertained by an overdone action film. We're a few days behind schedule, but don't want to rush out of the beautiful mountains yet. Should be leaving Tuolumne Meadows a few days behind schedule. We can't wait for our visitors!! -Spiff
Sunday, June 22
Alex & Sye in Independence
Sye and Alex called from Independence, where they arrived yesterday to resupply and wait for mail delivery. They sounded great - still full of energy! Independence is a small town located east of the PCT route through Kings Canyon National Park. Tomorrow they will hitch a ride and hike back to the PCT and continue north to Tuolumne meadow in Yosemite, hoping to arrive there July 1. The longest days of summer to enjoy the high Sierras - cheers!
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