Today had a wonderful beginning and a very unexpected ending. 

Our daughter came home last night, and it was wondeful to see her!  I told her she had done a great job taking care of everything.  “Mom,” she said,  “the plants all died.  It was so hot, and I wan’t home enough to water them.”  I told her no problem–I can plant more.

She was going on a photo shoot at the historic Petaluma Adobe this morning, as part of a school project, and she invited me to join her, so I ended up carrying all the camera gear (that’s OK, I’ve gotten good at carrying stuff!) and we had a nice ramble and conversation as she took picture after picture. 

Just after we got home, came a totally unexpected phone call from Oregon.  It was our other daughter who is a student at Oregon State in Corvallis.  “Mom,” she said sadly, “Grandpa just died this morning.”  I was shocked.  My dad was 84 years old, and had been doing much better since he moved into an assisted living place in Corvallis, just after we started our PCT hike.  I had been planning to call him today to tell him we were safely back, and tell him about our trip.

So Bill and I were now pulling things out of drawers and closets and throwing them into suitcases (not packs!), not knowing how long we’d be gone.  We left for Oregon as soon as we could, and it was very strange to be driving BACK up the road we’d just driven HOME on, the day before.

But we know we will see my Dad again.  He put his trust in the lord Jesus Christ the summer after I did, after watching the ENORMOUS and wonderful change that had happened first to me, then to my mom.  He was so impressed that he quietly went to see the pastor of the church my mom and I had been going to, and said, “Something amazing has been happening to my daughter and then my wife.  I don’t know what it is–they say that they know Jesus now, and He is changing them.  Whatever it is, I want to get in on it, too.  What can I do?”  Well, the pastor was VERY glad to show him in the Bible “what to do”, and my dad came home “all new in Christ.”  So even though I was very sad about his passing, and I did cry some on the way to Oregon, because I will miss him very much, and I didn’t get to tell him about our trip, or show him our pictures, I know I’ll see him in Heaven, and we’ll have plenty of time then to talk about the PCT and anything else we want to talk about!  I was glad that he could finish his life’s “trail” without pain, just quietly falling asleep and then waking up with the Lord instead of waking up here on earth.  May we all be so blessed when it’s our turn to “cross the river.”

We spent the next week in Oegon, working on all the details of the funeral, and going through acres of stuff at my dad’s house,  till we were finally able to REALLY go home to stay…..till the NEXT time we do the PCT!  We already have a motto, “Do It Again in 2010!”

Bill and I were up very early this morning, eager to go home–we hoped!  We ate our last leftover trail breakfast of granola and powdered milk before heading out into a clear, fresh, nippy fall morning.  At the bus stop, it ws fun to peoplewatch–SOU students on bikes, commuters going to work, etc.  Pretty soon we were on our way to Medford’s transit plaza, transferred to our last bus, then came a short walk to Hertz to see what we could arrange about getting a car TODAY. 

We explained to the Hertz folks that we’d just finished a 5-month hike from Mexico to Canada, and that when Bill made the reservation we were fresh off the trail and got the date wrong.  The Hertz people were super-nice and said it was no problem at all–they had a car we could use, and there would be no extra fee for coming in early.  Whew! They said it would be a little while before the car was ready–and we said, “No problem!” to that, too, because we’d spotted a restaurant next door and were thinking, “REAL breakfast!”  That granola back in Ashland was just a snack!  We had hiker hunger, full-bore!

A scan of the restaurant menu showed a very promising possibility–the “Mega-Breakfast.”  It sounded great.  So we ordered one for each of us.  The waitress hesitated.  “That’s an awful lot of food,” she said.  “Are you sure youcan eat that much?”  We assured her that we could, and it wasn’t long before she was making trip after trip to our table, with many plates.  Basically, the Mega-Breakfast was some of EVERYTHING.  We ate pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, biscuits & gravy, and coffee. Bill finished ALL of his, and I ate all but part of one biscuit.  We were stuffed, but boy it was good!  We figured it was our last time to pig out, since from now on, we’ll not be doing 20-something miles a day over hill and dale!  The waitress was absolutely amazed at us.

We strolled next door to Hertz again, climbed into the car, and at last, we were truly headed HOME.  It was a time of great joy for us both, and again, deep and profound gratefulness to God.  We whizzed along I-5, past the beautiful fall trees, white Mt. Shasta, the snow-dusted peaks of the Siskyous, and down into our own home state of California till we were cruising through the Sacramento Valley with its farms and orchards and towns.  Up and over the final hill and we could see the north end of San Francisco Bay in the distance, then through the salt marshes with all the egrets and herons and ducks, and then we were headed north up the Petaluma River valley for HOME.

It was an amazing feeling to pull up in the driveway of our house.  We just sat there for a moment and again told the Lord, “Thankyou, thankyou for all You have done!”  Our daughter who had been taking care of everything for us was off at school, but she had put up a “welcome home” sign on the front door, and we were were SO GLAD to walk thrugh our own door and know that we’d not have to be searching for water anymore or searching for a campsite, or trying to find the trail.  We were HOME!  We have truly enjoyed our PCT adventure, but are glad to be done. 

Thankyou, Lord!  And thankyou again!

Shortly after I turned off my headlamp last night and snuggled deep into the sleeping bag for our last night on the trail, it began to blow a LOT of wind, and then it began to RAIN.  We figured “This must be it–the big storm has arrived.”  But we were warm and comfortable under our tarp in the hemlock grove, while the rain came down for several hours.   The only problem we had was that Bill and I were both so excited about finishing tomorrow, plus listening to the wind and rain, that neither of us slept much!  I didn’t have to pester Bill to get him to wake up this morning!  He was eager to go, the rain had stopped, and there were some signs of clearing in the sky.  The temperature was a cold 34 degrees.

Down the PCT we went, feet flying.  Only 8 more miles, only 8 more miles!  We stopped for a snack in the PCT picnic area at Mt. Ashland Inn.  A couple of Snickers, some nuts and some water, then off we went again.  The clouds were slowly roling back, but the trouble was, we were walking OUT from under the “clear” sky and INTO the cloud.  All the plants along the trail were soaking wet from the rain, and pretty soon, we were too.  Brrrr!  But before going into the cloud, we got some great valley views with pretty fall foliage.

Then surprise and joy!  We met another PCT thruhiker–a SOBO!  He had just retired in July, and headed straight for Manning Park with a goal of hiking as far south as he could along the PCT before winter closed in.  His name was “Bob With One B”.  The storm that caught us near Etna caught him at Crater Lake, but while we spent 3 days in the warmth and comfort of Alderbrook, he spent 3 days in his bivy sack in the snow!  Man, he was tough and determined!  And the only reason he wan’t a lot farther along the trail was because up in Washington State, he was bitten on the leg by a brown recluse spider and ended up having a hunk cut out of his leg to “fix’ it.  He showed us the long scar running down his calf.  Double yikes!  We wished each other all the best, and happy hiking.  What a special meeting to have on our very last day–and it meant a lot to Bob With One B, too, since he’d not seen any other hikers for a long time.

Bill and I went squishing along in our VERY wet shoes, enjoying the beautiful fall foliage along the trail.  Finally we could SEE Interstate 5 and Callahan’s Lodge/restaurant through the trees down below; a few more minutes, and at long last, we were at the END of our PCT odyssey!  Thanks be to God, and I mean that with all my heart!  We prayed and told Him how grateful we were for all His love, care, protection, and for His amazing creation we’ve been able to enjoy uninterrupted for 5 months! I have to admit to getting all choked up, just in awe and joy for being able to do what we have done.  Two thousand six hundred fifty miles!  Thankyou, Lord! 

Then we took of our packs and tidied up both ourselves AND the packs before beginning the roadwalk back down to Callahan’s.  When we got there, a kind lady happily took a picture of us out in front, and the Callahan’s wonderful staff gave us a warm welcome, a great breakfast, and our free beers!  Then the lodge receptionist arranged for us to have a ride down to Ashland with a couple who were just checking out. Wow!   We asked them to just drop us off by a bus stop; from there we figured we could ride the bus in to Medford, rent a car, and head home.

But we waited and waited by the bus stop–and no bus.  Finally we realized, “Oh, it’s SUNDAY–maybe the bus is not running??”  We asked a SOU student who was passing by, and sure enough, there were no busses today.  Hmmmm.  Now we needed to find a place to stay in Ashland.  The hostel turned out to be “No Vacancy” and another hiker favorite, the historic Columbia Hotel, was a bit pricey.  But a visit to the Chamber of Commerce turned up a motel down by SOU that was very reasonable.  It was on the other end of town, but what’s that to a couple of people who just finished doing 2,650 miles?  Along the way, we stopped at an Internet cafe and got something to eat, while Bill booked a rental car to take us home tomorrow.  Unfortunately, he was muddled on what day it was, and put down the wrong date–October 11 instead of October 10. 

We kept walking all the way down to SOU, found the motel, did laundry (this time, the dryer did NOT melt our clothes!) and got nice and clean and rested a bit before going to a Mexican restaurant down the street that had advertised a Sunday night “Two-fer” dinner special.  Tonight we’re so glad to be clean and rested, but when I found out Bill had gotten the date wrong for the rental car, we were a bit worried about it.  Oh well, the worst that could happen is we end up waiting a day in Medford.  ”Let’s just go there anyway tomorrow and see what we could work out” was our plan.

It was cold (30 degrees) but clear and beautiful this morning.  We were determined to do as many miles as we could! Down below us, everything was foggy–Mt. Shasta, of course, rode serenely above it all.  We particularly enjoyed watching the sunrise as we hiked along, since it’s so dark and dim still when we first start out.  It’s so late in the year now that we don’t get many hours of daylight for hiking! 

It wasn’t long before we reached a trailhead which had been turned into a large hunter camp.  Two big black Lab dogs came barking out to meet us, but they weren’t really serious.  We waved our sticks at them and said, “Hi, puppies!” and they left us alone.  Eventually we reached Donohue Meadows–very lovely!  Actually, this entire part of the PCT was like walking through a sort of forest park with meadows and springs and big trees, and of course, cows.  Most of those ran for it as soon as they saw us, but unfortunately, they’ve tramped up most of the springs–Bill did find one nice one to fill his water bottle.  I still had plenty left from what the hunters gave us.

Then around 10 am, there it was–a “Welcome to Oregon” sign!  Hurray!  We were excited, to put it mildly!  I signed the trail register, and besides notebooks, thee were other “interesting artifacts”–an empty flask of whiskey and another (also empty) of rum.  I guess we were expected to drink a toast to our arrival in Oregon??  We settled for eating a Snickers!  The view at the border was very pretty, and the sign said it was 28 miles to Interstate 5. “Let’s see how big a dent we can put in that!” we said to each other.  Bill was having one of his “good” days, feeling much better, and able to hike right along instead of slowly plodding, even on uphills.  I had to really work to keep up with him!  Double hooray!

Of course the PCT just HAD to go up some more, but it gave us nice views down into valleys below.  We met another hiker coming southbound, carrying a sort of long duffle bag.  Was he a hunter, carrying his gun in a bag instead of over his shoulder?  We asked him, and he said with a quiet smile, “Well, actually I’m out hunting BRYOPHITES.”  That’s when I noticed his cap–it said, “Southern Oregon University Botany Department.”  It turned out he was a professor, and was planning to bring a class out here for a field trip in a few days. The professor said he always goes out ahead of time to find everything so he can take the kids right to it.  “And it makes me look like I’m really smart!” he said with a grin.

Some more hiking finally took us to our first crossing of Hwy. 20, where the PCT then goes on a huge “wander” around a mountain.  The views to the north were stunning, and we did a lot of walking through bear grass, where the flowers were dry, but wow–they were almost as tall as I am!  After crossing Hwy. 20 again, we started getting views to the south, including Mt. Shasta, and also a distinctive rock formation we passed on our PCT trek out of Ashland in June.  “Lookee that!  We can SEE the end of our trip!” cheered Bill.

By 4 pm, we could see Interstate 5, too, and felt like we were really getting close to “closing the circle” of our PCT thruhike!  A sign we came to just before suppertime said that it was 11 miles to I-5, so that meant we’d covered 17 miles since 10:00 this morning.  Not bad!  So we gobbled up our very last trail supper (bagels & jerky & dried fruit), then attacked the trail as fast as we could.  Despite some tough going–lots of overgrowth and mudholes–we managed to get about 3 more miles done in less than an hour.  And it turned out we’d both been praying as we walked, asking the Lord for a really nice campsite for our last night on the PCT, and there it was, just after sundown–level, soft, in a grove of hemlocks.  It was clouding up and a cold wind was blowing, so we rigged the tarp and quickly got ready for bed before it was too dark to see. 

We soon discovered that AGAIN we were right near a dirt road–more hunter trucks went by, but we weren’t worried.  Ashland, here we come!  And thankyou, Lord, for helping us get here!  We are MEGA-grateful. 

Well, it was great to be able to SEE this morning!  We were up on a mountaintop instead of in a dark canyon, so we were able to get up earlier.  Last night, a cloud came over us, then left again, so it was a clear morning when we first got up.  The sunrise was very pretty!  But what really surprised us were the large fog banks moving over some of the ridges.  It looked just like back at home when the ocean fog rolls in like a white tidal wave. 

We started off along the trail, and as soon as we had a good “sunpatch”, BEFORE we had to walk into the fog, we stopped for a quick, cold breakfast.  No mochas today–we needed to save every minute, and every drop of water!  We got to a very confusing trail junction where we weren’t sure which was the PCT, till we finally spotted a PCT emblem on a tree, but facing where only a SOBO would see it.  Grrrr!  Then we met a hunter.  Yikes!  I quickly put my red bandanna back on top of my pack!  Only ten minutes later, we hit ANOTHER junction, and this one was really tough to figure out.  There were no signs or emblems to indicate which direction of the “Y” was the PCT, and both directions looked well-travelled.  One was slightly blocked by a rockslide and headed downhill and northwest.  The other ws blocked by a stone wall with a cute green “garden gate.”  It went northeast. 

We stood around debating what to do, and finally chose the gated trail, since we knew the PCT here did generally go northeast.  But 15 minutes of happily charging down the hill, past a pretty lake, on a trail tread sparkling with mica bits, turned into dismay and frustration.  The trail ended, and there was the hunter’s truck.  Beyond it was a mishmash of dirt roads, and not a sign of the PCT.  We assumed we’d chosen the wong trail, and climbed sadly back up, through the green gate, and onto the other trail.

But 20 minutes of very steep downhill, in an increasingly wrong direction, with ever worse trail tread had me so uneasy that I said to Bill, “This CAN’T be right.  I think we should go back to the hunter’s truck and just roadwalk over to Cook  & Green Pass.  Then we’ll find th PCT again.”  Bill agreed, and slowly climbed all the way back up the hill, with me following him, very worried because I could see that he was rapidly becoming very tired.  Back through the green gate, down to the truck, and we started to walk northeast along one of the roads.  And guess what?  Not far from the truck, around a bend of the rough dirt road, there was that sneaky PCT!!!  We HAD been right to choose the gated trail!  Hooray!  Now we were on track again.

Later on, we met another confusing junction, but I told Bill to just rest while I took a quick trip alone down the “probably wrong” trail to confirm that it was NOT the PCT.  The guy in the store at Seiad Valley must not have had very good information if he thought the PCT was “well marked”.  We wished very fervently that there were more PCT emblems AND that the emblems were placed in such a way that it’s clear which trail is which.  Putting an emblem right in the middle of a “Y” junction is mildly reassuring (At least we know we’re CLOSE to the PCT) but it is no help in deciding which way to go.  I began a little bit of inward fretting over all the delay we were having because of the poorly marked trail, then kicking myself and saying, “Stop it!  You managed to find the trail every time, and if it means a delay, well, just trust God that His timing is right!”

As we continued on, Bill and I talked about water.  We had no idea where the next spring or creek might be.  And just then, along came another backpacker, heading south.  He said there was a spring only a few miles beyond the next pass.  Good!  A nice long, easy downhill to the pass (and great mountain views along the way) and…surprise!  There was a whole crowd of people at the road!  A trail crew!  When I asked for some water, they practically had a shoving match over who would share some of their water with us!  I ended up with a FULL load in my 2-liter Platypus!  Wonderful!  And Bill and I were both awed at God’s care for us once again.

We began the climb up frm the pass, enjoying the fall foliage of the bushes along the trail, then stopped for a great lunch with a view that stretched for miles.  It was very cloudy and chilly–I had to put on my jacket.  Thoughts of “big storm coming” were flitting across my mind, but I pushed them away.  After lunch, the PCT turned into an enormous roller coaster, going up and down along the crest.  We reached the spring the other hiker had told us about, and yuck! It was all tramped by cows and full of gross slimy stuff.  Good thing we’d been able to get water from the trail crew!  But my 2 liters pretty much got used up by lunch plus hiking, and Bill’s water was running low.  We figured all we could do was just keep walking and trust God to provide.

At 3:00, we stopped for a candy bar, and along came 2 hunters with a dog.  Even the dog was wearing an orange vest!  They advised us to go to Reeve’s Spring, almost a mile offtrail up ahead.  Sigh.  Well, at least we knew where to go.  We were just finishing up our candy, when along came 2 more hunters.  We asked them about Reeve’s Spring, and they shook their heads.  “You don’t want to go there.  Somebody shot it up real bad and busted it all to heck, and it’s WAY off your PCT trail.  You come with us to our camp–we’ve got plenty of water.”  And so that’s what we did! Talk about perfect timing!  Now I knew why God let us get muddled and delayed this morning–so we’d be at exactly the right place at the right time to meet the hunters and get water! 

Well, the camp turned out to be really something.  It was just off the PCT.  All the hunters were there, and gladly gave us all the water we needed, plus a beer, which we drank with them and exchanged stories of our hiking and their hunting.  It was a very wonderful time, and for us a time of EXTREME gratefulness to God for HIs care and provision.  When we finally had to leave, the hunters told us, “Just walk straight up that little ridge there, and you’ll hit the PCT.”  So we did, and kept on walking till sundown (6:30 pm!  We don’t get much daylight anymore!) where we found a nice quiet (we thought!!) campsite deep in the woods.  We’d just finished setting up the tarp, when only a little ways away, a hunter truck went by!  We had no idea that a road was so close. 

But we figured we were safe under our white tarp, and watched the clouds rolling in and blotting out the stars. It was very cold, and we were all bundled up with lots of layers inside our sleeping bags.  We were not sure where we were, without a proper map, but hopefully we were at least halfway to Ashland!  What an incredible day it’s been!  God is awesome!

Last night by Grider Creek was the DARKEST night we’ve had on the whole PCT!  When I turned off my headlamp after writing journal notes, it was pitch black.  And I do mean it–I literally could not see my hand right in front of my face!  I tried to figure out WHY, and came to the conclusion that it was a combination of being deep in a forested canyon, with thick clouds overhead and no moon.

This morning it was so dark that we had to wait till almost 6:30 to get up.  We hurried across the bridge in the still-dim light and set out along Grider Creek, aiming for the campground 3 miles away, where we planned to eat breakfast.  The creek was really pretty, with lots of rocks and cascades and of course trees–many showing some fall color.  We enjoyed sitting at a TABLE for breakfast, and then it was time for several miles of roadwalking into Seiad Valley.  We really enjoyed that walk!  It was a cool, clear autumn morning, with great scenery, and we only had a few “dog problems”, easily solved by brandishing our trek sticks until the dogs got the message.  We reached the rushing Klamath River and enjoyed even the long walk around to the bridge.  Some PCTers complain about this “annoying detour” and even brave crossing the river to avoid it, but we found the walk very pretty and relaxing. 

Finally we got to the bridge and there we saw a sign warning drivers on the highway to look out for HORSES on the bridge.  Our reaction was, “Horses?  Hey, what about us HIKERS?”  The town of Seiad Valley turned out to be small but very pretty.  Each house has a large yard and many had gardens.  Of course we headed straight for the  “Pancake Challenge” cafe!  We didn’t even dare try to beat the challenge of eating five  1-lb pancakes within 2 hours, and when I ordered the “short stack” of two pancakes, the owner/cook shook his head and said, “You’d better make that ONE pancake.”  So I agreed, thinking, “I can always order another one,” and began happily sippng an awesome blackberry milkshake while reading the pCT hiker register, plus adding an entry for us. 

Well, the “one” pancake arrived.  It filled the plate, and was 1 inch thick!  I managed to eat 3/4 of it, along with 4 sausages.  Wow!!!  Bill couldn’t finish his, either.  Then we got our box from the State of Jefferson post office, and I started a little bit of laundry (just enough to get us to Ashland) at the very PCT hiker-friendly RV park next door.  Bill and I discussed how much food to take on this last leg of our journey.  Normally, at our 22 miles a day basic pace, it would be 2 1/2 days, but Bill is having such a hard time with even easy uphills that we decided to make it “3 plus” days.  I inventoried and sorted food and wrote a shopping list, while Bill lay down to rest in the shade, knowing we have a killer 4,000 foot climb out of here.  I was a bit concerned, because there were no maps of the PCT from here to Ashland in our resupply box.  With all the muddle when we “flipped” up to Oregon from Tehachapi, somehow they must have been misplaced.  I hoped maybe the store would have some sort of map I could buy or copy.

Before I went to the store, I put our bit of laundry (socks and shirts) in the dryer, and went off to do my shopping and to check the store hiker box.  But alas!  There was no hiker box–the store guy said he thought all the PCT hikers were done for the year, and he had thrown everything away.  “Do you have any trail map I could buy?”  I asked.  Nope, he didn’t.  I asked him about the PCT up north and he assured me that the trail was well marked and easy to follow. And when he heard that Bill and I were headed for Ashland, he said, “Well, you’d better hurry!  There’s another big storm due in on Saturday.”  Yikes!  That was the day after tomorrow!  Very sober, I finished shopping, loaded our food bags, then went to get the laundry.

Another lady who had been in the laundromat washing her clothes saw me when I came in, and said, “Uh, something’s gone wrong with the dryer.  It sort of wrecked your clothes.”  To my horror, even though I’d set the dryer for medium LOW, it had MELTED all but one sock, and melted holes all over Bill’s shirt.  My shirt ws intact, but had shrunk quite a bit, and my fleece gloves were semi-melted but still usable.  The melted socks had literally turned into blobs of plastic stuff stuck to the dryer.  We went and got the RV park owner, and he went to work on trying to pry the “blobs” off the dryer drum.  This meant that I was down to only the socks I was wearing, plus the ones I wear at night, with maybe 3 days of hiking yet to go.  I asked the helpful lady if I could buy a pair of her socks, and she insisted on GIVING me a pair.  That was a help, but it meant that from now to the finish I’ll be walking with no liner socks.  I hoped I wouldn’t get a bunch of blisters!  Bill surveyed his now “motheaten” shirt and decided to just wear it, holes and all.  I put on my shrunken shirt, and it was also still wearable, but the sleeves only came partway down my arm and didn’t reach my wrists anymore.  All I could think was, “Whew!   I’m sure glad this waited to happen till we were almost done with the trail, and not hundreds of miles ago!”

It was now well into the afternoon, and it was a warm one–temperatures in the 80’s–when Bill and I hoisted our packs to begin the LAST leg of our PCT journey.  We felt excited (”We’re almost done!”) but concerned (”What about that big storm that’s coming in?”).  It was a pleasant roadwalk down the highway to where PCT trail resumes.  We said to each other, “Well, here goes–the BIIIIIIG slog!  And of course, we can’t break our tradition of always doing big slogs in the afternoon, when the weather is the hottest!”   I told Bill to go in front, since uphills are so hard on him, and to my delight, he just began chugging right up the hill.  I guess the good rest at the RV park and the good food at the cafe must have really helped!  (Or maybe it was still the “good day/bad day” pattern?)

Our goal was to at least get to the top of the first big climb, and we did it–past Lower Devil’s Peak and on over the Upper Peak.  The only map we had was the “section summary” map that gave us the general picture of where the trail went, along with major landmarks.  It looked pretty straightforward, but our one big worry was WATER. Without the guidebook, data book, and detailed maps, we had no idea where to find water along the trail.  We would literally have to trust God to supply that need.  Finding a campsite in the area of Upper Devil’s Peak turned out to be tough.  I finally ended up using my little orange trowel to level off a spot of ground for us.  And Bill was feeling OK!  He was able to hike steadily on up to here, and he was not feeling totally wasted.  So I went to bed thinking, “If we can just beat that storm, we are doing great!  Thankyou, Lord!”

I think that this was one of our coldest mornings yet on the PCT!  My gaiters and shoelaces were frozen stiff, which meant that putting on shoes was a challenge!  The drinking tube for my Platypus was also frozen.  We had to wait till 6:15 to get up, because it was so dark, but it turned out to be a sunny morning with only a few clouds.  It was so cold that we started hiking well-bundled up, and didn’t stop for breakfast till we were a goodly ways down in the Marble Valley and had plenty of sun.

I thought that the Marble Mountains were really interesting.  In relation to the trail, they were up above us, and they are not solid marble, but layered.   The PCT contours right below many impressive peaks.  It would have been prime “peak bagging” time if we weren’t trying so hard to push on for the finishline of our hike.  I also enjoyed looking at the marble rock formations right by the trail that have developed caves, deep pits, and even “sculptured effects.”  There is a lot of variety!  After breakfast in a “sun patch”, we passed a cute little shingled ranger cabin.  We were still slogging, crunching and creaking through the snow that covered the trail.  I was hoping that Bill would feel better, but not this morning–he had a very hard time with any uphill trail, even the gentlest of uphills.  He could not move any faster than a very slow plod.  On downhills–that’s another story!  Then he went on a tear, and I could not keep up with him!

As we continued hiking, the snow on the trail slowly grew less, though the mountainsides still had plenty.  I must say that one nice thing about snow on the tail is that it covers up and cushions what would otherwise be a very rough, rocky tread.  On the downside, however, when it MELTS (which it was busy doing today) it turns the trail into a long, skinny mud puddle.  The snow also knocked over all the plants along the trail, so there was often snow mixed with “mushed’ plants to tangle up our feet.  The PCT slowly climbed up to the crest, where we found some amazing gnarly trees.  We are always very impressed with trees like this–talk about determined and persistent!  Well, we were determined and persistent, too, because we were really looking forward to getting out of the snow.  And at last, we made it!

The trail became FLAT (which made Bill cheer–now he could hike faster!) and began to travel through wide, DRY meadows where we could see the Siskiyou Mountains and the Klamath River canyon up ahead.  And then we were finally going DOWN (now Bill could “fly”!) into green forest with no snow, just pretty dogwoods decked out in fall colors.  At one point the PCT came down to a road and we weren’t sure which way to go till we saw a big arrow somebody had made with rocks. 

Our goal for today had been the 3rd footbridge across Grider Creek, and I was afraid we’d never make it, because Bill had such a slow and terrible time with the uphills today.  But the long, long downhill to Grider Creek saved us, because Bill could almost run, and I walked as fast as I could, trying to keep up.  He is much braver than I am about downhills!  So we made it to the third footbridge after all.  Finding a flat place to set up the tarp was tough–we finally squeezed in among some bushes near the bridge.  The sky was full of clouds blowing in, which we hoped would prove harmless. 

Tonight Grider Creek is serenading us with its deep rushing, roaring sound, and we thanked God for helping us make it this far, not only on the PCT, but with each other.  We have been married 37 years today, and we are very grateful to the Lord for bringing us together and helping us two very ordinary, selfish people learn to love and forgive and care for each other for so long.  Back in Washington State, a couple we met who were dayhiking the PCT asked us when we’d started our hike.  When we told them “May 11″, their immediate reaction was, “I can’t believe you’re still married!”  Well, by God’s grace, we are, and GLAD of it.  So even though we are tired and very sore and “hiker hunger” is back again full force, we can rejoice not only in the challenge of the PCT, but in being together for so long. 

The first thing I did today was go to the window and look out at the sky.  Oh no!  Still gray and cloudy!  There was even some ground fog in the Etna valley.  Stepping outside confirmed that it was VERY cold.  But we checked the latest weather reports for today, and every one of them said, “Sun!”.  So we decided to be brave and head for the PCT. 

Vicki Harrison insisted on feeding us one last huge and awesome breakfast, then we tossed our packs in the back of Dave’s pickup, said goodbye to lovely Alderbrook house, and we were off!  I have to admit, though…I was scared.  There looked like a lot of snow on the mountains, and the snow level was down awfully low. Would we be able to follow the trail, or would we get lost?  Well, the snow was beautiful along the road.  We felt as if we were driving through a Christmas card.  Dave was wishing out loud that he’d thought to bring his camera!

At the PCT trailhead on Etna Summit, we shouldered our packs, while Dave wished us all the best, and kindly took a picture of us “ready to roll” in the snow.  I took a deep breath and said, “OK, Lord, here we go!  Please help us find the trail!” and we were off.  At first the snow on the trail was pretty shallow, but the farther we went, the deeper it got (fortunately never more than 10-12 inches, so only twice were we a bit uncertain about where the trail went).  Since it was nice, fresh, powdery snow, there were lots of animal tracks, including a bear, whose paw print looked impressively big next to Bill’s track!  Not far along from the Summit, there was a PCT register, which Bill signed.  The last dated entry before his was on Sept. 18!  Bill said he wrote that tomorrow is our 37th wedding anniversary.   Awwww, how sweet of him!   Since we’ll be ontrail that day, we can celebrate when we get to Ashland!

All day long we were walking through snow.  I had snow powder all over my feet right up to the tops of my gaiters.  But the forest-in-snow scenery was incredibly beautiful, and it wasn’t too long before the sun DID come out and we had a stunning blue sky to go with the pure white snow.  At one point a narrow ridge just off the trail gave us a view of Mt. Shasta all snowy white–no more gray with dirty white streaks.  And it turned out that the only real “hazard” we had to face all day was big globs of snow falling off the trees and landing on us!  When that happened, we had to “dust off” whichever one of us the glob had landed on, before it could melt down our neck or on our pack.  Also at times, walking under the trees was like walking through a rainshower, they were dripping so much!  The air was cold, but very clear and fresh, and best of all, it SMELLED like snow!

But by afternoon, Bill began to “fade.”  He had been doing great all morning, hiking at a good pace, but now he began once again to have a very hard time with any uphill climbs.  So once again, to lighten his load, I took a bunch of food out of his pack and put in in mine.  Before sundown, I was seriously starting to watch for a place to camp, a bit concerned because everything was covered with snow and Bill was really getting tired and slow.  But just before it really got dark, I spotted a usable patch of bare ground under some trees.  Hurray!  We hurried to put up the tarp.  Brrrr–it was 36 degrees when we crawled into our sleeping bags.  Figuring it would be a really cold night, we were both wearing almost all our clothes except raingear, in order to stay warm.  But it was wonderful to be back on the PCT and to know that Seiad Valley was only another couple of days ahead, then the finish line at Ashland!

This morning’s mountain view was pretty discouraging–the mountains were still covered with clouds, AND below the clouds I could see SNOW.  Even in Etna it was very cold and dark clouds covered the sky.  But we enjoyed a great Alderbrook breakfast and met some other people from the San Francisco Bay Area who were also staying there!  Tuning in to the weather channel on TV gave us a forecast of nice weather, beginning tomorrow, which gave us a lot of hope!  Again we said to each other, “The last time we got ’stuck’ like this was in Tehachapi, and the Lord had a good reason for it then, so He must have another good reason now, besides ending the forest fire.”

Bill and I went for a walk around Etna, and enjoyed the steel sculpture honoring the packtrains in the mountains.  We also went to the drugstore soda fountain and had big hot fudge sundaes.  A husband and wife team of pharmacists own and run the store, with a “soda jerk” to do the fountain part.  We’d seen this pharmacist couple at church on Sunday, when they were talking about how many people who are on prescription drugs to treat a MEDICAL problem are also troubled and unhappy, with plenty of PERSONAL problems.  As pharmacists, this couple often know more about the drugs than do the doctors, so they end up doing a lot of counselling with their customers, and because as Christians they actually CARE about the people who come through their door, the counselling often leaves the “medical” behind and steps over into the spiritual.  They have spent many sympathetic hours with people and had the incredible joy of seeing them put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, then watched them being set free from the problems that resulted in dependance on prescription drugs.  The end result is actually less BUSINESS for the pharmacy in terms of dollars, but great REJOICING for the pharmacists.  Awesome!  We got to talk briefly to this very dear (but very busy!) pharmacy “team” there in the store.

Further walking in town included some beautiful fall foliage to admire.  Back at Alderbrook, Bill worked some more with Dave Harrison on fixing the hiker washing machine.  In the end, it turned out that it needed a new part that would cost as much as simply getting another used washing machine.   Then Bill and I went out to get ourselves some dinner.  It was 47 degrees and raining on and off.  The sky was still full of dark gray clouds.  But further checks of the weather reports still said conditions would improve rapidly tomorrow, so we decided we’d at least TRY to go farther on the PCT.   We settled down to enjoy one more night on a bed instead of the ground.  Hopefully the next bed we sleep in will be our own bed back home!

I woke up this morning at 6:10 am–exactly when we’ve been getting up while on the trail!  The first thing I did was go outside and look up at the mountains.  They were still covered with dark clouds.  Over Etna, there were some patches of clear sky.  Bill and I enjoyed a big breakfast of bagels and English muffins, then neatly loaded and stowed our packs out of the way and headed for church, which was just down the street.

Our first stop was Sunday School (in case you’re not a churchgoer reading this, yes, Sunday School is not just for kids.  It’s for everybody!).  The teacher had a very interesting topic based on some Bible verses in Ephesians and Hebrews on how if somebody hurts you and you refuse to forgive them,  and instead allow a “root of bitterness” to grow in your heart, not only will it ruin YOU, but it will mess up everyone around you, since bitterness has a “spillover” effect.  Then it was time for church, and we were very pleased to see that the FIRST thing they did in their meeting was to pray for some missionaries they help support in Romania.  It was a Berean church, which means they are really into the Bible and missions.  Even though Etna is a small country town, this church has many members who have personally gone overseas to help with missions.  And–they have a large Awana Club!!  It was wonderful to see the AwanaGames circle painted on the fellowship hall floor!  And I felt a bit bad when during the announcements, they mentioned, “We REALLY need some more ladies to be leaders with the 5th and 6th grade girls.”  That’s one of the groups I work with in the Awana club back home, and it has already started–and I am not there to lead my group.  We thought we’d be done with the PCT in time, but here we still are, trekking north.

After church we had several invitations to lunch, and ended up going with an older couple who also had lots of other people–mostly teens and kids–come over, too.  It was a housefull!  And fun!  We were having a great time when a look outside made my heart sink.  The wind and rain were back with a vengeance, and when I stepped outside to see how cold it was–brrrr.  It was really nasty.  A check of the weather report confirmed that rain, cold and wind would continue tomorrow, but the sun would return on Tuesday. 

So we decided not to try to hike on tomorrow, but wait one more day.  And we wondered, “Lord, why?  Why this delay right now?”  We have finally learned on this hike to not make a fuss about delays–God is always up to something if He allows them to happen.  We did find out one reason from the locals in Etna –the forest fire in the Marble Mountains just north of Etna.  All that smoke we’d been smelling for the last few days apparently had its origin not to the south as I’d thought, but to the north, in the Marbles, and guess what?  The PCT goes right through there.  So maybe one reason for the storm was to put out the fire??

Tonight we are in the Alderwood HOUSE instead of the Hiker Hut, and the Harrisons gave us a greatly reduced rate since the Hut was not available.  Mr. Harrison has offered to drive us back to the PCT anytime we are ready.  So we are very grateful and very blessed!