We met lots of folks hiking, riding and fishing. Then at Agnew Meadows we began the long, gradual climb that took the rest of the day. The “flower gardens” at the springs on the High Trail section were gorgeous, and so were the views of the rugged snowy mountains on the other side of the canyon, where the JMT is. Finding a dry place to camp was hard, though. There were so many snowdrifts and snowmelts.

Walk to Lórien: Reach the city of Caras Galadan in Lothlórien

We “slept in” till 6:15 this morning. The sky was clear and blue— nice to see after yesterday afternoon’s dark grey clouds that dripped a bit. Looks like the Sierras are going into their normal summer pattern of clear sky each morning and cloud buildup in the afternoon. We packed up and headed for the Red’s Meadow cafe to have some coffee and wait for the bus to Mammoth. “Just Paul” and Eric were there, too— we enjoyed one last chat.

On the ride to Mammoth, a whole bunch of Boy Scouts and leaders got aboard. They were very excited and interested in what we are doing, and gave us a ride from the bus stop at the ski resort into town. We love Boy Scouts! They do a wonderful job of getting kids into backpacking.

Next on our agenda was breakfast at the Base Camp Cafe, a room at Motel 6, our resupply box and shopping for food. Getting around town in Mammoth is really easy, with a free trolley every 20 minutes. It’s a really pretty place with dramatic Sierra backdrop, tasteful buildings that “blend in” without the usual garishness of tourist towns, and best of all, gardens in bloom. I noticed that most of the garden plants are perennials— I guess they best handle a snowy winter.

Bill and I needed this zero day— we were so tired, and we both have lost an awful lot of weight. I don’t have much “padding” left on me. Hope that good food and a day of rest will help. I was worried about taking a whole day off, since we are only 1/3 done with the PCT, but Bill was very firm— “we need this rest!” he said, and I realized he was right.

Walk to Lórien: The hill of Cerin Amroth

We were up long before the others and headed for beautiful, green Tully Hole. Then it was a long grind of switchbacks and climbing up to Lake Virginia, where we were overjoyed to find an icefree lake and not-too-bad snow. Then it was on past Purple Lake, a very scary (slippery rocks!) ford of Duck Lake creek and then miles of contouring along near the edge of a dramatic deep canyon with snowclad peaks beyond.

Around 4:00pm, to our amazement, we met up with Scott “Buck Larceny” who did the PCT in 2005, same as us! A fond reunion it was! Soon we were at Red’s Meadow, hit the cafe for burgers and milkshake, the hotsprings showers, then shared a campsite with several other hikers— PCT and JMT.

Walk to Lórien: Arrive at the hill of Cerin Amroth

Tent 4 was full last night (mostly JMT people) but cleared out fast as soon as the cafe opened. Bill and I were more leisurely because yesterday when I asked the VVR store lady if I could buy any fresh fruit, she offered me some of her own, for free. So this morning we sat outside and munched cantelope and grapes and Danish pastry. I’m glad I can eat!

We both rode the ferry back across the lake saying “Back to the trail!” A whole gang of us PCT NOBOs were all headed for Silver Pass. But a ranger stopped us and we all had to produce our permits. Grr! Going up the pass involved two “very bad” fords, including the famous “waterfall” but they turned out to be not bad.

We leapfrogged each other all day, including the usual route-finding in snow going up and down the pass. At the top of each pass is a whole new view of a whole new set of snowy peaks, and Silver Pass was no exception. Wow! All of us ended up tonight camped near the bridge over Cascade Creek.

Walk to Lórien: In woods near the edge of Lothlórien

It was very cold last night, but nice and clear, with lots of stars. I should mention how grateful I am for the glorious weather we’ve had in the Sierras so far. Today was no exception— beautiful! We walked down the famous “53 Switchbacks”, then left the PCT and I headed for the ferry ride to VVR, while Bill took the 4.5 mile trail. (He didn’t want to wait 1.5 hours for the ferry). I went to the ferry landing and just lay down, using my backpack as a pillow, and munched on a meat-filled tortilla offered to me by two kind fishermen nearby, who saw me and asked, “would you like something to eat?” I guess I looked pretty starving!

The ferry ride was fun (I was the only PCT hiker aboard) and Bill had beat me to VVR. My appetite is back, and we enjoyed a great breakfast, then chores (showers, laundry, etc) interspersed with naps on the bunks in Tent 4 (the thruhiker tent). But then I was sick again— it seemed like everything I ate just went straight through. I was hungry, though— no nausea. Bother! Just when I thought I was well again. We counted the Flagl and decided we had enough to share and still make it to Mammoth. I ate the 4th of July BBQ dinner (wonderful!) and we enjoyed the conversation of other hikers.

Walk to Lórien: In meadows near the edge of Lothlórien

Bill and I both totally zonked last night and slept like logs. “Amazing!” Bill said. “I didn’t even hear the river roaring!” Our long climb up to Selden Pass was enlivened by what I decided to call a “sage hen convention.” We saw several of them on the trail, and heard them drumming in the woods. We reached lovely Sally Keyes Lakes, where big fat trout swim within easy reach, and several people were camped.

Heart Lake (higher up) was frozen over, and we fought our way through snow again till we reached the top at noon. Getting down was tough— lots of snow and hard to find the way. And I had the added dread of knowing Bear Creek, one of the two most horrendous fords of the High Sierra, was just ahead. But we met a hiker who told us the ranger had put a rope to help hikers across which gave me a bit of hope, and sure enough, there it was, tightly strung across the wide, roaring water, for hikers to hold on to.

Note from Alexa: The great irony of this is that, as you see below, the Walk Middle-earth mileage for this day was using ropes to get across a scary creek crossing in Lórien! Creepy!

Bill went first and I watched. Obviously, the worst part was on the far side, so I ventured in and yes, the far side was baaad! Bill came back to help me out a bit and I made it. I LOVE ropes! Then we tried to hike on as fast as we could, to be able to reach Vermilion Valley Resort tomorrow. From Bear Creek on, the mosquitoes were just awful, and even though we made it almost to the top of Bear Ridge before camping, we still had to rig the net tent. I am feeling better— maybe the GSE is working!

Walk to Lórien: Crossing the Silverlode on ropes

We were all warm and comfortable last night in the Muir Hut. The two brothers left at 4:30am (they are hoping to make it to Mammoth Lakes by the 4th of July) and we were underway at 6:15am to be sure we had enough light to see well. Bill wore Yaktrax and I wore Microspikes. The whole scene looked like Antarctica, and it was 30 degrees. Brr! We were very glad of a well-established “footprint trail” to follow, because the snow here has belted into “suncups”, which makes it like trying to walk on a giant eggcarton with 1-2 foot deep “cups”, all hard and icy. Breaking a trail over suncups is very tough— we were glad it wasn’t us!

Down, down, we went, and in all the snow we missed the turnoff to where we were supposed to cross upper Evolution Creek. When we realized our mistake, we had to backtrack, and Bill picked a place to cross that looked very scary to me. Again I found myself fighting not to cry as we sidestepped our way across the rushing, icy water. And I was mad at myself for not being able to be cheerful! Yikes! But finally the worst was done, we hiked on green grass around Evolution Lake (fending off bold marmots when we stopped for a break) and on down to lovely McClure Meadow.

Shortly before the “famously fearsome” ford of Evolution Creek was a note from the ranger about a better crossing— “just follow the inverted sticks.” We did, and actually, it wasn’t too bad. On we went, past the bridge (I LOVE bridges!) over the San Joaquin, on for awhile, then camped. I was very tired, and could not eat much today, but kept dosing myself with GSE.

Walk to Lórien: At the first leaves of Lothlórien, near the Nimrodel

Today we hiked into Antarctica (well, Muir Pass, actually) and it was one tough day. Last night I suddenly (duuh!) realized I had a really, really bad sunburn on my lower face from sunlight reflected up off the snow. So I resolved today to wear my black mosquito headnet for sun protection. The day’s hiking began with a long and beautiful climb up alongside the Middle Fork of the Kings River, which roared so loudly we had to shout in order to talk. The trail was constantly either wet, muddy, or crossed by little snowmelt creeks.

Our shoes and socks have been constantly wet for days! It’s a long climb up to Muir Pass; the snow became more and more of a factor until by treeline, it was solid snow. Helen Lake was completely frozen over, and after that you come to a point where you have to decide which way to go. Tracks led 2 totally different ways. It was after 6:00pm and getting cold— the snow was starting to “ice up”. Bill and I were totally worn out, and now I was starting to feel sick, too. Neither of us had been able to eat much all day.

After studying maps, checking compass and landmarks, Bill made a decision, which involved another “straightup” climb up a pretty steep face. I was so tired that I sort of cried as I set out after him, and sort of “snuffled” my way along for awhile as we started up. Bill was quickly far ahead and eventually I couldn’t see him anymore. It was just me ‘n my ice axe and much prayer for strength and courage to “make the top”. Finally the snow stopped going up— it rounded off, and to my joy and delight, there was Muir Hut, glowing golden in the evening light.

Inside, it was warm and cozy. We made some hot beef broth to drink, and were soon joined by two young men, brothers hiking together. We all slept in Muir Hut tonight, very comfortable, with a lovely sunset.

Walk to Lórien: Arrive at Balin’s tomb in Moria and are attacked by Orcs and a Cave Troll

This morning, a short walk took us to the South Fork of the Kings River. The ranger note yesterday said, “do not cross here— way too dangerous. Walk upstream to where the trail crosses back over.” To my great relief, Bill agreed to follow the ranger’s suggestion. The Kings was obviously pretty deep and roaring fast. The walk up was very pleasant and easy and pretty, too. It isn’t steep and has a nice open feel to it, so we could admire the magnificent Sierra scenery.

Bill seemed to be feeling a bit better. We reached the foot of the pass (again, made very difficult by so much snow) and found quite a few other folks also heading up. Going up Mather is the steepest of all the passes, and very scary. Bill whizzed halfway up and sat there chatting with another hiker while I painstakingly “chopped in” every step I took with my faithful ice axe. I felt very bad about being so slow (Bill is always having to wait for me) but shortly after I reached the “breather” where Bill was, a young couple came happily climbing up the steps I had chopped, with the wife rejoicing at how easy it had been for her “with these nice steps.” I had been close to tears before, but that really cheered me up!

We got up and over the top, and carefully climbed down over snow and rocks, till we were at semi-frozen Palisade Lakes. There were cute little “baby icebergs” floating in the water. Then it was down the famous “Golden Staircase” with its huge rock steps. I yelped a little at each step down, because my poor knees were already so sore. As soon as we were down in the valley, we stopped and camped, completely wiped out. Bill decided to start taking Flagl— he may have giardia again.

Walk to Lórien: Reach the Guardroom junction in Moria

Had a solid night’s sleep, which really helped me today. Bill was also feeling perky and was talking about “maybe we can get over both Pinchot and Mather passes today!” (I thought, “I’ll settle for just Pinchot!”) We took turns crossing the narrow suspension bridge over Woods Creek. The walk up toward Pinchot along the creek was beautiful— wildflowers, whitewater cascades, and we met some JMT southbounders! But suddenly, Bill just “bonked.” He stopped, took off his pack, lay down on the ground, and said, “I feel awful.” From that point on, he would not eat (”I feel sick”) and could only go a little way before stopping again.

The approach to Pinchot Pass and the pass itself are tricky to find, but Bill knew them well from all his JMT hikes. We spotted two hikers heading the wrong way and tried to yell and signal to them, but no luck. We never saw them again.

Note from Alexa: Ack that sounds fairly ominous!

By lunchtime we were at the foot of the pass. Bill choked down a few bites, and drank Emer-gen-c with a liberal dose of GSE in it, while he studied the pass and strategized on a way up. Then it was time to put on the Microspikes, take ice axe in hand and climb straight up. This is still “terror time” for me, but I am getting better at it.

Hooray, we made the top, and down through more snow. When the snow thins, the creek crossings begin. I was doing ok with these, but then we came to a note left by a ranger “Please Read!” warning of two bad crossings ahead. He recommended the first one be crossed on a log 300 yards upstream, Bill said “humph!” and insisted at crossing at the regular place. I was terrified, but we made it, and camped early near the second “bad crossing”.

Walk to Lórien: Within Moria and Gollum begins following

It was very cold last night, and I should have taken some Motrin before collapsing into my sleeping bag, so I ached all over and couldn’t sleep. We spent time this morning still hunting for trail in the snow, and finally made it down to Vidette Meadows. Due to lack of sleep, I think, the “killer climb” out of Vidette just about did me in— I had to stop and rest several times, instead of just chugging on up. Also, we were “under the gun” timewise to make it over Glen Pass before it “iced up”.

Yesterday, we actually skipped a meal to save time, and we did it again today. When we reached the pass, again we pretty much went straight up, with occasional “breathers” on rocks sticking out of the snow. Then I could look around at the stupendous scene— snow-covered high mountains all around us, frozen lakes below, blue Sierra sky above. Then it was (for me) back to the “controlled terror” of a climb where if you slip, you are basically done for. I had already committed my personal safety to God’s care, and just concentrated on “the next step.”

Finally at the top! Whoop n’ holler time! Then came an even scarier, steep downhill. Fortunately, we were blessed with “perfect” snow to walk on, and made it down to Rae Lakes, where big fat trout hang out right by the shore. We made it across the “log jumble bridge” between the lakes and (still dealing with hunting for trail-in-snow) hurried on, aiming to camp at Woods Creek. On the way, we met another helpful ranger who had tips for us about Pinchot Pass up ahead. By 7:30pm we made it to Woods Creek, and collapsed into our sleeping bags.

Walk to Lórien: Enter the Doors of Moria after being attacked by the Watcher in the Water

This was a long, tough, amazing day— we made it up and over Forester Pass! After fording Rock Creek (no problem) we made the long uphill/downhill to Crabtree Meadows with its gorgeous views of Mt. Whitney. After that came the first of many scary creek crossings. Bill goes first and I watch very carefully to see where the worst of the current is. Then I cross, leaning into my trek poles, facing the river, sidestepping across. If I start feeling overwhelmed, I yell for help and Bill comes back to give me a hand. Tyndall Creek was the worst— pretty scary, and thighdeep on me.

As we climbed higher, more and more often the trail disappeared under snow. Finding it again took a lot of time, and usually when we did find it, the trail itself had become a creek. Near the foot of Forester Pass, we met a helpful ranger lady, who pointed out the best route (”Straight up!”) and warned of postholing problems— she had just had to dig herself out of one, it was so bad. We needed that advice, because shortly after, I postholed hipdeep and my foot was instantly “frozen in” as if set in concrete. Scary! I used my ice axe to dig out, but it took quite awhile. We pushed on up, Bill lightly climbing up the snow, me chopping steps with my ice axe.

Note from Alexa: Hmm perhaps Bill needs the new trail name “Legolas”

We were encouraged to hear the whooping and cheering of two hikers who were ahead of us, when they reached the top. By 6:00pm we were there, too, and then it was a race to get down before dark, over snow that was rapidly becoming icier. But whew, made it to an “official” campsite, high up, that had dry ground! What a day!

Walk to Lórien: Attacked by Wargs in a barren country of red stones near the Sirannon

No clouds this morning! We hoisted our horribly heavy packs and headed for Diaz Creek— we needed water. But we were so distracted with admiring the scenery and spotting “old friend” landmarks from our day hikes in the Cottonwood Pass area, that we missed the unmarked trail to the creek. Oh well— we decided to ration water and go for Chicken Spring Lake. Snow on the trail was never a problem, but we noticed plenty on the mountains around, and also a lot of snow cornices.

After lunch and a rest at Chicken Spring, we did get to climb over a snow cornice on the trail, but it wasn’t bad. We were pretty excited to think that now we really were entering the High Sierras. We marched happily along the miles of downhill toward Rock Creek, and just before we reached it, there was a note tacked to a post, inviting the hikers over to the summer rangers house for food. We went for it, and though we were disappointed to find the “food” was an almost empty “hiker box”, we did get to see inside the cute ranger cabin.

Back ontrail, a discouraging development— a young couple heading south after turning back at Forester Pass. That really worried me. We made a nice camp near Rock Creek, though, and the mosquitoes weren’t bad.

Walk to Lórien: Redhorn pass of Caradhras blocked by snow

A lot of clouds came in last night and started dripping, but nothing serious. A bit after we started hiking, it even hailed. Didn’t stop us— we were headed for “breakfast at the swallow bridge”! Sure enough, we could eat and watch the swallows feeding their babies who were tucked in nests right over the river. Lots of hikers were camped there, and just getting up.

We could see the Sierras, white peaks on the horizon, across the vast green meadow. Next came a very long climb up to 10,500 feet, then way down again, past cliffs that looked sort of like a mini-Yosemite. We stopped to eat Snickers and take on water at Death Canyon Creek— gorgeous place! There’s even a “swimming hole” (well, bathtub size, actually), but it was too cold a day to take a dip.

Then began another killer climb to 10,700 feet. Views at the top are unbelievable— thousands of feet down to the Owens Valley. We had to hike “overtime”— past 7:00pm— along the steep mountainsides before we could reach a saddle with flat places. The mosquitoes were waiting for us, and the clouds looked a bit threatening, so we rigged both tarp and net tent. It felt great to be inside away from the mosquitoes, but I thought about the snow patches we’d started seeing and wondered what it would be like in lots of snow. bill and I are both totally tired out.

Walk to Lórien: Climbing up base of Redhorn

Well, I guess we’ve switched from being “hiker trash” to being “trailer trash” because we really enjoyed our one night in the cute tiny trailer at Tom’s place. Breakfast time saw more hikers coming in and lots of hikers leaving to tackle the Sierras (once they finished their pancakes and coffee!) I took awhile loading our food bags and bear cans. We hefted our packs… heeeavy! Then we went to the store to hang out for awhile, and I ended up helping a couple who were just come in. (They recognized us from reading our blog.)

I learned the hard way yesterday to sign up ASAP to do laundry, for example, so urged them to do that right away. After lunch, we hit the trail. I felt very excited and very scared at the same time. All the hikers were talking about “big snow”, “river crossings”, etc, and I was wondering “Can I do this?”. Bill and I prayed as we began for safety and wisdom all along the trail, and up we went, following the Kern River as it wound its way up through edges of willows and roses and wildflowers.

We met fishermen heading home. Finally around 6:30pm we were at the edge of Beck meadow and decided to stop where there were lots of trees, flat ground, and a little creek to rinse dirty socks in. Perfect!

Walk to Lórien: Winding up into hills near Redhorn

We should have rigged the tarp last night, because when we woke up, our sleeping bags and gear were covered with frost, and my drinking tube had frozen. Welcome to the Sierras! But we were thinking “Coffee! Breakfast!” and wasted no time heading for Kennedy Meadows. Not far from the store, a hiker hailed us from a motley collection of trailers by the road. “Ho! How ’bout some coffee?” we wasted no time on coming down to where he was. Turned out that the Kennedy Meadows “chuckwagon” is closed on Wednesdays, but Tom, who lives just down the road, feeds the hikers. And there were hordes of them— all scarfing up Tom’s great coffee, and later, his equally awesome pancakes.

He told us we can sleep in one of his trailers tonight, if we want. Then we went to the store to sign up for laundry and showers so we can get clean. It’s a warm, breezy day— we plan to just rest and eat as much as we can. Got a good laugh out of a wild rumour somebody was spreading on the trail about a “fearsome river crossing before Kennedy Meadows!” Several hikers we met yesterday were freaked out about it even when we tried to reassure them that there was nothing of the kind. Today we found out the origin of the story— somebody tried to toss his pack across a creek, missed and it got all wet. Somehow that morphed into “scary crossing— a guy’s pack got swept away!” Just shows you can’t believe everything you hear!

Walk to Lórien: Being tracked in Hollin

I finally actually slept last night, even with the howling wind. I needed it badly! By morning all was calm and we were hiking into the Canebrake Creek Valley. There is one house there— 2 stories with an elegant pillared porch like a Southern mansion— out in the middle of the sagebrush. “Long way to the grocery store from there” was Bill’s comment. Then began the long, long climb to Trail Summit, with a stop at Fox Mill Spring to take on a full load of water. Some more hikers were there, just leaving. “Are you thruhikers?” they asked “Canada, here we come!” we fired back, and we all cheered.

The climb continued, till we were in another burn zone. We were here in 2005 and expected a lot of regrowth by now. Nope— it’s still “just” wildflowers, especially lupines. They were often waist high on me, and the air smelled like perfume as we walked along. Bumblebees were buzzing around us. It was a very warm, humid day and once you reach Trail Summit, then it’s miles of downhill going in and out of gullies to Rockhouse Basin, and finally some shade, full of tired, sweaty hikers.

We quickly joined them and met Miwok, who is originally from Petaluma. By late afternoon we reached the Kern River and passed a beaver dam, where a damp, happy hiker told us he’d just been swimming and saw 2 beavers at work. We camped by the river, too, and took baths (brrr!) in it before going to bed.

Walk to Lórien: Hollin Ridge

Today was literally an “answered prayer” day. For the last 2 days I was having serious pain problems. By the end of each day, my feet hurt horribly and my right hip also. Last Night I asked God to show me what to do. I did that in 2005 when my shoulders hurt, and the very next morning realized it was because my hip belt was far too loose. Well, I gave God the credit then for helping me figure it out, and He came through for me again this time, too! For the foot pain, I decided to replace my shoes more loosely (I’d had the upper part very tight to support my ankles). Voila! No more foot pain at all! The hip pain I thought about as I hiked, and discovered that if I pulled up on my shoulder strap, the pain went away. So at noon I sewed a “loadlifter” strap on, and we also tied a cord that helped pull up the waist strap also. It worked! The hip was immediately pain free too.

Early this morning we also had another great surprise. Turned out there was a trail angel named Okie Girl at Walker Pass campground. Even though it was 6:00am when we came through, she made us a big breakfast. And at noon we caught up with a big group of hikers, so now we have company on the trail. Tonight we had to camp yet again in a howling wind— and we had to be specially careful because there was a 2,000 foot dropoff close by and if a bit of gear got loose— it would be gone forever.

Walk to Lórien: Near small stream in valley near Rivendell

This was another very good but hot hiking day. We started off tired, though— the wind howled and roared all night and kept shaking my sleeping bag. The day started at 50 degrees but soon got hot. The wind continued for some time— we had to squeeze between some rocks to eat breakfast without being blown away. We enjoyed fantastic views of desert and mountains to the east, and gradually the wind slacked off. We reached the crucial water cache at Bird Spring Pass, and whew! There was plenty of water. Then came the 2 hour climb out of the pass and at the top we could see snowy Sierra peaks on the horizon!

Then came a long time of hiking through pretty but viewless forest till we reached the “burn zone” and had to hike in hot sun mile after mile with no shade. Around 2:30pm, I just “bonked” and it was really hard to keep going. Fortunately it wasn’t far to McIver spring and cabin. What a great place! We bypassed it in 2005. That was a dumb thing to do! We washed our socks and ourselves at the spring and relaxed on chairs in the shade by the cabin for quite awhile.

Best of all, Bill got a miraculous Father’s Day gift— sitting on a table in the cabin, next to the trail register, was his pocketknife that he lost at Casa de Luna. It belonged to his grandfather and was very special to him. Wow! Much refreshed, we finally got back on the PCT and camped a mile from Walker Pass down in a gully out of the wind. It’s a warm night!

Walk to Lórien: Rolling hills near Rivendell

Today was much better for me— I could hike steadily along and didn’t need extra rest breaks. Early in the morning we reached fenced-in Robin Bird Spring, and Bill crawled under the fence to get water and rinse our dirty socks, while I guarded our packs. Off we went again through a very pretty stretch of PCT— grass and trees like a park, then down through Jawbone Canyon, which is an ugly name for a lovely place— lots of trees for shade, and interesting rocks.

But we had one bad experience. We heard a roaring noise up ahead and before we’d even finished saying, “what’s that?” we had to leap off the trail because roaring around the bend of the PCT came 5 motorbikers in full “armour.” Yikes! Bad, bad! If we wanted to be trail nazis, we could have reported them.

Shortly after, we came to a PCT trail register and discovered 10 hikers a day ahead of us. Now we were worried. What if that meant no water left at 2 key water caches up ahead? But no problem— there was plenty at Kelso Valley Road. It was a hot day, and one of the “up ahead” hikers had used twigs to leave an “unprintable” message on the trail about having to hike in the heat. By late afternoon, the wind began to blow and we were having a hard time staying “on course” in the gusts. Managed to make camp behind some Joshua trees in a roaring, now chilly wind.

Walk to Lórien: Crossing small stream near Rivendell

Today was a very tough day for me, so it was a good thing the trail was basically easy. I still feel very weak, and the 5-6,000 foot elevation after being at sea level for 2 weeks didn’t help. But the PCT was full of interesting things today— desert views to the east, ridges with windmills, rugged mountains.

At lunch we were enjoying a spectacular view of Cache Peak when a Navy jet came roaring and twisting up the canyon, below the windmills! Whee!

At Golden Oak spring we took on more water and treated it with GSE. Hope it works! (GSE = Grapefruit Seed Extract, recommended by Meadow Mary). By suppertime at 5:00pm I was totally wiped out and discouraged at being “slow”, so I cried a little bit. Well, no need— we still got over 26 miles and passed the 600 mile mark! We found a nice place to camp under oak trees with just enough wind to keep the mosquitos away.

Walk to Lórien: Windy day in mountains near Rivendell

Even though we ate breakfast at home before heading out, we had no problems with commute traffic and pretty soon we were zooming along I-5. I kept staring at the east for a look at the Sierras, but no luck— the air was too hazy. We took the bus from Bakersfield and wow! When we left, the hills were green and Tehachapi Mtn. had snow on top. Now everything was brown, and no snow.

Trail Angel Terry Larson gave us a ride back to the PCT. He said we were only the 3rd hikers going to the trail with him this year. Everybody else was leaving. Off we went— and oh man, my pack was heavy– six days of food, full load of water, and uphill trail. Between being weakened by giardia, allergies and no training for the last 2 weeks, I was huffing and puffing and hiking like a snail. But from 3:45 till 7:00, we still did 8 miles, and managed to find a fairly wind-protected campsite among bushes and pinyon pines. We found bear poop nearby, so we kept our food bags right next to us and ice axe and trek poles handy.

Walk to Lórien: In the mountains near Rivendell

So we’ve rented a car, and the plan is to drive to Bakersfield, take the bus to Tehachapi, then get a trail angel ride back to the PCT.  Then we get to battle the wind again for awhile–there was a wind advisory there today for gusts up to 50 mph.   Sounds like the exact same weather we had coming IN to Tehachapi!

I admit, though, honestly, to being scared.   I have never done the Sierras in early season with snow and roaring rivers.  Bill has, and he is not worried.   So it’s here we go–I read Yogi’s notes, and she said the scariest part for her was the “down” Glen Pass.   Bill agrees with that.  Well, I guess I will soon find out for myself.

We will send our next trail updates when we reach Kennedy Meadows!

We have decided to head back to the PCT in 2-3 days, depending on when we get done with some projects here at home.  I am very glad to be headed back, but I admit to being scared at the same time, thinking about the Sierras, especially the creek crossings.  Bill, who does the John Muir trail every year right in the middle of June, says not to worry, he knows the best places to cross. 

I also decided that even though it means carrying 12 more oz. of weight, to bring along a pair of Microspike crampons for myself, to use on the steep snow near the tops of passes.  On Fuller Ridge,  my shoes just would not grip the snow and as a result I fell a lot, and had to go slowly.   At ADZPCTKO,  there were snow travel experts who strenuously disagreed about whether crampons were a good idea.   But after talking to other hikers,  I have decided that having that bit of extra traction would be a big help.  

So cheers to all the PCT hikers on Ray Day!   We’ll be rejoining you soon!

After about an hour of walking, we began to see a very long line of people up ahead, who were carrying green banners and placards.  “Some sort of save-the-environment folks?” we wondered.   But not at all.  Turned out it was a LOT (at least a couple of hundred)  of Iranian folks who were calling for FREEDOM for political prisoners in Iran, and not just the prisoners, but all the people of Iran.  The green banners were filled with hundreds of signatures of people who agree with the cry “Set the prisoners free!”.   

We started thinking about how grateful we are for the freedom we have–freedom to hike the PCT through 3 states plus Canada,  freedom to post stuff on this blog about what we think,  freedom for the women who want to hike the PCT to be able to do it,  freedom to talk to other hikers, trail angels, etc. about why knowing God is so awesome,  freedom even to take the risks of the trail without being told “you can’t do this!”    There are a lot of people out there who make noise about freedom, but when the rubber meets the road, suddenly they want lots of government control and restrictions.   Look at the 16 year old gal who was trying to sail around the world alone–some people are saying her parents should be accused of child endangerment for letting her go.   We say, “Go, gal, go!  We wish ALL 16 year olds had the guts and maturity to do what you did!”    (Hey, maybe she could try hiking the PCT next!)

We owe a BIG thankyou to all those who sacrifice to make our freedom possible!

Since we both feel fine now and the only thing that’s keeping us from heading back to Tehachapi is the amount of snow in the Sierras, Bill decided to tear out and replace a couple of windows on our house.   Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, our winter storms and winds come from the south,  and of course in summer,  the south side of the house takes a huge beating from the hot sun, so he is doing the windows on that side.   

When he tried phoning around to get a good price on the windows, he discovered to his amusement that all the window companies are set up to sell you window PLUS installation.  When he tried to make them understand that he just wanted the window and would install it himself,  he got a lot of  “Huh?” and the salespeople had no idea how much it would be just for the window.   In the end he gave up on the window companies and went himself to Home Depot.

So if nothing else,  we will get a couple of new windows out of this enforced time off the trail!

The stakes were another matter.   We had to go home and order some online.   So now we are waiting for them to arrive.   Somehow, despite Bill’s best efforts to keep track of our tarp stakes, he kept losing them.   In 2005, we made it the whole way without losing a stake.   I don’t know what is going on here this time???   But I did decide that from this point on, whenever we set up the tarp, I am personally going to be keeping track of stakes!   We have a sort of “division of labor” when it comes to setting up and taking down our camp, and the tarp has always been Bill’s responsibility.

I was also worried about our resupply boxes that had already been sent to Mammoth Lakes and Tuolemne Meadows and Echo Lake.   So I called to find out if they will hold the boxes even if we don’t show up before the 30-day hold limit.   The guy at the post office in Mammoth Lake was a total kick!   “Don’t worry about your box,” he said.  “If it says PCT HIKER on it, we will hold it till you get here–UNLESS it starts to smell.   Then we send it back!”   Whew, that was good news!   And the lady at Echo Lake said “Don’t worry about your box–we will hold it till we close after Labor Day.”   So that just leaves Tuolemne Meadows.   They are not answering their phone, so I’m guessing they are not open yet??

We cannot wait to get back to the PCT!

Yesterday I went on a 2 1/2 hour hike with “half weight” in my pack, and walking at full speed.   I was fine.  Man, does it feel good to be well again!    Meanwhile, I have been able to read other hiker’s journals.  When we are at a resupply or trail angel’s place,  we try to be very polite and not hog the computers/Internet, so we keep any computer use very brief.   It is fun to be able to just read and not feel rude about being a computer hog.

We also have concluded that starting at the kickoff was not a good idea.   It was totally fun to be there and see everybody, but it was WAY, WAY too early.   It is a better idea to first figure out which day you want to depart from Kennedy Meadows, then based on an average daily mileage, calculate backwards from there to find the ideal start date.   Actually, when we hiked the PCT in 2005,  we had not yet even reached Tehachapi at this point in June.

We sometimes speculate as to “why?” we’ve had this temporary setback, and it could be many, many different reasons.    I’m the kind of person who LIKES “spoilers”.   I want to know what happens in the end, so I can enjoy the process of getting there.   (Yes, I know that’s weird, OK, but that’s me!)   So I am out of my comfort zone on this delay,  but Bill, who enjoys adventures and NOT knowing what will happen, is having fun with it.    Well, eventually, we will know what’s going on…..in the meantime,  the sun is shining in the Sierras, the snow is melting, hikers are starting to get through (hopefully!) and soon we will be back there, too!

All that aside, though, we are both feeling MUCH better now.   We still feel tired more easily, but we are going hiking every day around our area, including climbing hills.   Yesterday, I put my pack on with a bit of weight in it, and had no problem going for a 2 hour hike.   We are talking about when to return to the trail, and it’s looking like we’ll probably head back to Tehachapi just after the middle of June.  Weather reports on the Sierras sound like the snow is melting OK now.

Reading other hikers’ journals is an option now that we are home, and I discovered that a number of other thruhikers ALSO arrived in Tehachapi sick with giardia-type symptoms.   Many of them just holed up in Tehachapi to wait till they felt better.  We were very blessed to have the Rosander family’s help, plus the option of going home to rest for a couple of weeks.   We have been trying to figure out where we might have picked up “bad water” and the conclusion is it had to be on the detour before Tehachapi.   I suspect it was Aliso Creek, myself.   Some of the hikers were baffled as to how they could have gotten sick.   “I filtered every drop of water I drank,” was one guy’s comment.  

The only frustration I have right now is I have not been able to find a trail journal from a hiker who has RECENTLY made it even as far as Forester Pass.  Bill hikes the John Muir Trail every year in mid-late June and he figures all will be doable, but cautious me, I would like to have a better idea what conditions might be like.  Our plan right now is to take 9 days of food (which is the most we can comfortably carry) and go as far as we can,  hopefully Muir Trail Ranch, anyway.   We are prepared to do as some hikers did in 2005, which is to come into MTR “on fumes”, without having anything to eat for a day or so before they got there.   In 2005, somebody (I think it was MTR) put out a FOOD cache on the PCT about a day or so’s hike before MTR so desperate hikers could have something to eat.   It was a godsend to the early season thruhikers that year.

We will see what the doctor has to say–probably he’ll order tests, and then we wait some more.

We are over-the-top grateful for the AWESOME  love ‘n care we received from the Rosander family, trail angels in Tehachapi, with whom we’d been staying for the past several days,  as we tried to figure out what was wrong with us and decide what to do.   On Sunday,  Christy Rosander basically gave up most of her day to drive us to an urgent care place in Bakersfield, then to a pharmacy for medicine.  

We are definitely on the mend now!   Both appetite and strength are returning. 

And when we return to the PCT (soon, we hope!) we will (sigh) be toting a water filter!

The trip home was uneventful.   Both of us are still pretty wasted, so we took turns driving.   It was very, very weird to be heading HOME instead of into the Sierras.   But we looked back over the trail so far, and saw how many, many times God was preparing the way for us, working things out, and watching over us, so we figured He must have a plan for us in this, too.   Even getting sick.    “If we were not sick, we would for sure have headed into the Sierras today,” we said to each other.   “The only thing that stopped us was this waterbug.   So God must have some reason either for wanting us home awhile OR maybe He doesn’t want us going into the Sierras yet.”

Bill and I spent the morning resting, drinking water, nibbling at food, and reading.  The Rosanders have an awesome collection of hiking books,  thanks to Christy’s enthusiasm for backpacking.   And the weather report contained an advisory for rapidly rising rivers–the snow is melting fast!   Very good news!    On the sobering side, though, reports from the PCT did not sound encouraging.   Forester Pass “needs mountaineering skills and ice axe to traverse” right now.    We talked about what to do.   Neither of us are in any kind of shape right now to tackle that, much less the climb from Tehachapi Pass up into the Sierras.   It is beginning to look like we may need to go home for a little bit to get well again, then come back.   We are definitely getting better, but still nowhere near as strong as we were when we first got here to Tehachapi.

This morning, there were TWO of us feeling nauseous, but me worse than Bill.   I managed to eat some banana for breakfast by just nibbling on it little by little.   Bill and I had planned to go to church, but that was now out of the question.   We figured we must have giardia or something similar,  and were trying to figure out how we could organize getting to a doctor for a prescription,  when Christy volunteered to take us to the place she goes, an urgent care center in Bakersfield.

This was WAY over and above for her to do this–not only is it a long way to Bakersfield, but she was in the middle of getting her college age son off to his summer job as program director at a Christian camp in Big Bear.  We were enormously grateful.   Bill was a bit “brighter” because he’d been taking the medicine already, but I was pretty wasted.   So the Bakersfield expedition was very hard.   I had trouble even with standing up for very long at a time!   But we finally had our turn with the doctor,  got the prescription, and then when we got back to Tehachapi,  I went straight to bed.   It seemed like only 5 minutes had gone by when Bill woke me up at 10 pm to take more medicine.    Hope it works.   I want to get back to the PCT!     Our original plan was for Tuesday, but it’s looking iffy.

I spent the morning doing the usual “town chores” of airing and cleaning gear, doing laundry, writing, etc.    I also got to admire Christy Rosander’s Granite Gear backpack as she got ready to head out on a training hike.   Every other day, with full packweight, she climbs Tehachapi Mtn.   She’s planning to leave in a couple of weeks to hike the PCT from here to Donner Lake.   She is one amazing backpacker lady!

Dinner was provided by Dan Rosander–homemade pizza.   Bill managed to nibble a tiny bit,  but that was all.   We are all beginning to think maybe he’s got giardia or something similar.   Christy said she had giardia last year, and her symptoms were very much like Bill’s.   She showed us her prescription, and there were a few pills left.   Unknown to me,  Bill took one!   (A good plan, as it turned out).

I felt fine when I went to bed, but during the night, I woke up feeling very ill–nausea and weakness, yikes!   It was a miserable time.

Walk to Lórien: Yuledays camped near stream

Good thing we rigged the tarp last night–it RAINED! It wasn’t a deluge, but I am so glad we weren’t out in it, “rigging by headlamp.”  The wind was pretty bad when we got up a bit after 5 am to begin the 1,600 foot climb out of the canyon and up to the summit.   It was 38 degrees, the wind  felt like ice, and there was fresh snow on all the mountaintops around us.  The PCT follows many LONG switchbacks up the sandy mountainsides, and hooray!  Somebody had really fixed up the trail itself and put up lots of PCT signposts to guide us through the maze of motocross trails.  We were never “lost” this time, as we were in 2005.

But sadly, there had been a forest fire, so instead of green trees and grass high in the Tehachapis, we were walking through blackened, skeleton forests.  One tree had a worried note on it, titled, “Have You Seen Billy Goat?”  It was dated in April.   I added a note saying, “He’s fine–we saw him in Big Bear in May”.

Eventually the PCT took us to the “windfarm side of the hill.”  I knew we were in for it, windwise, but what we didn’t know was that today there was a wind ADVISORY for up to gale force.   No kidding!  We spent the afternoon battling through winds that were strong enough to almost knock me over.  All I could do was stop, brace both legs and trek poles and try to stay upright.   It was as if the wind were an invisible, roaring river that was literally trying to knock us down and snatch our trek poles right out of our hands.   At around 3 pm, we found a large juniper bush and got on its lee side for a badly needed rest.   Stepping out from behind it into the gale again was quite a shock, but we pushed on and by 5 pm, we’d made it to Highway 58, where we connected with trail angel extraordinaire Christy Rosander.  Even getting our packs into her car was a battle with the wind.   And bless her foresight–she had a thermos of hot chocolate for us–what a treat after fighting cold wind for hours!

Walk to Lórien: Yuledays camping near stream

Hikertown is home to a whole flock of banty chickens, including several roosters, who started crowing enthusiastically around 4 am!  By 5:30, most of the hikers (including us) were in the hiker lounge eating breakfast that included “coffee from New York City” sent by one hiker’s girlfriend.  (”What was she thinking?” he puzzled.  “What am I supposed to do with a POUND of coffee on the trail?”  We all told him, “Don’t worry–we’ll take care of it!”)  But unknown to me,  Bill was not feeling well.  He did not feel like eating, and  had to just choke down his breakfast.

After that, we spent till almost 1 pm doing the notorious “Aqueduct Walk”.  It was not hot. It was not windy.  It was COLD, and even rained a bit!   There were rain clouds and “walls” of rain all around us, up in the Liebres to the right and the Tehachapis to the left.   I hiked along the aqueduct, eyeing the clouds and rain, thinking “Oh fun–we’ll be up IN there tonight!”   As far as the aqueduct walk itself, I know a lot of people enjoy grumping about it, but why waste your time being a grouch?   I love the sweeping views, the weird little houses, the quirky people, and the wildflowers along the way.   But I got worried at dinnertime because Bill would not eat.   He said he felt nauseous.   My heart just sank.   Could this be a rerun of what we went through in 2005, starting already?   I was worried.

And then as we turned north, into the Tehachapi Mtns. a wonderful thing happened.  The clouds began to lift,  break up, and float away.  And so we wound our way up and up into those amazing mountains, all the way to Gamble Canyon, where we managed to make a “hunker down” camp in a very strong, cold wind.   The clouds were reassembling and looked a bit ominous, so we battled to put up the tarp, using rocks instead of stakes, since we were on soft sand.   Bill went straight to bed and just collapsed.    I  prayed.

Walk to Lórien: Walking Southwest in low mountains

It was cold, gray and windy this morning, and we were hiking along IN the clouds, which swirled all around us.  I call this “cloud ballet” because of the dramatic, graceful way those graywhite swirls dance and leap and turn.  And then hooray!   We reached the 500 mile post!  That was worth a cheer!   No sunpatch for breakfast–all we could do was hunker down, gobble granola and go.   The guidebook had ecstatic descriptions of the views (”You can see Magic Mountain!  Hollywood!…) Oh well, at least we had “cloud ballet” to watch.

But finally we came to The Big Right Turn and headed down, north, into sun at last and Antelope Valley views.  Where the trail turns east, we were VERY glad to find that instead of the rough, deeply gullied mess we had to deal with in 2005, things were much improved!  We reached our first “poppy patch” and I was very excited–sure enough, when we finally got down INTO Antelope Valley, there were poppies everywhere.   By 2:30, we had reached Hikertown, an experience in itself, where hikers can choose from a crazy array of accommodations.  We chose the one that was half a shipping container with a clock tower on top and a 1950’s Rolls Royce parked outside.

Walk to Lórien: Streambed near Bruinen

Brrrr!  It was a 31 degree morning, with frost!  By 6:30, the coffee was ready and by 7:00, Terri Anderson was dishing up STACKS of great pancakes.  She uses two electric griddles to keep up with all the hungry hikers!  Then it was more hang out and talk till around 10 am, Joe took us back to the trail.  The PCT quickly took us up to great views of Green Valley, where Casa de Luna is located.   What a great place!  We will be walking in the “glow” of it for awhile!

It was a chilly day, great for hiking, but not so great for a poor little gopher snake that was lying across the trail, so cold it could hardly move.  By lunchtime we’d reached the cache at Elizabeth Canyon Rd, where we cooked a nice dinner and the other hikers were all eating tortillas and peanut butter.   We kind of rubbed it in about how nice it was to be eating DINNER!  Then came a 3 hour climb up into the Liebre Mountains–all sorts of plant communities to walk through, from manzanita & sagebrush to oak trees & miner’s lettuce to pine trees & soft duff.  Climbing hour after hour is not “fun” but I did enjoy the plant variety.  Around 4:30 we reached the “guzzler”–a water-collecting device–but the water was gross, so we decided to just ration what we had.  Other hikers were there, filtering, boiling and cooking dinner.  We mushed on, and awhile later came to a water cache!   Yahoo!  No more rationing!   And the trail was increasingly beautiful.  We felt as if we were walking through springtime, especially with the oak tres just leafing out.  We camped on soft oak duff on a chilly, very windy evening.

Walk to Lórien: Empty country near Bruinen

Boy, are we glad we camped DOWN in a gully–all the hilltops were in cloud this morning!  And sure enough, 5 minutes of walking had us at “The Oasis”, complete with all its usual accoutrements of skeletons, pink flamingo, “Class of 2010″ banner, and coolers with cold sodas.  Too cold for a soda today!  Brrrr!   We walked fast till we were well warmed up, then stopped to gobble down granola.  When we reached the road, we ALMOST decided to just hike on, but the Andersons had put up a sign about “Come on down to our place 24/7–all the pancakes and taco salad you can eat.”  That did it.  “Hmmm, we need to let the Sierras melt some more!” we said.

And so we ended up in a fantastic time warp zone called Casa de Luna.  The Andersons (Terri & Joe) call it “Hippy Daycare”.  We felt like we were back in the 1960’s in a “hippie house” (we really did live in a Christian “hippie house” for awhile) and we found a perfect campsite in the “Magical Manzanita Forest” out back.  We spent the whole rest of the day lounging around wherever we could find a sunpatch, eating, talking to other hikers, and sure enough, the famous taco salad for dinner, followed by hilarious “trail tales” from Joe & Terri, especially the one about how they started hosting hikers.  It all began with the Joy of Cooking recipe for vegetable soup…

Walk to Lórien: West of River Bruinen

With Bill’s help, I fired up the BBQ at the Saufleys and made us a great dinner of steak, potatoes and tomatoes.   In 2005, there was a big BBQ every night, with all the hikers participating…I guess times change.   We went to bed early, and it RAINED during the night here, but dusted the local mountains with SNOW.  Oh boy.  No melting in the Sierras under these conditions!  It was a very cold morning, but we looked forward to church, then back on the PCT.    When JJ found out we were going to church, he wanted to come, too, and offered us a ride.  Bill-the-music-teacher came, too, and we went to Shepherd of the Hills church in Agua Dulce.    And (why am I not surprised?) the message was pretty much what Bill had shared with JJ a couple of days ago.   I guess God wanted JJ to be SURE.

After church, JJ and Bill-the-music-teacher headed back to tackle hiker laundry, and we headed for the PCT.  We climbed in and out of a couple of canyons, with the wind blowing strong and cold–great hiking weather!  The grass on the hills was green, the wildflowers were great, the trees leafing out.  We were SO glad to be back on the trail!   At the end of the day,  we managed to find a flat spot in a side gully out of the worst of the wind, where we could camp.   I had a suspicion that we were pretty close to the Casa de Luna cache.

Walk to Lórien: Near River Bruinen

I haven’t mentioned that one of the fun features of Hiker Heaven is the musicians. There’s a piano, a “hiker guitar” and today one of the Donna Saufley crew of volunteers serenaded us on his trombone!

It’s much cooler today— yesterday we were all looking for shade, but today we look for sun. The hikers are all talking “Sierras”. Many bought “serious snow equipment” at REI yesterday. Some are planning “moonlight hiking” tonight, since it’s easy trail and a close-to-full moon. Bill and I are resting (me, writing!) and tomorrow morning we will head out for a 9:00am church service that is about an hour’s walk from here and right along the PCT route. After church, we’ll just keep going!

Walk to Rivendell: In Rivendell!

We got up early today, and along with Charlie, we made a breakfast feast for all the hikers– 2 kinds of pancakes, plus bacon, sausage and ham, plenty of strawberries, bananas, butter and syrup to put on them. Then I found the official “hiker sewing basket” and basically spent the whole rest of the day sewing lots of projects, from fairly extensive repairs on Bill’s pack (and another hiker’s pack) to new construction of items Bill had lost. Bill went to REI and got new trek poles to replace the ones he broke on Fuller Ridge. (The days when hikers drove to town in “big Red” are over. Somebody crashed “Big Red.” So now, a whole crew of volunteers drove hikers to REI.)

In the afternoon, the section-hiker couple we met on Baden-Powell came in with the makings of banana splits! All the hikers instantly were there from all the tents all over the yard. Later on, volunteer JJ gave us a ride to town and Bill talked to him some more (they’d had other conversations) about knowing God in a real way, not just as religion, and that the key issue was “who is the boss of my life— me, or God?” JJ decided to choose God, and he prayed with Bill to let God know what he’d decided. It was awesome!

Walk to Rivendell: In Rivendell!

For awhile this morning, we were still in the “burn Zone” and following the PCT alternating between slipping and sliding across mountainsides where the trail had just fallen away, or pushing through weeds. But finally we were out of the burn zone and into just nice, normal trail. By 8:00am we were at the KOA in Soledad Canyon, where we cleaned up and ate breakfast.

The PCT takes off from there and wanders all over (I think the idea is to give us a chance to admire the rock formations?) but we finally reached the ridgetop where we could see Agua Dulce. We cheered (even though we still had quite a way to go before we got there!) Vesquez Rocks were as awesome as ever. It is so obvious that they were laid down and shaped by massive amounts of water, very quickly. We stopped for a hot lunch in the shade of a huge pepper tree, and while we were eating, along came a lady on a gorgeous dapplegrey horse, who asked “are you headed for the Saufleys? At 4:30 I will give a ride to Walmart for any hiker who wants one.”

That sounded good, and once we reached Hiker Heaven and got cleaned up, we did go with her, and got lots of food, both for us and to share before calling it a day and bedding down on cots in one of the big white tents.

Walk to Rivendell: On path lined with white stones which began at the Ford, with first views of Rivendell.

Today began with one of the other hikers announcing, “Ladies and Gentlemen, rise and shine! It’s 5:45am and the bus leaves at 6:30!” (we’d all promised Dr. Bay to be ready to go at 6:30). But at 6:15, here she came with a huge skillet of hot scrambled eggs (”My hens are laying so much, we can’t keep up with them— eat, eat!) She dropped us off at the “trail” and soon we were roadwalking into the burn zone of the huge “Station Fire” that had closed the PCT. It was sad. In many places, the fire was so intense that it turned even the dirt into ash. Signs warned us to stay on the road.

Eventually we reached Aliso Creek road. Hooray, not much longer and we’d reach the powerline road that would take us back to the PCT. But a dayhiker we met warned us that just yesterday, the USFS rescinded its permission to use that route. “But it’s not posted as closed” he reassured us. Yikes! We hiked as fast as we could, and sure enough, there were no “closed” signs. “Quick, let’s get on it before any rangers can stop us!” we cheered.

As it turned out, that’s a busy road— dirtbikes passed us, and mining trucks. Eventually we passed the mine and things were a lot quieter— no more traffic. A final tough climb brought us back to the PCT— but what a sad sight. The trail was a mess from the fire, sometimes sliding down the hill, sometimes so overgrown with “post-fire type” weeds that it was hard to follow. We ended up camped in a dry gully.

Walk to Rivendell: Road bending down, camped near small stream with newcomer Glorfindel.

Neither of us had any sleep last night— the wind howled all night, and even with “all our layers on” inside our sleeping bags, it was hard to stay warm. By morning, all our stuff was wet and we headed out very early, hoping to warm up by hiking fast. It didn’t take long to reach the PCT at Islip Saddle, where the “big Detour” began. The first leg was a lovely, cloud-misty hike down to South Fork Campground, where a lot of orange-clothed CDC crews were hard at work.

We crossed the river and headed into Devil’s Punchbowl park. We were here in 2005 also, and wow! The trails and signs are much improved! The rock formations are mind-blowing— all colors and sorts, bent, twisted and sculpted. We ate lunch and dried our gear, then began the many miles of roadwalking through the desert. By 5:30pm we’d reached the turnoff to the town of Little Rock, where we planned to get more water and eat dinner.

It took almost 2 miles of walking before we strolled into Ana’s Cafe, and when we came in, a lady who was also there eating took one look at us and said, “are you guys hiking the PCT?” “Yes!” “How would you like to stay at my ranch tonight? I’ve got 4 other hikers who are coming, too.” That was a no-brainer! So we ended up with Dr. Gay (she is a veterinary doctor) and got showers, plus camping on her lawn! Her sister hiked the PCT, it turns out, and Gay was overjoyed to be able to help hikers.

Walk to Rivendell: Camped in saddle of ridge on rocky ground with a gnarled pine tree.

We broke camp at 5:00am and headed for “adventures on Mt. Baden-Powell.” It took awhile to get there, and we had plenty of time to look it over, since the views are awesome. Took a deep breath and prayed before we began to climb up. Sure enough, after less than 2 miles of switch-backs, the trail was buried in snow. So we headed straight up the steep mountainside. Other people had, too, including Charlie and Shin, who were just ahead of us.

Bill did a wonderful job kicking steps for me— I only needed my ice axe a couple of times— and by 2:00pm we were on top. We celebrated with a late lunch and while we ate, admired and wondered about the very strange clouds we were seeing above and below us. Some were dark and stormy-looking. A section hiker couple we’d passed earlier caught up with us and soon we all headed out, only able to guess where the PCT headed down the next ridge. Snow covered all north slopes.

We all spent the rest of the afternoon in a challenging mix of rock climbing, snow traverses, route-finding and scrambling over logs and bushes. A bit after 6:00pm, the wind began to howl, and it started to snow. The others opted to push on, hoping to reach Little Jimmy Campground before dark. We opted to head straight down the mountain to the road below. It took till almost dark before we were down. A cold, windy camp by the side of the road was the only option. But we were safe!

Walk to Rivendell: High, steep, stony hills with caves.

The Best Western “breakfast room” opened at 6:00am, and all the thruhikers were there! We ate a leftover trail breakfast augmented by other goodies. The hot topic was the big detour ahead of us— maps were being spread out on tables and opinions of various sorts were “fervently discussed.” We headed out and soon began the “short detour”— only 15 miles, which took us past some very interesting stuff— a lovely, green tree-shaded oasis (Applewhite Campground) but best of all, just before noon, we reached “The Firing Line,” a big shooting range out in the middle of nowhere.

We bought cold drinks and got permission to watch all the goings on. There were 4 ranges, each different, and all ages of folk, with all sorts of guns. Very cool.

Note from Alexa: How uncivilized, they aught to be using longbows.

A long climb took us back to the PCT, where we caught up with a group that were hiking together. We all ended up camping at Guffy Campground among the snowdrifts, with a cold wind blowing very hard. I cooked dinner in the lee of the bathroom before we hunkered down in a little hollow, prepared for a cold night.

Walk to Rivendell: Steep lands of the Trollshaws & ancient realm of Arnor