Thurs. Sept. 1        Miles today: 24.3         Total so far: 1,924.2         Sierras Section I

Today was a special day!  We crossed the 1,900 mile mark, AND it’s our daughter Mercy’s birthday!  We are so proud of her–she finished high school in 3 years instead of 4 (her best subject was math), did a year of college before deciding she wanted some adventure instead of more school, joined the US Marine Corps and spent 4 years serving as an avionics technician, keeping those Marine pilots airborne! While she was in avionics school, she was nicknamed “IBM” which referenced both her math whiz skills, and her 5′ 2″ height (IBM = Itty Bitty Marine).  While in the Corps, she also learned scuba diving and rock climbing and spent 2 years in Japan at the Marine Air Corps base in Iwakuni.  After the Marines, she went back to college, got a degree in accounting, worked at that for awhile, and then decided she wanted to use her math skills at something where she was really helping PEOPLE, not just number-crunching.  So she applied to and was accepted at the pharmacy school of Oregon State University.  Her plan is to someday be a pharmacist aboard one of the “Mercy Ships” run by Youth With a Mission.  The ships are like floating hospitals that go to third world countries and care for the poor who have no doctors or hospitals.  Right now, while in pharmacy school, she is serving as board treasurer for a group called Love, INC (which means “Love In the Name of Christ”) which connects people in need of practical help with people who would like to provide help.   So Happy Birthday, Mercy!   We wish we could be with you today!

Well, Bill and I had a very happy morning, because last night’s ominous clouds did pass us by–not a drop of rain or a breath of wind all night.  Whew!  We bounced off onto the PCT into a bright 40 degree morning, stopping for breakfast at Wilmer Lake.  I was impressed with the nice work done to get the trail around the very boggy edge of the lake.  I guess it makes up for some of that horrid “cobblestoning”! 

The trail was kind today–nice and even, not too steep.  By midmorning, we were in Grace Meadow, with a very pretty river running down the middle.  We stopped for a rest and a Snickers bar, and I was studying the maps, trying to figure out the names of the mountains that ringed the meadow.  With surprise and delight, I discovered that we were sitting near the foot of Kendrick Peak!  What’s the big deal about that, you may ask?  Well, if you know anything about the “Lady Washington”, the first ship ever to arrive on the coast of California flying the AMERICAN flag, you’ll know that for some time her captain was a complex, fearless man named Kendrick.  He was a fascinating rascal–they really ought to make a movie about him someday!  Oh well, at least there’s a mountain with his name!

On we went, through beautiful wildflowers (where there were clouds of mosquitoes, even in September!!).  We climbed past Bond Pass till we reached large, blue, windy Dorothy Lake and walked almost all the way around it before stopping to cook lunch.  Bill wrote his journal notes, while I set up our two bear cans as a windbreak for my “kitchen”.  I have come to the conclusion that much as I detest the bear cans, they are good for three things: 1) Keeping food safe from bears   2) To sit on in camp    3) To be windbreaks for the  stove.  It was so windy by the lake, that I doubt I could have kept the stove lit without the bear can protection.

After lunch, we were up and over Dorothy Pass and OUT OF YOSEMITE!  We started cheering, “No more bear cans!  No more rangers!  Load the cans with rocks and throw ’em in the lake!  No more picky rules!  Hip, hip, hooray!”  A “cowlady” resting at the pass with her horse and dog commented, “You guys seem pretty happy!”  When we told her why, she said, “Amen!”  Not only that, but the instant the trail crossed the Yosemite border and into Toiyabe National Forest land, it went from horrid cobblestone to a beautiful raised DIRT trail, lined with rocks on either side to keep the dirt in place, winding through a granitic, bouldery landscape.  Wow, was it great to be able to walk on wonderful, wonderful DIRT again!  As we followed the winding, twisting trail, the landscape gradually switched from “granitic” to “volcanic”.  There was even a small, lovely canyon with a waterfall and wildflowers.  What more can you ask?

Through the trees, we began to get glimpses of amazing volcanic mountains.  Our goal was Kennedy Canyon, where we planned to load up on water for 10 waterless miles that included a 1,500 foot climb and 1,200 foot descent to Sonora Pass.  We reached the canyon, got water, ate supper and pushed on up through the forest.  We ran into a whole herd of Angus cows, complete with cowbells!  It sounded like a crazy cowbell symphony when they ran off! 

But pretty soon, the big climb took us out of the forest and onto increasingly bare mountainside, where the PCT makes LONG switchbacks up and up.  At one point there was an obviously non-official trail heading steeply up that looked like it might be a shortcut.  We stopped and debated whether to try it, but not being able to see for sure where it went made us hesitate, so we stuck to the PCT official trail  (Turned out later, it really was a shortcut and did reconnect with the PCT.  Oh well.)  The sun was almost down, and the wind was really blowing strongly.  The only place we could find to camp was a little slight hollow place at 10,500 feet.  We had to be REALLY careful as we set up our “cowboy camp” (didn’t DARE try to put up the tarp with such a strong wind) because the wind wanted to blow away anything we set out.  But the result of all the wind was a gloriously clear night sky.  We could see the Milky Way in all its glory–Psalm 19, for sure: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.”  And what’s really cool is that one of the things God did when He made and positioned planet Earth, was He put us in just the right spot in the Milky Way galaxy that we can SEE the galaxy.  Our view is not blocked by anything.  We have prime “grandstand seats”.  If Earth were located elsewhere in the galaxy, we would not have anywhere near the glorious view.  I highly recommend the book “Rare Earth” by Halton Arp.  He really lays it out clearly what a miracle it is that there could be ANY planet like Earth, where life is possible.  Our perfect positioning in the Milky Way galaxy is part of that.  (Sorry, Star Trek fans–and I am one of those!–but Earth is the only planet where life is possible.)  Tonight, we had a glorious view that God made possible.  

Wed. August 31         Miles today: 20         Total so far: 1,899.9             Sierras Section I

It was very dark this morning, even though we’ve changed the alarm clock to 5:20.  The moon has waned so much that it isn’t a “big light bulb in the sky” for us anymore!  Actually, one of the things I’m finding I really enjoy about long-distance hiking is being able to really notice and experience the difference it makes as the moon goes through its monthly cycle.  The moon is really beauiful, and with the clear skies in the mountains, we can enjoy that beauty to the max.

We set off for the last bit of climb to 10,140 foot Benson Pass, and reached the top by 6:15 am.  The sunrise light to the east was pretty, but what surprised me was the amount of sunrise color in the western sky as well.  I must say that Benson Pass is truly a lovely place, and the trail was not too hard either going up or coming down, because the trail was mostly dirt, and had a nice mix of steep places and flatter places that made it very do-able, even with a heavy pack.

Then we went through more great Tuolemne Meadows type scenery on the way to Smedbeg Lake, which was another gorgeous northern Yosemite lake.  The scenery here is equal to anything on the JMT, but there are far fewer hikers.  If you prefer solitude and beauty to crowds and beauty, skip the JMT and come here!  After Smedberg Lake, the trail went down into a deep canyon and through some very rugged country.  I had a hard time because the trail was so steep, rocky and rough.  Once I slipped and fell, but thank God, I was not hurt, (because my pack took the brunt of it).  But I was pretty shaken up and felt very scared at the possibility of what COULD have happened. 

We finally made it down (after falling, I was loathe to try to speed up) into the Benson Lake area.  Since the lake and its famous beach, the “Benson Riviera” are 4 tenths of a mile offtrail, we passed it by.  But one thing really impressed me.  Near the side trail to the beach, there are some HUGE trees.  Wow!  Now we faced a 1,600 foot climb to Seavey Pass.  The trail was very steep, rough and hard.  I ws really huffing and puffing!  But of course, the higher we went, the more mountains we could see.  We stopped for lunch at a beautiful little unnamed lake.  It was so peaceful and restful after the hard slog on the trail this morning!  After lunch, it didn’t take long to reach the pass.

But going down the other side of Seavey Pass turned out to be my personal nightmare.  It was very steep, and the trail was almost totally covered with rocks of some sort, either just lying loose or deliberately “cobblestoned” in place by trail crews.  The loose grit on top of the cobblestones makes every one of them very slippery.  I was constantly slipping and almost falling.  Instead of happily “bombing down” as I do on dirt trails, I had to pick my way, one step at a time, among the rocks.  I got so frustrated with my own slowness, knowing Bill could easily just zip down (he is a master of the “controlled fall” method of getting down a hill!), that I could not help but cry a bit while continuing to hike.  No way was I going to stop, but I was in a mental morass of being scared I’d fall again, angry with myself for being scared, angry with myself for being angry with myself and kicking myself for getting into a “pity party” instead of really, truly trusting God to help me.  By the time we made it to the canyon floor, I was totally wiped out, and my knees and feet were aching.  I really needed our afternoon rest break!

And just when I was feeling totally low and miserable, God gave me a kind little gift He knew I would appreciate.  All the way down into the canyon, I’d been angry that the trail crews had cobblestoned the trail.  But lo and behold, at a junction in the canyon, some trailworker had worked very hard with rocks, NOT to cobblestone, but to outline the 3-way junction very clearly, even involving a “pillar” stone in the center.  It looked sort of like a rock garden, and I am a total sucker for gardens.  I stood there and said, “OK, thankyou, thankyou, whoever you are that did this.  I love it!”  And there was a clear, cold creek nearby, where I got a liter of water, added Crystallite lemonade powder, and drank the whole thing on the spot.  Ahh! Now I was definitely feeling better!  (by the way, Crystallites’s “On the Go” packets are awesome!  They’re light and perfect for adding electrolytes or just plain nice flavor to your water). 

Rested up, Bill and I began the climb to Macomb Pass.  The trail was steep, but not horribly rocky, and it did have a few flatter places where we could catch our breath.  We got more great views of “deep canyon country”, but the views also showed us something else that was a bit worrisome–a big thundercloud buildup, off to the east.  “Better stake down the tarp tonight!” we said to each other!  A bit later, we came to a “granite slab” section of trail where sometimes it ws hard to figure out where the trail WENT.  We’d be standing around, scratching our heads and looking for rock ducks, but there were too few.  In the end, we found that our best guides were the “meadow muffins” left behind by horses! 

We made it up and over Macomb Pass quite late in the day, and looking at the thunderclouds coming closer and closer, there was no way we were going to camp “up high.”  So we half-ran down the trail on the other side of the pass (it was a DIRT trail, hooray!) while catching quick glimpses of the lovely evening light on the canyon walls.  We were determined to get as low as we possibly could before dark, and finally reached a dense grove of trees sheltered by huge boulders.  We did our very best to secure our camp for the possibility of big wind and rain in the night.  It was good to finally crawl into the sleeping bags.  This has been for me a very emotional rollercoaster day, with the blessing and the joy of the beauty we are seeing, and the privilege of being able to do what we’re doing, but at the same time the utter frustration of not doing well hiking downhill.  I had to spend quite awhile talking to God about it before going to sleep.