Yesterday (Jan. 12), Bill and I spent the whole day hiking on Bolinas Ridge.  It rained almost all day, and at times was so cold we could see our breath.  It was a fantastic  hiking day!  Great practice for Oregon and Washington on the PCT!  We were cheering as we walked along, and reminiscing about the PCT.

The trail on Bolinas Ridge has everything you could want–hill climbs, open meadows with cows, deep dark redwood/douglas fir forests, ocean views (well, not when it’s raining, though).   One time before when we were on the Bolinas Ridge trail,  we caught up with a group of yuppie hikers all in a tither, standing around helplessly,  because a herd of Black Angus mama cows and calves was all over the trail ahead of them.  Bill and I marched past the yuppies, and walked at the cows, saying, “Hey, mama!  Move over!” and the cows obligingly did just that.  But yesterday, there was a big ol’ Black Angus BULL standing right in the middle of the trail.   He was as tall as I am, and was chewing a mouthful of grass.  We did NOT mess with him!   “Hi, big fella!  We’ll just walk around you!” was our greeting to him.  He never moved, just watched us as we circled around him.  

When we reached the forest part of the trail, we were amazed to see that SOMETHING had literally been tearing up, shredding, etc. all the plants and brush for 10-15 feet on each side of the trail.  What on earth could have done that?  It was obviously freshly done.  A bit more hiking and we had the answer–a three man crew running a huge brusheating machine–it had a long arm with a sort of super rotary mower device (the size of a manhole cover), and it was just tearing everything up–ferns, bushes, small trees, everything.   It seems they were making a firebreak.  I sympathize, but oh, bummer, what used to be a lovely trail through the forest, lined with ferns and berry bushes, etc. is now a wasteland.  I guess it will grow back.

But to my subject of tarps ‘n tents.  Whenever we are out hiking, I find that one of the instincts I developed on the PCT–“Where is a good place to camp around here?” and looking for a likely place, is still with me. I’ll be hiking along, wherever, and find myself thinking, “Hmmm.  If this were just about sundown and I wanted to camp, could I camp here?”  In 2005  I got pretty good at spotting a place for our camp, even if we were on a mountainside.   Once we spot that JUST big enough flat place, and clear it of sticks and stones and pinecones, then we either just roll out the groundcloth and sleeping bags and “cowboy camp”, OR we put up our TARP.  That’s right–we are TARP-ers.  The only time we use a tent is if we are carcamping, and want privacy in a public campground.

We use the Gossamer Gear “SpinnTwin” tarp.  It’s made of spinnaker nylon, and it was just right for the whole PCT in 2005.  We have replaced it, since the original now has pinhole leaks.   We love our tarp.  Tents have major problems with condensation, and you can’t see anything.   And you can’t put your gear inside the tent with you, and tents are way too heavy.  Etc.

 The tarp is superlight, very easy to set up (we can either use two of our trek poles, or just tree trunks, bushes, etc.) and it kept us dry and comfortable through rain and snow in 2005.  Depending on conditions, there are several different ways to “rig” it.   The one and only time it failed us was a couple of days before we reached Kennedy Meadows, when we were hit by an unbelievably fierce and violent storm during the night.  For many hours, it was torrential rain with wind wild enough to break the tops off the trees around us.  Lightning was hitting close by, and the thunder was deafening. It was the wind that was the problem–we had set up the tarp and staked it as usual, not anticipating the wild storm.  Had we known what was coming, we would have TIED down the tarp.  So in the violent wind, the stakes came out and the tarp collapsed.  Brave Bill went out and fixed it, but in the meantime, all our stuff got pretty wet because of the torrents of rain coming down.  So now, if we have ANY concern of a storm in the night, we TIE down the tarp!

And oh yes, the tarp stakes–we use titanium stakes.  They save us several ounces of weight. 

Seriously, don’t even think of bringing a tent on the PCT.  Tarps are great!

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area where we live, the hills are turning a brilliant green, the earliest wildflowers (delicate, bobbing little white clusters of “milkmaids”) are out, the trails are muddy, the cows think they are in heaven….and the ticks are waiting.

This is the time of year when we check ourselves for ticks during and after our training hikes.  Basically we’ve learned, “When the grass is green, the ticks are hungry.”  Both Bill and I have been “tickbit” on several occasions in the past, including on the PCT.  For some reason, though, my skin seems to react violently when a tick tries to “dig in”; it hurts like crazy, and I notice right away and can pull the nasty thing off.  Last spring, about this time of year, we were hiking in Hood Mountain State park (another AWESOME place to practice for the PCT–lots of big hill climbs)–and it was like the ticks were in a frenzy to get a meal.  Normally, they carefully crawl up your pant leg, looking to get in at your waist, then “dig in” at your back where you won’t notice them.  But that year, they dug in right through my sock!   Yikes!  Some desperate ticks!  

Thanks be to God (and I do mean that, I’m not just saying it), neither Bill or I has picked up Lyme disease.  We regard ticks as just part of what happens on the trail.  We do our best to protect ourselves, without getting obsessed about it.  If I am concerned about the ticks, I wear gaiters to cover the opening at the bottom of my pant leg, and I keep my shirt tucked in rather than loose.  After any stretch of trail that involves pushing through grass or bushes, Bill and I check each other for ticks.  Any we find, we toss as far away as we can–I have tried squishing them, but they are unbelievably tough.  You literally have to grind them between two rocks.  I’d rather just toss them, and leave quickly!

Today being Sunday, it was wonderful to be in church.   That was something we very much missed on the trail.  The whole 5 months we were out, we only got to go to church a couple of times, because just about every Sunday, we were way out in the mountains somewhere.   In case you wonder what church, well, actually, make that TWO churches.  I go to an early morning service at St. John’s Anglican Church (where I am on the altar guild plus Bill and I are Co-Commanders of the Awana Club for kids and Bill teaches at one of the men’s groups), then Bill and I BOTH go to the Salvation Army church, where Bill is often asked to preach and teach.   He looks really, really cool in his Salvation Army uniform!   One of the awesomest things about living in Petaluma is that all the churches that actually believe the Bible and where the people really have a relationship with God that’s real and not just intellectual, well, all the churches actually work together, help each other and love each other.   There is none of that stupid “My denomination is the ONLY one” mentality.   So St. John’s and the Salvation Army church work together on a lot of stuff, including the Awana Club, which is one of the best things ever for kids!  

So I am really soaking it in at church, ’cause I’m really going to miss this out on the trail!

Today we spent two hours climbing every hill in sight at Helen Putnam Park on the west side of our hometown of Petaluma, CA.  The weather continues to be gray, windy and cold, with the added fun of occasional splatters of rain.  Glad we are not trying to figure out how to train for the PCT  in the blizzards and snow of  the Midwest or Back East!

I would like to comment on TREK POLES.  Yup, you bet we use them!   There are lots of different kinds out there, so here’s how we decided which ones to go with (and it was a correct decision, too–those trek poles saw us through most of the PCT in 2005!)

First question:  HOW MANY trek poles should you use?  One, or two?   Well, we innocently started the PCT with one pole each, sort of like a hiking staff,  but by the time we reached the San Jacinto’s, we realized we needed TWO.   We remedied that problem when we reached Hiker Heaven at Agua Dulce, and joined a bunch of other thruhikers to ride “Big Red” into Los Angeles to REI where we got fixed up “right ‘n proper”.

Next question:  WHAT MATERIAL should your poles be made of?    There are three basic options:  

        1) Carbon fiber.   This was what Bill started with.  It’s very light and easy to carry, and does the job it needs to do.   Downside:  it’s very fragile, and breaks easily, as Bill discovered when we were collecting water from a creek on the north side of Fuller Ridge, and he accidentally stepped on his trek pole.  Snap!  And that was the end of it.   Not good.

      2) Titanium.   This is also lighter in weight.  We do own a couple of titanium trek poles.   They do a good job and don’t break easily–but they do BEND if you step on them.    Not good.   Not tough enough for the PCT.

     3) Aluminum.   Not the world’s lightest trek poles,  but tough, tough, tough.   They can take ANYTHING the trail dishes out.   And for roaring river crossings, when the current is busy trying to knock you down, these trek poles can handle it.  I’ve crossed rivers where the current made the poles vibrate, but they stayed solidly planted and were wonderful.   Now I have to admit, that by the end of our first day out of Agua Dulce, when I was using TWO trek poles for the first time, my arms about felt like they were going to fall off by the end of the day.   Ow-woo!   No problema–my arms toughened up, and ladies, one BIG bonus of aluminum trek poles is  they have enough weight  that you end up with lovely arms–no saggybaggy underneath!

As to TECHNIQUE for using the poles, well, there are two schools of thought on that one.  I have watched lots of people on the trail and come to the conclusion that there are two kinds of folks in the world–those who move their poles simultaneously with every step,  using a very short “swing” of the pole that goes from right next to their foot to slightly behind them, so that the pole is mostly PUSHING them along.  That’s how Bill uses his poles.  Then there are the other folks–the people who give their poles a big swing, all the way out in front of them, and take several steps with their feet with each swing of the poles.  In this case, the poles are both supporting AND pushing them.  That’s the technique I use.   I am simply not strong enough to do it the way Bill does, AND because I wear bifocals, my poles also serve as sort of “feelers” for me, which is important, because when I look down, the ground is all blurry and it looks like it’s up by my knees.   The trek poles let me know where the ground REALLY is, especially going downhill!

Actually, on downhills, I LOVE the trek poles, because they take a huge amount of weight off my knees and make me feel much safer.  When I’m going down a hill, I have the trek poles out in front of me all the time.   For uphills,  they help push me up the hill.  

We love our trek poles!   (Even if we do have to field the “So, where’s the snow?” jokers we meet on the trail)

January 5, 2010          Thinking about RAINGEAR!

Today Bill (White Beard) and I spent the day hiking at Point Reyes Nat’l. Seashore.  The weather report, as usual for lately, was for cold and possible showers–so our daypacks included raingear…which makes me want to put in our “take” on raingear for the PCT.

Back in 2005, when we were planning our first PCT thruhike,  we were trying out all sorts of raingear.  We had lots of questions: “Should we go with waterproof/breatheable, or just plain waterproof?”  was the biggest one.  The first conclusion was: even the supposedly waterproof/breatheable gets all wet with sweat in short order.  The next consideration was WEIGHT.  All the raingear we looked at and tried out seemed heeeeeavy.  Then I got Ray Jardine’s Tarp Book and had a revelation: hey, if you can sew a TARP out of silnylon, why not make raingear?

So through my absolute favorite supplier for outdoor fabrics ‘n stuff, called The Rain Shed, Inc., in Corvallis, Oregon,  I got a raingear pattern and lightweight silnylon, and sewed up two sets of SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT raingear for us.  They were no frills–no pockets, no pit zips, no velcro,  no nothing–just a separating zipper for the top, and the bottom had legs big enough that you could put it on without taking off your shoes.  Now I know, I know–silnylon technically isn’t really waterproof–but it took us dry and comfortable through days on end of rain on the PCT, so I have no complaints! 

In addition, the raingear did triple duty–besides warding off rain, it  kept me WARM when it was freezing cold, and kept the MOSQUITOES off, too!  And when it was cold and WINDY, I just put on my raingear and hiked nice and warm along the trail.  (The area I most needed that was around Sonora Pass, by the way–that is one COLD, WINDY place!).

But silnylon definitely has a “half-life”–I will have to make a new set of raingear for us now that it’s 2010. 

In the rain, besides the silnylon raingear, I also depended on my wide-brimmed  “Sunday Afternoon” hat (I got it at REI) and my GoLite hiking umbrella.  I even made a pair of large silnylon MITTENS to wear, and ended up using them a lot to keep my hands warm when it was cold, even if it wasn’t raining. 

Well, our hike today at Point Reyes turned out to be chilly but with occasional sun.  There were a lot of little brown bunny rabbits out playing on the trails, but what totally blew me away today were the MUSHROOMS!   Never in my life have I seen so many mushrooms.  In all the damp & shady places, they were everywhere, all sorts and colors.  In the particularly “deep, dark” sections of forest, the small, light-colored mushrooms that were all over the forest floor almost looked like stars.   I saw lots of mushrooms on the PCT (up in Washington State, especially) but nothing like this!  Wow!

The big highlight of the day, though, was a stop at the Point Reyes Visitor Center, where (ta-da) I got my very own “Golden Age Pass.”  Now that I’m 62, I can flash that pass and get into Yosemite for free (or any other national park) and camp for half price.   There are definitely benefits to being old–more wisdom (I hope) and a Golden Age Pass!

January 1      Training hikes:  Go for weight and time

Today we were off on one of our three-times-weekly “PCT training hikes”, in the rain as usual for this time of year.  We live in Petaluma, California, and just west of town there is a perfect place for PCT practices–Helen Putnam Park.  It’s hilly, it’s got lots of trails, lots of views, and what more can you ask for?

This morning, we had just finished our climb up the longest, steepest hillside in the park, when we met a dad and his two boys on their bikes.  “Hey, did you guys just come up The Face?” the dad asked.  “Yup, we did.”  “Man, you are GOOD!” said dad, as he and the boys took off to kamikaze down.  I’m not sure which of us is crazier.  I wouldn’t really want to WALK down The Face, much less go tearing down it on a bicycle.  But a lot of people think we are the crazy ones for wanting to do the PCT again.  Too bad–they don’t know how awesome it is.

When we did the PCT in 2005, we focused on MILEAGE in our practice hikes, steadily increasing it as our personal PCT Kickoff Day in May drew nearer.  Well, 5 months on the PCT taught us we should have done our practicing differently, and yessiree, we are putting that knowledge to use now!

What we learned was that though increasing mileage is helpful, even more important is CARRYING WEIGHT.  That way, the most vital component of making it to Canada–i.e., your FEET–get sufficiently acclimated and toughened up.  That way, no blisters when you are climbing up into the Lagunas or the San Felipes down in Southern California, and no aching, throbbing feet at the end of the day.

Also, when we were focused on mileage, it was a real pain trying to plan hiking routes.  I spent a lot of time with a calculator and trail maps.  This time, I said, “Phooey!  We’ll just steadily increase the AMOUNT OF TIME we spend hiking, and who cares how many miles?”  So that’s how we do it now.  It’s way less hassle and lots more fun.

Each week (and this began in November) I increase the amount of weight I carry on EVERY hike, by ONE POUND per week, so that by the beginning of April I am carrying 25 lb. every time I hit the trail.  (Bill, being a guy, has no use for such finessing.  He just stuck 20 lb. in his pack from Day 1 and says he’ll increase it some more later).

On the TIME side of the “PCT practice equation” we do one ALL DAY hike per week, and choose the roughest, toughest trails we can find in our area (we particularly like Point Reyes National Seashore trails) because the PCT is one rough, tough trail.   Then we have TWO SHORTER HIKES on other days.  In November, these were one and a half hours each, but each month they increase by 15 minutes, till by April they are two and a half hours.   The reason for this is that when we did the PCT in 2005, we found that it helped us if we took a short break every two and a half to three hours.  So these shorter hikes are like one of those “time sections” we did on the PCT.   We use the trails of Helen Putnam Park by Petaluma to do these hikes, or sometimes just walk the bike paths around town.

Practice hikes are also a great way to test out new gear and new ideas.  I came up with a plan for a lightweight, hands-free way to carry a hiking umbrella, and tested it while we practiced.  Works great!  I think I will enter it in the “gear contest” at ADZPCTKO!