I got up at 5:30, turned on the coffee maker, and started cutting up fruit for a breakfast fruit salad. (The fruit came from a little produce stand out front–a great setup, where all the different fruits ‘n veges were the same price per pound, so I just grabbed one each of a whole variety of things!) I sprinkled the salads with huckleberries that Wyoming picked along the trail yesterday and very kindly gave to me! At 6 am, I strolled down the hall to get the complimentary muffins and orange juice, so we had a very nice, very civilized breakfast. Looking out the window, the weather was very gray, rainy and cold.

We loaded up our packs and headed for the lobby, where Bill spent some time on the computer trying to organize our trip home. He has a somewhat complicated plan in mind. Most all the other hikers are planning to head straight from Manning Park to Vancouver, hop on a plane and go home. Bill’s plan involves walking back into the USA at Sumas, WA, then taking a lot of different local buses to Seattle, then Amtrak to Portland, then rent a car and drive home. While he was working on all that, I was hanging out with other hikers, who were trying to bring themselves to leave the nice warm hotel and and head back into the cold and rain.

Bill finally finished up at 8:30, and off we went. The rain had stopped momentarily, hooray, but it was a cold 44 degrees. The trail is very nice and well-maintained at first and it starts right away to climb up high. In 2005, I loved the views, but we could see nothing this time but the trees by the trail. And eventually the nice smooth trail morphed into rough and rocky, so we were basically hiking on miles of rocks, in the rain. The guidebook had warned of many miles with no reliable water sources–not today! There was water running everywhere, dripping off the mountainside and running down the trail.

But the wildflowers were very nice, especially the “Canterbury Bell” blue ones, plus a lot of very intersting alpine-type plants. Good thing there were plenty of them, because there wasn’t much else to see, with the clouds and rain. I used my umbrella a lot, even for the times when the rain stopped for a bit, because of the very strong, very cold wind. It felt like ice blowing on us, but the umbrella broke its force and made hiking much more comfortable. Put down ANOTHER use for the umbrella–wind shield! And during the few times when I wasn’t using it, I discovered that it tucked very nicely under my left shoulder strap in back, where I could get it easily. (Normally I stow it in a special little pocket on the back of my pack, but then I have to ask Bill to get it for me.)

It was so cold at noon that we ate lunch as fast as we could, and at our “Snickers breaks” we ate standing up, with our packs on, because if we stopped for very long, we were freeeeezing! But in the afternoon, the clouds began to lift a bit, and we started to see the lakes down below. Since this is the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, that was a great sight to see! And around 4 o’clock-ish, the clouds lifted some more and wow! Some views at last! We could see Spectacle Lake down below and the mountains all around us, some with snow patches on them. It was beautiful!

We tramped along the zillion switchbacks down toward the valley, stopped for supper along the trail, crossed the bridge at Delate Falls (wow! amazing and beautiful!) and finally reached the valley floor. The whole area is very alpine and very pretty, but unfortunately also damaged by a fire last fall. We were a bit concerned about finding a campsite outside the fire zone before it got dark, but we did succeed, and were even able to set up our tarp under trees. The biggest challenge was to find bare ground that is not covered with huckleberry bushes! It began to rain again as we set up the tarp, and it got dark fast. I’m writing this by headlamp–it’s very cold and drizzling and tree-drippy, but we are quite comfortable. But I am VERY glad to have hiked through here before, when we could see all the views, and before the fire–so that I KNOW what it looks like!

We finished up our last “house projects” today and said, “That’s it!   Let’s go back to the PCT!”   Sounds like hikers are beginning to get through the Sierras, the snow is melting, and we DO want to make it to Canada before the snow flies!  And I will be SO glad to get away from the pollen or whatever it is that is making me sniff ‘n sneeze.

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!

What a weird feeling to still be at home on Ray Day instead of heading off into the Sierras.  But we are excited that at least one group of hikers has made it to Mammoth!  Shay Blackley (the paddle guy) and his friends have gotten through.  I hope they post more details of what it was like.   From what I can tell on the California water resources data pages,  the snow is melting down fast.   There was a photo from June 7 on the Tuolemne Meadows website showing extensive flooding there.   The snow looked patchy, and there was a comment that all the creeks in the Tuolemne area were very deep and dangerous to cross.  That was a bit unsettling,  but conditions do change very quickly–hopefully for the better!

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!

Yesterday White Beard and I put on our packs and went “hiking” along the San Francisco Bay Trail, which follows the waterfront in the area of the Golden Gate Bridge.   It was a very warm day (unusual for San Francisco in June!!) and I wanted to hike where I could enjoy the sea breezes and watch all the sailboats and ships.  There were a couple of sailboat races on, and it was gorgeous.

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!

For two thruhikers who wish they were back hiking the PCT,  waiting for the snow to melt down is like watching paint dry.  But White Beard Bill has found a solution.   Instead of tearing his hair out and being frustrated, he has instead started tearing out WINDOWS!

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!