Bill “White Beard” went through the colonoscopy thing this morning, and they didn’t find any real problems.   Whew!   Seems that the bleeding problem he was dealing with was not caused by giardia/whatever, but was a couple of hemorrhoids (which he already knew about).   So he has decided to get those fixed up, then we’ll return to the PCT.   Hooray!   Can’t wait to get back!  We are also stuffing ourselves with anything “probiotic” to try to get our poor messed-over innards back to normal.

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!