Today, Bill and I went for our last (!!) all day hike before we head for ADZPCTKO.  We headed to Point Reyes Nat’l Seashore and did what we call “The Southern Lakes Loop”, about 22 miles of fantastic trail, with a start and finish at the Bear Valley trailhead.  There was a fair amount of mud and some fallen trees because of the two recent big rains, but  it was perfect hiking weather and the wildflowers were fantastic.  The sea was so calm that it looked like a big pond, and the air was so clear that we could easily see the Farallones Islands.  We ate lunch at Bass Lake (the largest of the “ocean lakes”) and brought a bottle of Martinelli’s cider along to celebrate.

Another great thing that happened was a problem I’d been having seems to be fixed!   For the last few months, on every hike we take, I have been carrying steadily increasing packweight.  But since I didn’t want to put any extra wear ‘n tear on my beloved PCT pack, I borrowed one of Bill’s old packs.   It was WAY too big for me, but I figured, “No problem–I can handle this!”  So I kept loading it heavier and heavier, and ignoring the fact that its hard plastic frame had a corner that was constantly bumping and rubbing on the backside of my hip.  When it started to hurt, I simply put a pad under it and kept on going.  But two weeks ago,  on a hike out at Point Reyes, by the time we got back to car, I was in serious pain.   So I took a “vitamin I” and figured “I’ll be fine in the morning.”   Nope.  It still hurt.  And it kept on hurting, no matter what I did, till I was seriously worried.   Never ever in my entire life had I experienced anything like this.   I could actually feel a little sort of “knot” back where the pack had been rubbing, and ow!  did it hurt!   So I switched to using my PCT pack, and that did help some, but even just walking around the house, I was limping a bit.   Not good.  

But our hike today at Point Reyes seems to have “worked out the kinks”, and I am feeling almost 100% OK.    Whew!   I was still achy and sore when we started, but by the end of the day today,   I was tired but no longer sore.  So hopefully, all is well. 

Meanwhile, people have been asking how we communicate with home,  get a blog post up, etc. while we are on the trail.   Well, it’s a curious mixture of “dinosaur days” and modern tech.    Here’s how it works:

1) Each night on the trail, after I put on my nice clean, warm sleeping clothes and crawl into my sleeping bag (man, does that feel good!), I turn on the headlamp and write in my journal.   In 2005,  I just scribbled notes at night, then at each resupply, I copied them over neatly and sent them to our webmaster daughter to type in and post online.   THIS TIME,  I will begin each journal entry with a neatly written “Reader’s Digest version” of the day, then the rest will be my scribbles.  

2) At each resupply, I will mail home the journal pages as is, with no “copying over.”   Sometimes I’ll send home a camera card full of pictures, also.  And if there is a phone available, we call home and tell the very latest news. Our webmaster then puts up the Reader’s Digest entries, along with any “breaking news”, plus pictures she likes, plus her own comments. (Note:  we don’t carry a cell phone on the trail.   It is so seldom used that it is not worth the extra weight.   We just bring a “calling card” and use it with whatever telephone we can find).

3)  When we get back from the PCT, I will go to the blog and post the FULL journals with a lot more detail, and hopefully, more pictures.

And again, I apologize for the fact that I have not put up any pictures of our preparations.   I know this sounds (and IS) pretty pathetic, but for me to post a picture is a “big deal” and a lot of work.   I don’t know how to do it quickly.   So stay tuned!  Once we hit the trail, there will eventually be pictures.   We plan to send the first camera card home when we reach Big Bear City!