I seem to spend a fair amount of time lately answering FAQ’s from friends who have finally realized, “Oh my!  You guys are leaving this week to do your hike!”  Here are some of them:

     “Do you hike from hut to hut like in Europe?”   Nope, we hike from sunup to sundown and make camp anyplace that’s reasonably flat and off the trail.  

    “Do you have a cell phone to call for help?”   Nope.  We figure there’s no cell phone coverage out in the middle of nowhere, and besides that, we don’t even own a cell phone, anyway.   We just carry a calling card. 

    “Do you bring a GPS?”  Nope.  Then we’d have to drag along a solar recharger, plus the weight of the GPS.   A good ol’ compass does the job.

    “Are you hiking with a group?”    Nope.  It’s just us, but there are plenty of other hikers out there along the trail.  If we run into trouble, eventually somebody will come along.   In 2005, we WERE the “somebody who just came along” a couple of times, and were able to help other hikers.

I ended up getting a LOT of suchlike questions after church on Sunday, because (unknown to me!) the church secretary put into the announcements that Bill and I were heading out this Wednesday.  So we were thoroughly prayed for, and we are grateful for that, VERY grateful!   Even the hymn we sang at the beginning of the service was one I often hummed to myself when we were on the PCT in 2005, which has the line, “the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land, a home within the wilderness,  a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.”   

Weatherwise, today was hardly “burning heat.”  It was gorgeous.  This afternoon, I headed for San Francisco to attend the ballet.  It was the last performance for the oldest ballerina in the company,  Katita Waldo.  She is a wonderful dancer (even though she is now over 40 years old), but what’s most impressive about her is that she started as just a lowly apprentice, then got into the corps de ballet, finally soloist, and eventually “principal.”  She is a very modest person, who loves helping the other dancers.  Usually when a ballerina retires, the ballet company has a big “gala” in her (or his, if it’s a guy) honor.  But Katita didn’t want that, which is typical for her.  Her only request for her last performance was that she could have Damian Smith as her partner (he is the oldest of the men “principals.”  

I hope that as Bill “White Beard” and I hike the PCT this year, we can be as much of a help and encouragement to other hikers as Katita has been at San Francisco Ballet.

I very much enjoyed the drive to San Francisco–it’s about 45 minutes from our house to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then on into the City.  It was a sunny, golden, warm, breezy, beautiful day.  There were lots of sailboats out on the Bay, and the bridge was crowded with tourists.   What a contrast to only one week ago, when it was POURING rain, cold, windy, not a sailboat or tourist in sight!

After a soup ‘n bread supper, I spent the rest of the evening collating the stuff to put in my pack.   I have everything I need now!  I will put the stuff INTO my pack once we are done with our last “practice hike” on Tuesday.  The countdown stands at “Only 2 more days till we head out!”