365 miles

Greetings from the trail....  Every turn is another exciting view or flower or critter scurrying out of the way. Three days ago I took my afternoon ciesta at Deep Creek Hot Springs and the name does not lie.  These were absolutely incredible and exactly what the doctor ordered after 3 days of 25 miles in a row.  My feet seem to be holding up nicely but of course toting a backpack for a marathon distance is always a challenge when the hot springs are begging us to stay just a little while longer.  We have had some incredible climbs, just yesterday we climbed from 3,000 feet up to 8,000 and above the clouds, which is always a treat. 

Not everyone is having such a great time of course.  I have already heard of 2 friends I had just met weeks ago head for home.  At this point, stress injuries are the biggest factor.  A heavy pack and hot days are a prefect recipe for blisters and strained muscles.  The constant pain of blisters can quickly break down moral despite the best efforts from friends to just take time off for them to heal and come back.  The trail is a daunting task if one tries to think about the entire thing at one time and it is certainly overwhelming to have to make that decision.  I certainly wish Bug and Jersey all the best in their journey.  That's one big lesson of the trail: it's not about getting to the end that matters, it's about getting out there and experiencing the space in the middle that keeps us going.

Currently I am in the little mountain town of Wrightwood, CA and we will be following the trail northward again.  Our lovely cool mountains will soon dwindle and the hot, flat desert will be between us and the High Sierras.  But for now we are very much enjoying the cool weather and friendly locals each day has brought us.

Happy Trails

~beads

Critters

Greetings from Big Bear Lake Hostel near mile 265.  One tenth of the way, YAY.  Small steps goes a long way.

The trail has taken us up and over some of the most incredible mountains I never knew existed in the desert.  11,000 foot peaks loom over us as we traverse 9,000 foot ridges of chaparral forests with blistering desert below us.  The best hiking happens at dawn and dusk so many of us have gotten very comfortable with "cowboy" camping.  No tent, just roll out your mat and sleep under the stars.  Obviously it is a good idea to take food out of the pack so curious rodents dont chew holes in unwanted places.  Ants also have a habit of exploring gear for bits of food.  What we quickly learned is that animals also like the salt on our cloths and even our shoes if left out.  The desert is deserted during the day, hence the name.  At night, however, is when the desert comes alive.  Lizards catch moths, tarantulas are out prowling, scorpions even scuddle under our sleeping pad in search of warmth.  The snakes are out at night since that's when the mice are out as well.  I have yet to be startled by these critters while sleeping but until then this cowboy camping style is really nice as long as my imagination doesnt get the best of me.
Happy Trails
~BEADS

me playing with the locals

road block

tarantula.... not alive =-(

cute little black lizard dude

my first rattler encounter, boy was he pretty

Extremes

25 miles ago I climbed into another world.  So far the scenery has been a toasty combination of burning sun and little wind and shade.  But just north of the Pines-to-Palms highway we ascended into the San Jacintos Mountains where pine trees and thousand foot cliffs of solid white granite dominate the landscape.  I found myself at 8,000 feet with the most stunning surroundings that certainly even rival the White Mountains back east.  Incredible. There is a small mountain town that many hiker use for re-supply.  Idyllwild welcomes hikers with open arms and an enthusiasm I have not yet come across anywhere else.  Simply walking on the sidewalk in town with a pack on, every other car will slow down and offer a ride. 

The night before I was heading into town turned out to be 34 degrees with persistent wind that chilled everything it touched.  Even in a fairly sheltered valley near the gap it was difficult to stay warm with my desert gear.  Sure enough a frigid storm has been rolling through and many hikers are using it as a welcome break in a lovely little town.  40 degrees and rainy in town means it is 30 and snowing up above, not the time to be heading north.

A hikers' feet are perhaps the most important part of our bodies.  Hiking >20 miles a day certainly reveals any weaknesses and nowhere is that more thru than in our feet.  The shoes we use look more like running shoes with more aggressive traction than actual hiking boots.  The reason for this is trying to balance lightweight gear with function.  Furthermore, our feet literally grow so the size of shoe that a hiker starts with is hardly going to fit in a couple weeks.  The bones obviously don't actually get longer but the muscles and tendons stretch and spread out as our feet get stronger.  Some hikers go up as much as 2 sizes in the course of their hike.  Many hikers try to anticipate this and start with big shoes.  I started with shoes that were 1 size bigger and comparable to the size I ended up with on the Appalachian Trail.  Turns out that still wasn't enough, the desert heat may be a factor as well.  Luckily there is a great little outfitter in town that caters to thru-hikers in anticipation of the hundreds coming through needing to change their foot gear.  A small miscalculation can mean big injuries down the trail.  

Happy Trails
~BEADS

109 miles... and only ~2550 to go.......

Greetings from beautiful Warner Springs in southern California.  For anyone who ever thought there arent big mountains in southern Cali, Ive learned this is far from true.  So far Ive had a 4,000 foot climb in a single day as well as an incredibly exposed and rocky 3,000 foot climb that I decided to do in the evening to avoid the heat.  The path was bairly a foot wide and washed out in places on such a steep slope that anything lost over the side to the wind would surely never be recovered.  There are peaks over 10,000 feet in the distance and awesome, ruggid mountains all around us. This is certainly no boring desert.

 

 

The heat has been a challange but most of us have adopted the "Ciesta" style of hiking which has been quite a treat.  The day starts before first light with the moon revealing the surrounding landscape, hiking begins with a headlamp and continues through dawn until the sun gets too high.  Hopefully around that time we are nearby to a reasonable amount of shade to hide in through the heat of the day, and if we're lucky even a water source.  We nap, read, play cards, write in our journals, and even cook dinner.  Once the heat breaks (anywhere from 3-6) we head out to hike into the night.  Night hiking is incredible.  Lots of creatures are out like crickets chirping, geckos catching bugs, coyotes yipping on a nearby ridge.  Before the moon comes out the stars are at their best in the dry desert air and the horizon is all I can make out of my surroundings other than my little 10 foot circle of light.  Sometimes I'll glimps the light of another hiker on the trail far ahead.  Once the moon rises the ridges and craigs come to life.  And the whole time it is a lovely 65 degrees.  That is until the sun comes up again =-)

Peace and Love

~BEADS

 

 

first days in the desert

wedsnesday was an exciting time and also fairly nerve wracking. the desert is a scary combination of too much sun and too little water. with 7 liters of water in my pack i had 20 dry miles in front of me. yesterday i rolled into lake moran and one of the biggest hiker gatherings in the country- the kick-off party- over 2000 hikers from all over the country both new and the legendary.

a HUGE thank you to my DAD for coming down to san diego and seeing me off.

for those of you out there who want to learn a bit about what its like on the trail, read the book WILD by sheryle strayed. she does abeautiful job of portraying common problems and also some more interesting situations that confront hikers here on the trail.

happy trails
-beads

Arrived in san diego and heading out early wednesday. Nerves are setting in!

Pre-adventure Lists

"The PCT's calling card is its stunning beauty. It has a diversity of geography unequaled by any footpath in the world. Haunting and beckoning the PCT hiker are the implacable desert, the towering majesty of the so-called High Sierra, and the ruggedly bleak, northern Cascade range. Indeed, the PCT hiker faces much greater extremes of terrain and climate than on the famed Appalachian Trail. Completing this demanding challenge calls for overwhelming clarity of purpose."

I came across this excerpt recently and thought it summed up a few things quite well. The time is quickly approaching when I will be in the middle of the "implacable desert" with a fairly simple purpose: go north.  It is an incredible concept the anyone can walk on this continuous footpath for 2,600 miles and end up literally across the country. But until then my days will be a flurry of activity getting all the pieces in place and hoping nothing is forgotten.

So how does one go about preparing for such an adventure?  Lists, of course!  The majority of my food I have pre-made or pre-purchased.  Breakfast is instant oatmeal or pop-tarts, lunch is various energy bars, GORP, dried apples, and the most sacred of all hiker food.... SNICKERS bars!  and dinners are a delightful array or dehydrated veggies combined with various pastas, sauces, and protein sources that I prepared throughout the past year from going to farmer's markets and sales.  Despite every effort, it is nearly impossi-

ble to actually consume enough calories while hiking 20+ miles every day.  It is estimated that a thru-hiker burns 8,000 to 12,000 calories a day and it is practically impossible to carry, or even consume, that amount unless I literally pitch my tent next to Dunkin' Doughnuts.  So while on the trail I do the best I can but when I'm in a town you can be sure the thru-hikers will be congregated at the nearest all-you-can-eat establishment getting more than our money's worth!

Most of the trail is very remote and opportunities to buy cheap, nutritious hiker food is fairly limited.  So for the PCT most hikers choose the option to pack resupply boxes ahead of time and have them sent to various businesses  hostels, and post offices along the trail in a timely fashion (THANK YOU ERIC!!!!!).  These boxes also contain my maps for that particular section and various odds and ends I may need like batteries and contact solution.

It is tempting to spend hours and even days going over previous hiker blogs and studying maps to plan every step ahead of time but the truth is I really just end up winging it.  Yes, there are certain things that are important like knowing when I will need my ice ax and boots vs where it is required to have a bear-proof food container.  But in truth I simply guestimate how many days it will take me for each section and pack a box with the maps and enough food.  If i guess low I can always buy more, if I guess high I can always give my goodies away to another hiker, and if I get tired of my meal choices I can always swap with another hiker for some variety.  Having a bit of faith that it will all work out in the end certainly comes in handy!

Even though I am hiking alone I'm not actually going to be the only one on the trail with the goal of hiking from Mexico to Canada in one hiking season.  There will be about 300 people from all over the globe starting a thru-hike attempt and only half will make it the whole way.  Some days will be a flurry of meeting strangers who quickly become family and some days will be totally solitary.  There is a culture that goes along with this new world, one part is something called Trail Names.  The idea is that instead of using your given name you are called by a name that more reflects who you are.  Some of these names come from stories that happened on the trail: Singe is a girl who lit her tent on fire trying to cook out of the rain.  Strider, Crazy Cloud, Hobo, Tom Sawyer, MadDog, Swami, Mouse, Flower, and Moon Walker are other examples just to name a few.  My trail name is "Beads" because I have beads in my hair, pretty simple really.

More juicy details to come before I leave.....

Happy Trails!
~Beads